PRO POLICE RALLY IN VIRGINA BEACH
Over 400 gathered on Saturday for a pro-police rally.
Miriam Ibraheem was apprehensive she went to the Virginia Beach police building a few years back to file a domestic violence complaint. In her native Sudan, she said, “beatings of women” are commonplace, and police tend to look the other way.
But at Virginia Beach, she said, the officer there immediately took it seriously, taking a report and giving her resources.
“I jumped over the chair and hugged my friend,” Ibraheem said. “He believed me.”
That experience was among the reasons Ibraheem, 32, was among about 450 people who showed up at a “Back the Blue” event Saturday afternoon.
“We’re here to show our support,” said Ibraheem, with her two children, ages 6 and 7, in tow. “They need it. They need our voice. We pray for them every day.”
The crowed turned out at the Virginia Beach Police Department headquarters on Princess Anne Road to back officers in the face of increased criticism and scrutiny in the wake of the killing of George Floyd and others across a divided nation.
Though some have called for “Defund the Police,” this Virginia Beach crowd wasn’t having it. “Defend the Police,” one placard said. “In Our Police We Trust,” said another. “America is With You,” said a third.
“Lord knows what this world would be like without them,” Steve Wildey, 68, of Kempsville, told the crowd. “These people are very much needed, and these leftist people that want to defund the police, lock them up.”
The crowd cheered, as they did when a plane flew overhead carrying a sign: “We Love the Virginia Beach Police.”
Rose Chandler, the president of the housing association at Bellamy Plantation, called police officers “unsung heroes.”
“They are fathers, they are mothers,” she said. “They are sisters and brothers, aunts, uncles and cousins, and perhaps they’re your neighbor next door,” and come from all experiences and walks of life.
“They are the ones you call when you need help,” Chandler said. “They are there each and every day ready to run into unknown dangers and never even think twice about it.” To the officers, she said: “We are here for you. We support you and don’t ever forget it.”
Virginia Beach Police Lieut. Will Gervin lamented that the sins of a few have damaged the reputation of police across the country.
“There have been some incidents where those who have worn the badge have not lived up to them,” Gervin said. “And now, even here in Virginia Beach, we feel the sting of that. We feel the pressure, the hurt, and even the loss of some relationships that have taken decades for us to build, all due to the actions of a few.”
But though that may seem like “a dark cloud is looming over our profession,” Gervin said he sees opportunity.
“I see an opportunity to lead by example, from the front to show this nation’s oneness,” he said.
It’s happened before, he said.
When the city hosted ‘Something in the Water,’ he said, “I saw officers laughing, singing, smiling, dancing and celebrating music and art and culture with the concert goers,” he said. “It was a true embodiment of the human spirit.”
Weeks later, he said, officers had to deal with the shooting at the municipal complex in which 12 people were gunned down. “We showed our resolve again,” he said.
“Things may seem broken right now,” he said. “And we may face heightened scrutiny and calls for accountability. But let us not be fearful.” Instead, he said, “let us become a beacon” and “a strong tower of integrity.”
Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer and Interim Police Chief Anthony F. Zucaro Jr. also addressed the crowd.
Zucaro said his agency “is not a perfect organization” but ranks as “one of the best police organizations in this country.” It’s “open to comment and criticism,” he said, and strongly values support community partnerships.
“If everybody just takes a nugget away today, that nugget is to contribute to a safe community, and when you see something, say something,” he said.
Former Congressman Scott Taylor, now running to reclaim his old seat, said he’s “very disappointed in a lot of politicians today, who are coming out and fanning the flames.”
“We’ve got businesses getting busted into by vandals, mobs being encouraged to destroy stuff,” Taylor told the crowd. “This is not who we are. This is not how we heal as a country.” But police, he said, are like the “mask” containing the virus of crime.
Bill Curtis, 64, a retired Navy officer and current federal worker, said he came out to support “all of our men and women in blue.” There’s “always improvements that can be made,” he said, but the bad acts of a few “cannot define the police.”
“I think this is a great opportunity to show the community that all the negativity that’s out there, it’s just not true,” said Curtis, who is Black. “I think people really respect what the police do. They honor them. They value them. And they want them to continue to do what they’re doing.”
Brian Luciano, the president of the Virginia Beach chapter of the Police Benevolent Association, said the event helps boost police morale. “For too long these folks feel that their voice has been shouted down,” he said of those who are with the cops.
“When you’re working in an environment where day after day, week after week, month after month, you’re being demonized on social media in the conventional media, it’s good to be out among folks of all races who come together and say that you’re appreciated.”