Durham Grit Award

Tattered relations between police and disaffected communities to not yield to quick fixes, certainly not simplistic soft-drink commericials and, no, not to a grilled-hotdog lunch.

But have no doubt that the Durham Police Officers who fired up a grill at McDougald Terrace Tuesday made a lot more progress in breaking down barriers with that community than Pepsi did with its much-maligned television commercial. It’s the kind of on-the-ground, sweat-in-the game effort that can’t help but make a difference.

Take the reaction of Jamaya Currie, 12, who acknowledged she generally is scared when she sees police officers. Tuesday, she watched officers cook lunch and had a different view.

“It shows they are nice and stuff,” she said. “And they are not here to hurt you.”

For their instilling that insight one child at a time — and for all their service — District 4 leader Capt. Daniel Edwards and all the officers who served that lunch have earned this week’s Durham Grit Award.

This story was originally published April 14, 2017 at 4:43 PM with the headline "Durham Grit Award."