At the Black Lives Matter protest Thursday, everything was going well. It was a demonstration that Dallas could be proud of. Protesters were peaceful and respectful. Officers were peaceful and respectful. The two sides were taking pictures together, shaking hands, getting along.

Men, women, boys & girls gathered @ Belo Garden Park for the demonstration re: recent police involved shootings. pic.twitter.com/gah2Q3tqG6 — Dallas Police Dept (@DallasPD) July 8, 2016

Demonstration in #Dallas @ Belo Garden Park pic.twitter.com/IUx5IaERSB — Dallas Police Dept (@DallasPD) July 8, 2016

Then one man ruined all that. But one man can't derail the progress of our city.

Even before the tragedy, Dallas had a police department to be proud of in DPD. "Our strategy has been the right one," Mayor Mike Rawlings said after the shooting. "We've had the fewest police-related shootings in any major city in America." Few police departments in America have been as successful and transparent as DPD, largely thanks to Chief David Brown.

Brown has consistently gone above and beyond; for example, he recently required his command staff to undergo racial bias training. He changed the requirement for deadly-force training from once every two years to once every few months. That work has paid off: DPD and its de-escalation program have helped reduce excessive force complaints by 64 percent between 2009 and 2014. And in 2015, there was a 30 percent drop in assaults on officers and a 40 percent drop in shootings by police.

For years now, Brown and DPD have received praised from across the nation. In January, 2015, Radley Balko, who covers criminal justice for The Washington Post, had already praised the DPD's "community-oriented approach to policing, openness and transparency about excessive force, its rejection of law enforcement as a revenue generator, and its First Amendment-friendly approach to protest." After last week's tragedy, Balko again emphasized that DPD is "a national model for community policing."

After the attack on police Thursday , DPD had reasons to be angry, to crack down. But they refused. They stayed calm and professional.

Brown explained, "Police officers are guardians of this great democracy." He continued, "Freedom to protest, freedom of speech, freedom for expression — all freedoms we fight for with our lives. It's what makes us who we are as Americans."

Brown made it clear that DPD will not be militarized in reaction. He wasn't going to let one lone "coward who would ambush police officers change our democracy. We're not going to do it. Our city, our country, is better than that."

Indeed, DPD is, and has been, better than that.

After the shootings, Dallas officers did their jobs despite blatant disrespect and taunting. For example, angry protesters, some apparently intoxicated, gathered around a downtown convenience store — all while the negotiations with the shooter continue to unfold. Some protesters launched insults at the officers; others urinated on cars right in front of them.

One officer on the scene told Max Geron, a major in DPD, "I tried to tell them that we were there to protect them and the guy said: 'Protect us hell! You guys are the targets tonight!' and started laughing." Still, officers remained calm, remaining professional under circumstances no one deserves to endure. (You can read Geron's full account here.)

Whereas police around the country, donning the full armor of riot gear, are arresting peaceful protesters and furthering the division between the community and the police, the Dallas Police Department continues to protect protesters and their free speech.

.@DallasPD prepares for another protest. This the face of bravery...the faces of hereos pic.twitter.com/xeqPfGbmzn — Scott Walton (@JSWalton6796) July 10, 2016

we can not allow a tragedy to hinder free speech. It can be painful at times but has made this county great. — Scott Walton (@JSWalton6796) July 11, 2016

Compare that with some of the scenes you're seeing this week elsewhere around the country. Tensions have escalated during protests; hundreds have been arrested. That includes DeRay Mckesson, well-known in the Black Lives Matter movement, and a handful of journalists.

Disperse or be arrested, police say pic.twitter.com/quc4F02ysd — Rebekah Allen (@rebekahallen) July 10, 2016

Baton Rouge PD looks ridiculous. I never wore so much armor in combat. This is their own community. (Photo: Reuters) pic.twitter.com/clCFFyD6jx — Brandon Friedman (@BFriedmanDC) July 10, 2016

At a time when all Americans need compassion and understanding, police and protesters in Baton Rouge are doing each other no favors. Mckesson condemned the police in Baton Rouge, saying, "The police want protesters to be too afraid to protest, which is why they intentionally created a context of conflict." He also said: "The police in Baton Rouge have been truly awful tonight. They have provoked people, they chase people just for kicks. The police have been violent tonight. The protesters have not."

Fortunately, that hasn't happened in Dallas. Our police department deserves more credit for that.

Even the experts disapprove of the police tactics in Baton Rouge. International policing operations analyst and former Army officer Jason Fritz, in a Washington Post article, called Baton Rouge police's tactics a "state-centric approach," with the goal of dispersing protesters and protecting themselves. In contrast, Fritz says, Dallas is showing a citizen-centric approach: "They're there to protect the citizens first and then themselves."

Geron, the DPD major, is also an expert on dealing with protests; his masters' thesis at the Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense was titled, "Twenty-first Century Strategies for Policing Protest: What major cities' responses to the Occupy Movement tell us about the future of police response to public protest." In 2014, Geron explained the importance of humanizing the police while dealing with protesters. He explained to The Washington Post that riot gear can make the situation more dangerous: "You make all of your officers look like one another. To the protesters, to the people, your officers are no longer individual human beings with faces. You've just made each of them a faceless symbol of the police institution that the protesters are reacting against."

We can see this wisdom in action as Dallas officers calmly and peacefully deal with protests, even after a horrific tragedy.

Leading up to the ambush and after it, the Dallas Police Department continues to be at its best.

DPD continues to protect and serve.

DPD continues to make Dallas proud.