NORFOLK, Va. (WVEC) – He’s a young Norfolk Police Officer, with a big goal of connecting with the younger generation.
“I want to get rid of the ‘us versus them mentality,’ and just have it be the ‘us’ because we all want the same thing,” said Officer Josh White.
Officer White said when he is out and about in the community, he often gets questions about his gun belt, and the tools he carries around every day to do his job.
But he believed that the best way to connect with the youth in our area, is by putting the badge away and doing something that most kids enjoy — video games.
With the help of a local businessman, he was able to afford several Xbox consoles and games.
“We had a Madden tournament, we dropped our gear, kind of dressed down and really separated ourselves from the uniform and the badge,” he explained.
His first two events drew in quite the crowd, and hopefully achieved exactly what he wanted.
“At the end of the day, once I take this off, I’m a person, we have very similar interests … a lot of things people have in common but they don’t see and they just look at the badge,” said Officer White.
Officer White and his partner are planning more events in the future.
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