Police officers’ first interest should be the safety of the neighborhoods they are hired to protect. Their mission makes their objection to the proposed response of Police Commissioner Paul Evans to several recent Boston Police Department civilian killings all the more disturbing.

The BPD officers union reported last week that a majority of the union’s members would support a no-confidence vote in Evans, after he proposed a ban on officers shooting at moving vehicles unless they shot first. His proposed change came in response to the Sept. 8 shooting of a 25-year-old passenger of a moving vehicle driven by a criminal suspect. The shooting resulted in the eighth victim of police fire in the last 22 months.

While police officers are rightly worried about their safety in confronting armed criminals, their show of union muscle is inappropriate at a relatively dark hour for the BPD. Not only should the union focus more on finding a solution to their differences with Evans during quieter negotiations, they should show more compassion for the innocent victims killed in the last 22 months. Labor squabbling is simply disrespectful during this time of police crisis.

Evans is in a very difficult position. Because he occupies a position that must be responsive to the community’s needs, he had to respond to the recent wave of killings with a plan for reform. BPD officers should understand that changes must be made — eight killings in 22 months should not be taken lightly.

The public also has the right to demand police accountability. Police hold a position of great power, and citizens should demand their power not be abused. Changing the rules governing officers’ use of weapons is a good first step to greater public accountability.

Police officers deserve our greatest admiration. Day in and day out, they stand in the line of fire, working to protect Boston’s citizens from crime and violence. But their union’s response to the changes proposed by Evans to the department’s rules is unfair and insensitive to the victims’ families and the community. Several of the department’s officers made mistakes over the past 22 months. The department needs to respond with substantive changes to ensure those same errors do not happen again.