Andalusia Police Department and its auxiliary, Behind the Blue, will hold a prayer circle on the Court Square this morning.

The event will begin at 8:30 a.m.

“We are inviting and asking for all area law enforcement, first responders, and supporters to attend,” said Brandy Hudson, organizer. “Those joining hands will be praying for peace in our nation, peace between officers and citizens, the lives that have been lost, and healing for all the victims, families and communities.

The week has been full of controversial shootings by law enforcement officers of black men in Baton Rouge and Minnesota and a slew of officers were killed in Dallas Thursday evening after a protest.

“There are two reasons why besides the obvious (for having the event),” she said. “(APD Chief)Paul (Hudson) and I discussed on the way to a doctor’s appointment today that we work to remain so involved with our community that people will know our officers, feel safe by the officers helping them, and we don’t feel as distanced from the citizens by interacting with them on a continual basis through community events.”

Hudson said police can hide in their homes and pretend the issues will go away, but they want to show everyone that they are safe in Andalusia.

“Our law enforcement and community are all together and can be united and fight against the hatred that is going on around us,” she said.

Hudson said the second reason for the prayer event is that a rookie officer’s wife asked her what could they do.

“My answer is always the same – we can support our men and women who protect and serve us,” she said. “We can’t go out and do the jobs for them. We can’t fight the social media battles for them. As (spouses), we can’t make our husbands/wives or families more of a target than they already are by putting on their badge each morning through arguing with people who refuse to listen or understand, but one thing we can all do together is pray. So, that’s what we’re going to do.”