Police officers, as a class, are accused regularly of being too eager to use violence, especially against African-Americans. Those who have that attitude ought to consider what happened Wednesday night in Philadelphia.

During the day there, police went to a house with the intent of serving a narcotics warrant. They were met by a hail of gunfire, allegedly from a man named Maurice Hill. He already had along rap sheet, including firearms charges.

Hill is African-American.

Some of the police officers managed to get out of the house. Two were trapped inside, along with three civilians they had arrested before Hill, 36, opened fire.

What happened next? A siege of several hours ensued, with police surrounding the house, evacuating some neighboring residents and trying to convince Hill to surrender.

After about five hours, a SWAT team went into the house, freed their fellow officers and the three civilians — then left. Police Commissioner Richard Ross kept talking to Hill by telephone, at one point enlisting the man’s attorney in an effort to end the standoff. Finally, late Wednesday night, Hill walked out of the house with his hands in the air. He did not appear to have been injured.

Not so lucky were six Philadelphia police officers. All had been struck by bullets allegedly fired by Hill. Thankfully, all six were treated and released from hospitals within hours of being shot.

Stop and think about that. Six police officers shot — and the suspect taken into custody without injury.

Are there bad cops? Of course, just as there are bad people in each and every profession. But in law enforcement, the number dedicated genuinely to serving and protecting is much, much higher than those prone to misusing their badges and guns. The Philadelphia Six are Exhibit A. Their colleagues who exercised restraint in capturing the suspect are Exhibit B.