Each time we ask the Robbinsville Township community for its support of an important initiative or cause, our residents never fail to step up to the plate.
Earlier this month, a record crowd came together for National Night Out at Robbinsville Police Headquarters to help kick off our inaugural Police Appreciation Week. More than 1,000 people pulled together in support of not only law enforcement officers and first responders both here and across the country, but also for each other during these difficult times.
When I signed an Executive Order declaring the first week of August each year “Police Appreciation Week,” I did so to help counteract the increasingly negative attitudes toward law enforcement all over the world; not just in Dallas, or Minneapolis, or Baton Rouge, but also in places such as France, Germany and the United Kingdom, where violence against police is on the rise. Township council unanimously approved “Police Appreciation Week” Resolution 2016-210 on Aug. 11.
This trend of anti-police sentiment has to end. It has never been more difficult to be a police officer than it is today. These people have families, and things they want to achieve. They coach Little League teams and are Boy Scout troop leaders. They put their lives on the line to protect us every day they go to work.
Everyone has the right to protest and be sickened each time an innocent person is shot or killed. But when you hear folks chanting and calling for murder against cops, that is equally difficult to stomach. As a people, we can hold police officers in high regard yet still see them held to high standards. Still, imagine what it would be like if one day you called 911 and no one answered or showed up at your door.
As an elected official, I felt it was important to speak out and draw our line in the sand.
The Robbinsville community responded to our call by tying navy blue ribbons around their mailboxes, and swapping out their white porch lights for blue. Local businesses and residents prominently displayed the “We Support Law Enforcement” signs we ordered, courtesy of Triangle Copy. Township buildings, including the municipal building, police headquarters, the Senior Center, Public Works and the fire department also showed their pride.
Thank you, everyone.
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Needless to say we are extremely disappointed in the United States Postal Service after it denied Robbinsville a unified and independent zip code.
We had been waging this fight on several fronts for the past eight years or so, and I could not be more proud of our residents, as well as my staff, for the work they put into this effort. The bottom line is we didn’t get a fair shake and we believe the process set us up to fail. Robbinsville Township, in unison with the offices of both Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo and Rep. Chris Smith, will be filing an appeal.
Dave Fried is the mayor of Robbinsville.
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