Monday, November 26, 2001
Black church reaches out to police
By Cindy Kranz
The Cincinnati Enquirer
AVONDALE — New Friendship Baptist Church on Sunday sent a message to Cincinnati police that there's more support for them in the African-American community than what's portrayed in the media.
“Everybody says, "Yeah, I'm with you,' but they don't come out,” said the Rev. Dr. H.L. Harvey Jr., church pastor. “We wanted to come out and make that known.”
New Friendship, one of the largest African-American churches in Cincinnati, held a recognition service and lunch for Cincinnati police, fire and military personnel. The service was significant because of tension between African-Americans and police over April's riots and police shootings of young black men.
“I thought about all this stuff going on in the city,” said the Rev. Dr. Harvey. “Everybody is complaining. Why not do something positive for these people who are watching over us?”
About 70 police, fire and military personnel attended the two-hour service.
“This gesture on the part of New Friendship Baptist Church shows those in the community who would be our detractors that the gap between the African-American community and the police division is not as wide as they want to believe,” said Lt. Kurt Byrd, Cincinnati Police spokesman, who attend ed.
Six civil servants spoke during the service about the need for greater understanding among people, along with the need for prayers and reliance on God.
In his sermon, the Rev. Dr. Harvey said, “We, as citizens, have got to quit complaining because we know right from wrong.”
Referring to black-on-black killings, he said, “We've got to stop pointing our fingers at other folks and look in the mirror at ourselves.
“We've got some sleepers in our city. We are sleeping when our children are coming home with a pocketful of money. They ain't got a job, and you didn't give them any money. ... We're sleeping when police bring our children home at 3 or 4 or 5 in the morning, and we blame everybody but ourselves.”
Capt. Vince Demasi, commander of the Criminal Investigation Section, said he was overwhelmed by the service and hopes for more such opportunities.
The message of African-American support for the police is not new, he said. “We hear that all the time. There are a lot of good folks in the community that support police and fire — black and white, Christians and Jews.”
Earlier, Capt. Demasi told the hundreds of congregants, “I hope you know that, although I won't be here next Sunday, I will pray for all of you, and I'm sure you will pray for me.”
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