By Charles Owens
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
TAZEWELL, Va. — Sheriff’s department cruisers in Tazewell County will soon be displaying the words “In God We Trust.”
The special wording is being added to all of the sheriff’s office cruisers with the help of the East River Church in Bluefield and the Triangle Sportsmen’s Club, Tazewell County Sheriff Brian Hieatt said.
Hieatt said the sheriff’s office recently completed its largest concealed weapons permit class to date with the help of the church and the sportsman’s club. Even though the class was free, Hieatt said several of the 87 individuals who participated in the weapons course wanted to help the sheriff’s office meet its goal of having the special lettering placed on all of the department’s marked cars.
“Our department feels very strongly about having In God We Trust on our vehicles,” Hieatt said in a press release Monday. “We know there is nothing we can do for our community without the guidance of our Lord. We want the public to know that we have strong Christian men and women serving their community. Members of the department actually hold weekly Bible study meetings, and we are thankful that Pastor (Tim) Boyd opened up his church for our class and then donated to our cause.”
The plan is to have the “In God We Trust” wording added to all of the marked cruisers, Major Harold Heatley with the sheriff’s office said.
“We are hoping in the next couple of weeks to have all of them done,” Heatley said of the “In God We Trust” wording.
Heatley said several other law enforcement agencies in the state already display the “In God We Trust” wording on their police cruisers, including sheriff’s departments in Lee and Wythe counties.
“It is something we decided we would like to do, and we had a couple of church organizations that have paid for it at no cost,” Heatley said.
Hieatt said the East River Church is the fourth church to host a concealed weapons class in the county. He said the Horsepen Church of Christ also donated for the lettering to be added to the cruisers.
Copyright 2016 the Bluefield Daily Telegraph