Senior Patrol Officer Gerald Baker drove down East Alexander Street in his Plant City Police cruiser. It was 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 24, and there wasn’t much traffic on the thorough street that cuts in front of Police Center Drive. But there was some unusual activity in front of the Department’s entrance sign.
A group of residents stood in the median with black and blue balloons and posters. He couldn’t read what they said.
He waved anyway. It looked to be something positive.
Less than thirty minutes later, Plant City Fire Rescue called him. The group he saw earlier had goodie bags for him and his fellow officers as part of a Police Lives Matter rally. It’s something he’s not used to seeing in a job that has him patrolling the streets of the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World for dirty dealings and on-the-run perps. This month alone, two of PCPD’s biggest cases had detectives on the trail of two armed robbery suspects who, combined, hit Sonic, Arby’s, Regions Bank, Sunshine Convenience Store and a Circle K within days of each other.
Baker made a U-turn to return to the station. When he got out of his car, the group approached him with boxes of goodie bags. James Vitiello gave him hundreds of Police Lives Matter rubber bracelets he ordered and paid for out of his pocket.
“I’ve never seen it in 11 years, so I think it’s awesome,” Baker said. “People call 911 when there’s a problem. Rarely do they come here to support.”
Kasey Maples was one of the first to introduce herself to Baker. She was in charge, although she didn’t brag about the ownership. The rally is part of her 32 acts of kindness she has been completing since her birthday Sunday, Oct. 18.
“At first it was, ‘Let’s go out there and hold signs,’” Maples said. “Which became a Facebook event.”
“Which became a madhouse,” Lisa Simmons, her friend, said.
The group consisted of a network of family and friends that crossed age, race and gender barriers. Although no one was on the force themselves, there were many connections. Maples’ brother-in-law is with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, and Simmons has friends at different agencies.
“I don’t think that they get the appreciation they deserve,” Simmons said.
The slogan for the rally is an offshoot of the Black Lives Matter movement, a social media-driven campaign that started after the 2014 shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by police, in Ferguson, Missouri.
There’s been other high-profile cases: Aiyana Jones, Freddie Gray, Rekia Boyd, Andy Lopez, Tamir Rice. They have spurred rallies about police force and profiling in cities across the United States. One of the most recent was Rise Up October in New York City Saturday, Oct. 24, which included celebrity supporters, such as filmmaker Quentin Tarantino.
“That’s a lot of why we wanted to do it,” Maples said. “We have so many people against them. We wanted to show we support them, appreciate them.”
FBI Director James Comey spoke to the University of Chicago Law School Friday, Oct. 23, about rising homicides rates in some of the biggest cities in the U.S., including Tampa and Orlando. He said that “the increase is almost entirely among men of color, at crime scenes in bad neighborhoods where multiple guns are being recovered” and that cops are not to blame.
“If we really believe that all lives matter, as we must, all of us have to understand what is happening,” Comey said. “Communities of color need to demand answers. Police and civilian leaders need to demand answers. Academic researchers need to hit this hard.”
Baker was touched by the Police Lives Matter rally. He believes, whether it’s police lives or black lives, all voices should be heard.
“Everybody has the right of freedom of speech — good, bad and indifferent,” Baker said.
THE BUZZ
“For them to walk in front, carry the gun and know they they’re a walking target — I could never be a cop.” — Daryl Schwochert
“It feels pretty good. I wanted to come out and hold my sign like a statue.”
— Shawn Jones
“There are good officers out there.”
— James Vitiello
“We don’t get a lot of ‘thank yous.’ When we do, we don’t know how to act.”
— Sgt. Tony Gamez
Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com.