One of my top priorities for the Newport News Police
Department since my very first day with the agency in January of 2014 is to
grow and sustain genuine partnerships with the residents, businesses, and
organizations throughout our community.
A partnership is different than other types of relationships, because it
is mutually beneficial; both sides of
the partnership benefit and together, accomplish more than either could
individually.
For our officers, I have indicated that before they can
forge real partnerships, they first need to take ownership of their assigned
part of the City. Once a neighborhood
knows an officer “owns” the responsibility and consequences of the area, the
neighborhood will be much more prepared to engage in a real partnership with that
officer and others. Even with their best
efforts, however, we still need helpers to advance the notion of partnerships.
This week, I had the chance to again see the fruits of a
real partne
rship and the widespread benefits that will continue to grow in the
future. Pastor Willard Maxwell’s In Touch basketball tournament held one
of its preliminary rounds at the Denbigh Community Center, and it was an
overwhelming success. Pastor Maxwell,
senior pastor at New Beech Grove Baptist Church, has a strong partnership with
NNPD at several levels. He is one of our
volunteer police chaplains, and he is a Board member on the Newport News Police
Foundation Board, a 501 (c)3 charitable foundation that assists and supports the
NNPD. Above and beyond these formal
relationships, I have grown to highly respect and appreciate Pastor Maxwell as
a trusted advisor who regularly provides community feedback on our agency, and
is someone I can bounce ideas off of and simply ask, “how are we doing?”
Pastor Maxwell’s vision for the In Touch tournament was to
create an opportunity to provide young people in our community a positive and
safe activity to engage in during the summer months, with a value-added
component of connecting them with police officers in a positive setting that might
facilitate more mutual understanding and trust building. In 2016, the initial tournament was a one day
event, culminating in a final game between the winning team and the police
department team. This year, two
preliminary rounds (one on the Southside of Newport News and one on the
Northside) will determine teams to play in the final tournament on August 4th,
with the winner again playing the PD team.
For each round, I’ve had the privilege to be part of the welcoming
ceremony to the players, and I have encouraged them to look beyond the police
uniform just as they would have everyone look past their specific team’s
jersey, to be known and acknowledged as an individual person. Throughout the day, officers from various
units of the department can mingle with players and observers to try to make
some new acquaintances. At this week’s
event, I had people come talk with me about how to apply to become an officer,
how to follow up on a reported incident, even just wanting to thank me for good
work done by an officer.
Having
watched the energy and enthusiasm that Pastor Maxwell puts into the In Touch
events, I have little doubt that this program is going to grow every year. The only thing that exceeds the
competitiveness and enthusiasm of the players is the positive energy and hope
that this tournament represents for our community. Truly, if we as a community are going to
sustain crime reduction and improve safety for all, we must do it through
PARTNERSHIPS and fully engage as a community.
Pastor Maxwell and his team have set a great example for many others to
follow.