Organizers across the Midwest are launching billboard campaigns supporting law enforcement and are hoping many others join in the effort.
A group of citizens in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, have purchased ad space on billboards in the city to show their support for the men and women in blue. They are hoping to push back against the attacks on the law enforcement community amid nationwide anti-police protests.
The campaign was launched by Kirby Proehl who decided to buy two billboards at the beginning of the effort. When word got out, money started to pour in. The people behind the billboards were reluctant to put their names out there because they don’t want publicity. They just want society to appreciate the men and women who provide law and order.
“What compels me, and so many others working with me, is to say thank you to the overwhelming amount of ethical law enforcement out there, at a time when they need to hear it most. Police have a very difficult job. In the current environment, they have nearly an impossible job. So, let’s offer some humanity when it seems to be in limited supply today because I believe it to be contagious. And if law enforcement feels the compassion, I assure you that they will spread it too when they are out protecting our community,” Proehl said.
So far, the “We support law enforcement” message has appeared on electronic billboards, which rotate with other ads. The message will begin showing up on static billboards this week to make it more noticeable and to get the basic point across. The group’s efforts have also sparked an interest outside their area. Other people have contacted them to ask how they can help contribute.
Other members of the group explained that the campaign’s goal is extremely large. They want to see other communities join them in the simple message of thanking law enforcement by the law abiding citizens. This effort comes after weeks of protests in the U.S sparked by the May 25 death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody. The activists have called for a defunding of police, as well as riots against the “systematic racism.” This has resulted in vandalism during several demonstrations, often leaving behind anti-police graffiti in their wake. Several police officers have been killed in the violence.
The backlash against police is finally taking its toll. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Bottoms (D) said she believes morale in her city’s police department is down “tenfold,” while those in LAPD have reported that the morale in their department is the worst they’ve seen since the aftermath of the 1992 riots.
Some states actually care about protecting their citizens and don’t support looting, vandalism, autonomous zones, the “summer of love” or whatever else the Dems are calling it these days. Supporting and defending our police is what maintains our law and order. Without it, we don’t have a country.
