Watching the recent unrest following police shootings of Black people across the country, Bonnie Mills wanted to show her support for those who wear a badge.
“Every time there’s an issue or somebody needs help, you call the police and they always respond. And you know, now that people are saying ‘Defund the police’ or even ‘Disband the police’ or something, I just want to ask them, ‘Who are you going to call?’” said Mills, who felt the entire law enforcement community was unfairly being blamed for the shootings.
Mills worked with local company Follow Me Graphix on yard signs designed with the badges for the Crawfordsville Police Department and Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office that were quickly spoken for.
At the courthouse, where Mills handed out signs at the offices, she received support from Heather Laffoon and Mindy Byers, who ordered another batch to tremendous response from callers and Facebook friends. The group also sold signs at Kroger at the Waynetown Homecoming Fish Fry.
Mills said she’s reached out to people from surrounding counties in hopes of spreading the message.
“At this point, we don’t have plans to order any more [signs],” she said, “but I believe that if somebody wanted to do that, there’s still a large interest and if a person got some and set up at Kroger or some other place … where a lot of people go by, that they could sell a lot more.”
Crawfordsville Police Chief Mike Norman said the community has long been “noticeably supportive” of the department.
“The officers in Crawfordsville have made comments about how often they get a wave from citizens or a positive comment that has been said as they walk by,” Norman said. “Those small gestures are huge to officers, because you don’t know what kind of call, case or scene that the officer just left.”
Norman thanked the group for their efforts to visibly show support.
“We as a department are making strides working with folks in the community to progress in many areas, but we have a lot of work to do,” he added. “Crawfordsville Police Department is always open to suggestions or ideas. We just have to keep working at it together.”
