ELWOOD, Ind. (AP) - Ever since he could remember, Trey Edens wanted to be a police officer.
According to his dad, Lynn, who worked as a dispatch operator for the Elwood Police Department and then Madison County, Trey grew up around police officers. Instead of toys, sports equipment or video games, Trey asked for police uniforms, belts and badges for his birthday and Christmas.
In Elwood, Trey is well known for wearing his replica Elwood police uniforms around. He has three EPD uniforms and a couple Madison County Sheriff Department outfits.
Just days before his 10th birthday a few weeks ago, someone took a picture of Trey in his uniform and posted it on the Internet. Edens said along with the picture, the person who took the picture also said some disparaging things about his son and those associated with the Elwood police.
Unaccustomed to the lack of respect people can have toward police officers, Trey wasn’t so sure he wanted to be a police officer or play with his uniform any more after he saw the pictures.
The Facebook page known as Police Blotter got wind of what happened in Elwood and asked Trey’s dad if it was OK to use the picture. Lynn Edens said he was hesitant at first because of what had happened a few days earlier.
“I wasn’t quite sure who they were or how they were going to use it,” he told The Herald Bulletin (https://bit.ly/1m3MwNt ). “But after they said it was a Facebook page of police officers all over the world I felt a little more comfortable.”
Jason Crawford is a police officer in Ohio who is one of the administrators of the Police Blotter. He put the picture online and told the law enforcement community what happened to Trey.
The outpouring of support was immediate and overwhelming. Trey said he came home from school on his birthday to tens of thousands of messages supporting him and his career choice even at a fairly young age.
Some of his favorite comments were from England bobbies and military police officers stationed overseas in the Middle East.
Trey said the support left him more convinced than ever to continue his dream of joining the law enforcement in the future.
“All the support really showed that all police officers have each other’s back,” Trey said. “I learned a lot about the thin blue line.”
Trey realized that while the community of officers and law enforcement may be a small one, it is one full of camaraderie. The overwhelming amount of support for him showed him that.
“I found out not everybody likes police. Some people are really bad,” Trey said. “But I also learned that family of the thin blue line stick together.”
For a 10-year-old, all the attention was a lot to take in.
“I think he was even a little embarrassed by all the comments and people talking about him,” Lynn said. “He doesn’t see it as that big of a deal.”
In addition to the support via Facebook messages, police departments from around the country decided to send in pins and badges for Trey to keep as a memento. Over the past few weeks, the Edens household has been inundated with t-shirts, badges, pins and other police department memorabilia from officers wanting to show support.
“One department said they were sending us all of their extra stuff in a warehouse,” Trey’s dad said. “I don’t think we have room for all this stuff but it is definitely a cool thing.”
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Information from: The Herald Bulletin, https://www.theheraldbulletin.com
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