Law enforcement officers in Butler County expressed sorrow and outrage in the wake of the sniper ambush Thursday night in Dallas that killed five police officers and wounded seven others.

Adams Township Police Chief Shawn Anglum said his officers are talking about the shootings.

“We had a moment of reflection (this morning) on the incidents that took place, for sure,” Anglum said Friday.

He said the officers also went over the department’s safety policies and discussed being aware of safety at all times on patrol.

Regarding the shootings, Anglum said his first reaction was that the slain officers were people first.

“We’re people too. We’re out there doing a job,” Anglum said. “This affects a lot larger scale of people than the police department. There are mothers, fathers and children too.”

He said the Adams police officers will make some type of connection with the Dallas Police Department, but he was not sure Friday exactly what that will be.

“They’re not necessarily just policemen,” Anglum said. “They have families.”

Butler Township Police Chief John Hays called the violence “senseless” and unpredictable.

“Those police were down there trying to protect the protestors, and you saw what happened,” he said.

Hays said the shootings — the deadliest single incident for police since the attacks of 9-11 — were a topic of discussion among the officers Friday, but that the department wasn’t taking any special steps in response to the attack.

“I think it makes us more aware of our surroundings and how to handle things like traffic stops,” Hays said.

He urged people to remain calm, and said the slain officers are in the department’s thoughts.

“I think every death we take personal, and it makes you evaluate yourself, and how you do your job,” he said. “It’s a tragedy that we’ve got five officers that lost their lives. Every death hits home for us.”

Sgt. Chuck Mascellino of the Cranberry Township Police Department said safety is in the back of the minds of all of his colleagues every day.

“(Dallas) is a huge tragedy, and something we never like to see,” he said.

He said officers in his department are talking about those events.

“Unfortunately when these things happen, it tends to put everyone on edge,” Mascellino said. “As it is, we still get up every day and do our job the best we can.”

He said Cranberry officers will be wearing black mourning ribbons over their badges until Friday in a show of respect and grief for the slain officers in Dallas.

Joe McCombs, Evans City-Seven Fields Regional Police chief, said his officers also will wear black mourning ribbons for a week or two.

He said officers started talking about the Dallas police shootings via group text messaging after the media coverage began.

“You have to be a little more vigilant when you come to work,” McCombs said Friday. “Obviously every (police officer) across the country probably has a heightened alert today for any spin-offs or other reactions.”

He said while watching the coverage late into the night Thursday, McCombs heard one analyst make a comparison that made sense to him.

“In those two days when lives were lost (in Baton Rouge and Minneapolis), law enforcement handled millions of events across the country,” McCombs said, “and of those millions of events, two incidents went tragically wrong.”

He said police shootings were unheard of when he became a police officer 27 years ago, but officer deaths have become a tragic fact in recent years.

“It’s almost like you’re numb because it’s been going on for years now,” McCombs said. “The amount of people involved yesterday is just a tragedy.”

He said social media also figures heavily into today’s police work.

“It’s a whole different way of doing things today,” McCombs said.

“It’s very surprising,” Zelienople Police Chief Jim Miller said of the shooting. “It’s not like the police had a barricade and knew what was going on. They were protecting people and doing their jobs. It’s horrific.”

Miller, who has been police chief for about 19 years, said he has not seen any violent actions toward police in the borough and neighboring areas.

“We’re very fortunate for that to not happen yet,” he said. “The police are here to help everybody.”

Miller also said it “would be interesting” to see how the government reacts or if changes are made for law enforcement.

County Sheriff Mike Slupe said he doesn’t wait for tragedies such as the Dallas shootings to encourage his deputies to not become complacent.

“I remind my deputies as much as I can to remain vigilant,” Slupe said.

Among the continuing training Slupe employs are simulations using nonlethal training ammunition. His office also stages crisis scenarios in county buildings when they are available.

Eagle staff writers Paula Grubbs, Amerigo Allegretto, Tom Victoria and Phillip Rau contributed to this report.