Tuesday night about 100-200 residents of Norfolk, NE (population: 24K) showed-up, on short-notice, to show their appreciation to the Norfolk Police Division. Citizens of Norfolk gathered at the back of the PD to literally "applaud" some of our local officers and to let them know that they are appreciated by many in our community. After the applause, Norfolk Police Chief Bill Mizner gave a brief speech to the event attendees. Following that, the organizer of this event, Wendy Holmes, offered a short prayer for our officers and for their safety.
I was present to record video of the event (as well as to support our police). My video from the event can be seen in the included YouTube video below. Eric McKay, a local reporter for a new, local TV news station "News Channel Nebraska" (NCN 35 - a new, free, local, over-the-air, digital channel) conducted two interviews, one with event organizer Wendy Holmes, and another with Norfolk Police Chief Bill Mizner. Both of Eric's full interviews can also be seen in my video below.
Thank you to Eric for allowing me to record and upload these interviews that he conducted. The audio/video quality is much better on NCN 35's videos...one of which can be viewed here: "Hundreds Show Support for Norfolk PD"
Local community events like this are springing up all over America in a direct response to the violence and hatred that is being directed at ALL of OUR police officers by a few disgruntled, bitter, entitled, and truly hateful individuals who feel inspired or duty-bound by some directive they seem to have received from "on high" (aka, "Obama") to act-out against those who keep law and order in our country.
I was present at this event tonight to draw a line in the sand - the line between those who hate others for doing good and those of US who disapprove of those who do bad.
I'll restate something I put in a blog post about this event last week:
When I've spoken with others who support police officers these few truths have become evident:
We recognize that all cops are not perfect.
We also recognize that neither are we.
We know that cops do the job they do because they want to help make our communities better for all residents.
Whether "their help" always turns out the best for US is NOT the fault of the officer.
It is ours.
If we speed, we expect a ticket.
If we attack a cop in any way or resist arrest in any way, we expect that cop to do what is necessary to protect his or her own life, including the use of deadly force against us.
If we shoot at a cop, we expect them to shoot back at us with an aim to kill.
We don't blame them for shooting back at us, even if they kill us, nor do we understand those who do blame them for doing so.
We understand that we all have a responsibility to live by the same set of laws as every other resident of our community.
We believe no one is above the law.
This includes police officers and elected officials...on every level.
Following the event last night, I had a great conversation with Chief Bill Mizner. I wish I would have recorded it but, because I didn't, nor did I ask him if I could relate our conversation to you, I will not do so. What I will say is that I'm glad that Norfolk has a police chief that understands ALL of the risks to this nation. As a conservative blogger, I can tell you that he's not missing a beat when it comes to understanding the ills that this nation faces.
Secondarily, and pleasantly surprising-to-me, when I arrived home (in another county), one of deputies from the county in which I live drove by and he stopped to "say hi" to me...call it "good-timing"...call it "happenstance" (since I'd just come from an event to "thank police" - I got to "thank him", too)...we talked for several minutes. During our conversation he related to me an incident he recently had with a young male at a local convenience store who offered to "get all 'black lives matter'" on him.
I only tell you that, Norfolk, so that you don't continue to believe that "those problems" don't affect us here. They do. It's just that OUR officers haven't been pushed far enough to have to defend themselves with deadly force...yet. Thank GOD. I hope that they NEVER do! These problems, no matter how contrived and/or media-fed (or social-media-fed) these problems seem to be, they DO exist here. OUR officers, even in "our little town", are handling these incidents with much patience, tolerance, and professionalism...you're just not hearing about them.
Keep praying for OUR cops. They ALL need you to do so.
#AllLivesMatter
#GoforthAmerica
(I made this video.)
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