"Law enforcement officers have been, rightly or wrongly, demonized and demoralized and really disconnected from their communities over the last three or four years in a way that has had a detrimental effect on crime and violence, on law enforcement as a profession and by extension, on communities," Reverend Markel Hutchins, the organizer of National Faith & Blue Weekend, told Fox News Digital this week.
Over the weekend, Hutchins flew to several cities across the country engaging with law enforcement officials in coordination with thousands of events nationwide for Faith & Blue Weekend, highlighting the need for more police officers, stronger communication between police and communities, and an end to the stigmatization of law enforcement.
As cities across the country grapple with crippling police shortages in the wake of the defund movement — including Washington, D.C., where crime is surging and the police force is short 400 officers — Hutchins told Fox News Digital the people he spoke with over the weekend resoundingly opposed police defunding.
"The truth is that more than 70% of African-Americans and Hispanics and more than 80% of white Americans, according to recent polling, want the same or more law enforcement," Hutchins said. "That is a narrative that has not been heard enough that people actually what police everyone wants to be policed with fairness and equity and people want to be treated fairly by law enforcement. That is crystal clear.
"Most people understand that most police officers go to work and do a good job every single day. So this underlying message that we've heard too much in the media that somehow the American people are not supportive of law enforcement just isn't true. And that was demonstrated in the thousands of activities that happened over the course of Faith & Blue weekend."