Faith and Blue Weekend

Roy Eckerdt
Posted 10/7/21

The National Faith and Blue Weekend is a collaborative initiative that builds bridges and breaks down barriers through activities and outreach amongst law enforcement professionals and the communities we serve.

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Faith and Blue Weekend

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The National Faith and Blue Weekend is a collaborative initiative that builds bridges and breaks down barriers through activities and outreach amongst law enforcement professionals and the communities we serve.

The National Faith and Blue Weekend is based on the premise that strong communities are built on mutual respect, trust and understanding. Law enforcement agencies and faith-based groups are key pillars of a local community, and when they work together communities thrive.

I consider myself fortunate to serve in and for such a community as Powell. The Powell Police Department is blessed to have a community that supports us as we carry out our duties, this cannot be said for all jurisdictions.  We also recognize that this type of a strong relationship does not just happen, it is built over time with a focus on positive relationships and communication.

Sir Robert Peele, who is often thought of as the founder of modern policing, put forth many quotes worth remembering, one of which I find profound and recite quite often: “The public are the police, and the police are the public.”

The biggest difference between the two is that our community has elected to hire a group of professionals to do full time what is expected of all of us.  We, as your police department, are full time, but our community has a part time commitment to assist us in fulfilling our mission.

Our National Faith and Blue Weekend will be comprised of two separate events. On Friday, we will be partnering with the Powell Athletic Roundtable to host a “tailgate party” prior to the home football game. This event will replace our open house this year. We will still have an element of “show and tell,” but will be grilling and serving food for donations at 5 p.m., the proceeds of which will be donated to the Roundtable.

On Sunday at 2 p.m., our faith-based community will be hosting a community celebration in the Homesteader Hall at the Park County Fairgrounds.

I would like to personally invite you to attend both of these events. Come out to the tailgate party, visit with officers and enjoy the barbecue, then cheer on our Powell Panthers! At the event on Sunday, we will have several speakers from the faith-based community and have an opportunity to connect as a community.

 

(Roy Eckerdt is the chief of the Powell Police Department. He has served in the role since 2011.)

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