Local law enforcement agencies took part in the National Faith & Blue event Monday morning at Penny's Kitchen in downtown Sault Ste. Marie.
The event ran from 10 a.m. to noon.
This is the fourth year the event has been held nationally, but the second year local agencies participated.
The national Faith & Blue was launched in 2020 to facilitate safer, stronger, more just and unified communities by directly enabling local partnerships among law enforcement professionals, residents, businesses and community groups through the connections of local faith-based organizations.
The Michigan State Police, Chippewa County Sheriff's Department and Sault Ste. Marie City Police were all represented.
Brenda Eagle-Ransom, First Presbyterian Church Layman Pastor, and Jay F. Goldsborough, Community Baptist Pastor both participated in the event.
Eagle-Ransom did not attend last year but made it a point to this time around.
"Getting to know who they are, realizing they are real people, just like the rest of us. They just have a different uniform that they wear. It's great to keep our law enforcement and our faith leaders together with this kind of communication," Eagle-Ransom said.
Mike Mariuzzi, Michigan State Police Trooper, thinks it's a great program to help bring law enforcement and communities together with the help of faith-based organizations.
"It's nice to be able to sit and meet with different businesses, different community members, and just answer any questions and concerns they have or anything they want to talk about. It's a good opportunity to sit down and have a little time, a little more time than we normally would," Mariuzzi said.
