Police officers are entrusted with the duty of safeguarding and serving their communities. As a result, police departments must respond when their communities rise up and file a complaint about how police officers act or the messages they provide to the public. That’s why the Frankton Police Department took down a decal from its cars that many people in the community had signed a petition against because it offended them.
The Frankton Police Department’s controversial message on its cruises was “All Lives Matter.” This statement was designed to fight against the Black Lives Matter movement, which formed to promote people of color and raise public awareness of racial equality and police brutality in the United States. The decision-makers in the police department thought that the term was not an attack on Black Lives Matter but rather a call for people from all races, religions, and nationalities to be treated equally.
Molly Hobbs did not interpret the phrase “All Lives Matter” as a call for equality. Instead, she felt it was a rejoinder to Black Lives Matter. She thought it was inappropriate for the cops to get involved in that sort of thing.
“As I educated myself on the black lives matter movement more and kind of spoke with other people about it, I kind of realized that that’s not OK and it needs to come off. I think it’s a controversial issue and I don’t think it’s one the police should have taken a stand on. I created the petition to kind of show people that it’s not just me. That it is a problem.”
Hobbs discovered that her demand gained a lot of steam rather quickly. The petition then became very popular when James Burgess, president of the NAACP Madison County chapter, signed it and urged others to do so as well.
“I could never say something’s wrong with that. I could say ‘hmm, what’s the intent of that?’ because ‘Black Lives Matter’ is the issue that is being left out,” Burgess said.
NAACP board member Tyjuan Garret, said; “I mean, I would love to sit down with the Frankton Police Department and have a conversation with them and say exactly what are your motives? Tell me how you are adding to the conversation of All Lives Matter. How are you expanding out to reflect all lives matter?”
Hobbs felt that while “All Lives Matter” appeared to be inclusive, it was actually exclusive since it was designed to silence the Black Lives Matter movement.
She stated, “I want the community to always be inclusive and accepting of anybody, and I think that doing this will help the community grow.”
The badges were not meant to be a criticism of Black Lives Matter, according to the Frankton Town Marshal, Mr. Todd Huffman. He understood why it was a hot-button issue, but he also recognized why it caused such a stir. Because they upset many local people and would most likely be replaced with something different, he chose to take them down.
