As some wayward police officers around the country are being exposed for wrongful behavior and the media continues to stoke racial division in the U.S., police departments across the country are facing intense scrutiny and officers’ morale is at an all-time low.
Hoping to inspire and instill hope in the officers of their local police department, members of one church in Jonesborough, Tennessee, have raised $23,000 to give to the cops who protect them.
Perry Cleek, pastor of Lighthouse Missionary Baptist Church, told The Christian Post the congregation decided to donate $1,000 to each member of their town law enforcement, because it’s important to help out, particularly when there is a growing anti-police sentiment in the country.
“We have heard the news of entire police departments suffering from a debilitating lack of morale,” Cleek told the outlet. “In many places in America, local governments are signaling their support for those who are attacking law enforcement by defunding their local police.”
“We wanted to make a bold statement in support of law enforcement,” he continued. “Our desire was for our action to send a symbolic message of our support to the Jonesborough Police, but to also show our support in a very practical way by recognizing and supporting each individual employee.”
The Tennessee pastor went on to note that he and his congregation are confident “millions of Americans feel exactly the same way we do about the treatment of law enforcement in our country, but do not feel they have a voice.” Cleek said the voices of those condemning the cops “are very loud,” so he wanted to ensure the voices of those who support the officers is equally as “loud and bold.”
Much of the protesting in recent weeks was catalyzed by the killing of George Floyd — an unarmed black man — by a white former Minneapolis police officer, who held his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly 10 minutes until he passed away.
Cleek described Floyd’s death as “without question an act of evil” and called for those responsible “to face the full justice of the law.”
“But much of the response to the killing of Mr. Floyd, the looting and burning and destruction of both public and private property, the disgraceful treatment, dishonoring and demonizing of law enforcement, are also acts of evil,” he said.