NYPD, faith leaders join forces for National Faith and Blue Day
EAST FLATBUSH, Brooklyn (WABC) -- A rash of gun violence countrywide has NYPD Police Commissioner Dermot Shea and community faith leaders joining forces in National Faith and Blue Day.
Just this week, two teens were shot in a Harlem fried chicken restaurant while they were eating. It's just one of several shootings across the city this week where violent crimes are in the rise.
"If we are going to stop violence, we have to work together," Shea said.
"Time to stop saying something about it but instead doing something about it," Civil Rights activist Reverend Markel Hutchins said.
The commissioner participated in a community walk in East Flatbush, shaking hands and talking to community members and faith-based leaders.
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He was joined by Rev. Markel Hutchins who started the National Weekend of Faith and Blue events nationwide to improve police and community relations.
"People are not anti-police, most people don't feel that way," Hutchins said.
Members of the NYPD also handed out food and greeted families.
Forty-six states are participating in National Faith and Blue weekend with more than 2,000 events this weekend.
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This is one of more than a hundred events to celebrate the NYPD and community relations across the five boroughs throughout the next three days so police officers can meet the community they serve.
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