Blue Strong shows support for local law enforcement

JACKSON, Tenn. — Blue Strong showed their support for law enforcement Wednesday on National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day.

“I kept saying, someone needs to do something, the community needs to do something, so he pulls out his cellphone, and says, ‘OK do it,'” Ann Luther, founder of Blue Strong, said.

And that’s how Blue Strong in Jackson was started. Luther says she got the urge after hearing things people were saying on the news.

“I heard those people chanting ‘what kind of cops do you like, dead cops.’ We’ve got to put a voice out there that says we’re backing these people,” Luther said.

To show their support, members of Blue Strong were all over Madison County Wednesday delivering treats for officers and deputies. Blue Strong members delivered everything from donuts to fruit and even cookies in super hero bags.

“Even the early morning shift and the midnight shift out of the penal farm,” Tammy Buchanan, liaison for the city of Jackson, said. “It’s a great way for the Blue Strong community that we are here in Jackson and West Tennessee to just avalanche law enforcement with appreciation.”

Law enforcement said they’re just doing a job they feel called to do.

“It is absolutely wonderful to know that we got the backing and support of our community,” Randall Blankenship, a Madison County deputy, said. “It makes the job a whole lot easier to do when you know you got the support from the community.”

And Luther says as the years go by she hopes they can enlist as many people as possible into Blue Strong.

To show your support, Blue Strong is asking community members to display their blue lights at their homes and businesses through Jan. 31.