It’s understandable that many people in our country feel confused at the moment by the events that have taken place in recent days involving police.

In Falcon Heights, Minn.,Philando Castile, 32, was shot Wednesday night following a traffic stop. His girlfriend, who was riding with him at the time, said he was reaching for his wallet.

In Baton Rouge, La., the day before, Alton Sterling, 37, was pinned to the ground by two officers before being shot to death by one of them.

Both Castile and Sterling were African-American, the latest in a series of high-profile cases in which black men have been shot by police officers.

As in the past, people across the country took to the streets in protest.

One of those demonstrations took place in the streets of Dallas on Thursday night.

It was there that a sniper who was said to have been angry about the two earlier shootings opened fire, killing five Dallas police officers who were working the streets to keep people safe.

The shooter was African-American, as well.

Amid this horror, there are two things we think reasonable people can agree on.

First, the frequency with which African-Americans seem to end up on the wrong end of these types of confrontations with police is a strong indication that our country has a serious problem. People can disagree on its genesis or nature, but there’s no use denying that the problem exists.

Second, there is no justification – none – for what happened in Dallas, regardless of the depth of that problem.

Those two points sum up the confusion that many people feel in response to the events of the past week.

Our country seems short on solutions at the moment, but we heard two law-enforcement voices last week that we believe are worthy of an echo.

The first came from Joseph Estey, who spent 30 years in law enforcement, most of it as the police chief in Hartford, Vt. He is as staunch an advocate of law-enforcement as you’re likely to find anywhere and served as president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police from 2004-05.

In a remarkable posting on his Facebook page, Estey wrote: "Not sure what to make of the last few days in this country. After 30 years in law enforcement it’s hard for me to believe that a brother officer would shoot/kill another human being without clear justification. But I must consider that possibility and somehow reconcile that horrible realization. Part of me, at the same time, struggles with the random execution of brother officers who were no possible threat, and in fact, protecting people demonstrating against what (they) stood for, because that is what they were sworn to do-without reservation or hesitation. My thoughts are with the families of officers who didn’t come home this morning, my prayers with those who will face those unknown dangers tonight when they go on duty."

The second voice came from Dallas Police Chief David Brown in the hours after five of his officers were senselessly gunned down: "This must stop – this divisiveness between our police and our citizens," Brown said. "We don’t feel much support most days. Let’s not make today most days. Please, we need your support to be able to protect you from men like these, who carried out this tragic, tragic event."

Brown is right. This must stop. And the fact that an ex-cop like Estey is open-minded and honest enough to consider the possibility that some police shootings may occasionally be unjustified offers, we believe, a way forward for our nation to reach Brown’s goal.