by Emily West, Franklin Home Page
Laying hands on Franklin’s police officers, area pastors bowed their heads in prayer.
Burns Tabernacle Primitive Baptist Elder John Haynes stood behind the department’s chief Deborah Faulkner, placing both of his hands on her shoulders. Beside them, Franklin Community Church pastor Kevin Riggs led the community in prayer inside the Limestone Baptist Church sanctuary.
“Often times, we only come to you during these times of need and tragedy,” Riggs prayed. “And when things get good again, we forget all about it. But I pray as a city with our leaders here, that we would vow to stand together, and that we would pray with one another not just during bad times, but in good times, too.”
Among those in the pews were city leaders ranging from aldermen to Mayor Ken Moore and City Administrator Eric Stuckey. Pastors from various churches across Williamson County joined in the crowd. Together, they all had a simple message – stick together.
They recognized the city as a special place, one relatively unscathed from the scenes of other cities across the country, where relationships between the police and those they serve have evolved into a negative spiral.
For the first time since the shootings in Baton Rouge, Saint Paul and Dallas this week, Faulkner shared with the community what laid on her heart and mind. When inducting new officers last week, the chief of police said earning the badge was easy, while wearing the badge was where it became much harder. She’s found in all of her time in the law enforcement profession, this is one of the hardest times for policing in America.
“I don’t know all the facts about recent tragic events in other cities,” she said. “I can’t explain the actions of officers in Baton Rouge or Minnesota or elsewhere. I don’t understand why a young man climbed up in a building and shot 12 people and killed five police officers in Dallas. I will never understand that. As long as I have been in this business, I can’t understand evil and wickedness. But I do know this – it’s a tragic time in our country, and we must pull together and not pull apart.”
Just down the street, standing in Five Points, another handful of those in Franklin gathered with candles inside tiny Dixie cups to pray. Pitching the idea on Facebook, Christopher Hopkins said he wanted to do something after seeing everything on social media and TV this week.
Part of his inspiration came from re-reading Bobby Kennedy’s speech the night Martin Luther King was assassinated. He felt that it could apply as much today as it did in 1968.
“Something just hit me yesterday,” he said. “You know what it was? I am a newshound, and I was listening to all the different stations, and everyone was pointing fingers at each other. I had just had enough. I am tired of it, and I am sad. I am sad, and there’s only way this can stop – if we all come together.”
Emily West covers Franklin and Williamson County government and schools for Home Page Media Group. Contact her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter via @emwest22.
