Posted on 07/26/2016 6:39:39 PM PDT by LouAvul
Cookies, cupcakes, handwritten notes, Gatorade and even Tang.
Those are some of the ways citizens have chosen to show their support and appreciation for area law enforcement in the weeks since a sniper murdered five police officers in Dallas in the wake of the fatal officer-involved shootings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota.
“You get to where you feel like you’re kind of on an island, and you’re all by yourself, and so the support from the community is fantastic because we’re in this together,” said Capt. Todd Enzbrenner with the Sand Springs Police Department.
Since the shooting, he said, his department has been inundated with support, with people bringing doughnuts, cookies, letters and cards to department headquarters.
“I walked in last Monday, and I thought, ‘Someone’s trying to make us fat,’ because the table was just covered with goodies,” Enzbrenner said last week. The sentiment is true for most area departments, from Tulsa and Jenks to Broken Arrow.
In Broken Arrow, people have been streaming in almost constantly to drop off cases of water and Gatorade for the department, Cpl. Leon Calhoun said.
They’ve received so much support that the department community liaison, Lisa Ford, has been tasked with coordinating the donations.
Ford created a wishlist of items the department needs, such as small bottles of hand sanitizer, protein bars and granola bars, “nice” pens, bottles of water and tower fans.
She created the list, according to a post on the department’s Facebook page, because so many people had been asking how they could help. She’s also been available to coordinate lunches brought to the department to make sure multiple people don’t try to buy officers’ lunches all on the same day.
In addition to the benefit of having snacks and refreshments available, Calhoun said the donations show the officers their community supports them, especially during recent times when police have been under increased scrutiny.
“It helps us realize that the people we’re out there protecting appreciate what we’re doing to try to keep the city safe,” he said.
The support was obvious in Tulsa when a man brought water to officers working a standoff situation that spanned several hours last week at the Tulsa Air National Guard base, said Demita Kinard, community relations coordinator for the Tulsa Police Department. “There’s no shade, full sun, Oklahoma summer,” she said. “And this gentleman just walks up with bottles of cold water and he just starts handing them out to people.”
In another instance, Kinard recalled, a girl made Tang and cupcakes and invited officers to take some. The night after the Dallas shootings, Girl Scouts donated cookies to every Tulsa police division. Some officers have reported neighbors giving them gift cards to restaurants.
One of most poignant moments for Kinard since the shootings happened the day after when she was looking for something to eat at Trader Joe’s.
A woman came up to her and asked if she was OK, giving her a big hug.
“Everyone’s got a story of something like that,” Kinard said.
Same thing at my agency. Still going to be another dust up on August 8th through ? Its annual thing now...this time we will be wearing level four rifle plates.
There are still a lot of Americans left in this country.
Great story. I am inspired to stop by the local police station to show support. My father told me when I was in third grade to never ever use the name ‘fuzz’ for a policeman. I thought, Um, ok.
What is on 8 August? Anniversary of ???
Sounds like August is Blue Light month now, to show support of our police, after Barky would not light the WH blue last Friday. So, people are doing blue porchlights, car and lapel LEDs and such.
Why, the Life and Times of one Michael Brown, the martyr of Ferguson. To celebrate his many contributions there will roasting of pigs, catchy and family friendly chants, and many spontaneous bonfires, interspersed with volleys of celebratory gunfire.
A fun time shall be had by all.
All the cops in St. Louis County and City are getting surly in anticipation of this annual event.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.