Blue Ribbon Campaign

The Lawrence Police Foundation has kicked off a Blue Ribbon Campaign to show support for law enforcement. Local businesses and residents are tying blue ribbons to trees or light posts to show their support. This year nationwide 34 law enforcement officers have died at the hands of criminals. Of those line of duty deaths 28 were shot and killed (12 in August and September alone), 3 were assaulted and 3 were run down in vehicular assaults. National media coverage of these "assassinations" has been little, they have chosen to focus on the negative; the few bad apples in police departments. Morale is down, what has always been a difficult job is now even more difficult with people targeting them simply for the uniform they wear and people constantly videotaping and second guessing the split second decisions they must make. We in Douglas County are fortunate to have dedicated professionals serving and protecting our home, business, property and family and we want to show them our support. Recently we asked businesses with marquees to post a "thank you" message on their marquee. The response from the business community was great but the reaction of the men and women that serve our community was overwhelming as they were out on patrol and read these messages. While they don't ask for any fanfare it means a lot to them to know the community supports them. Since all businesses do not have marquees and we can't expect businesses to keep that message up all of the time we have created the Blue Ribbon Campaign. This allows any business and individual to show their support and our law enforcement will see the blue ribbons as they patrol and protect our community. We would like to ask you to place blue ribbons on a few of the trees or light posts outside of your business and/or home to show your support. Let Douglas County, Kansas serve as an example of a community that supports the selfless men and women that protect & serve us. Show your support for the Lawrence Police Department, Baldwin City Police, Douglas County Sheriff's Office, Eudora Police, Kansas Highway Patrol and the KU Public Safety Office.