Valley man shows support for police officers

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - It is a widely recognized symbol, the thin blue line, representing support for police officers around the country.

One Phoenix man is showing his support for police by painting the symbol in front of his house and in front of his neighbor's homes.

"I know that without them we'd have a chaotic society," said Larry Rose.

With a little hard work and a bit of paint, Larry Rose is showing everyone that he supports police officers.

"They've gotten such a bad rap lately; everyone's been coming down on them. I thought somebody needed to stand up and stand behind them, and tell them we're with them all the way," he said.

Larry says this movement started in his neighborhood near 7th Street and Bell after he painted a blue line in front of his home.

"I bought a whole can of paint just to do this little stripe, and I figured well I got all this extra paint left over, and I could put it to good use," said Rose.

And the neighbors love it.

"Anything that can draw attention to the police department in a positive standpoint is something that is going to work well for everybody, as a neighborhood I think it's a good thing, and to send a signal to them that they're being supported," said a neighbor.

Police officers have taken notice; Larry flagged down an officer to show him the blue line.

"He really got quite emotional and thanked me, and said it's tremendous to see this support from the public," said Rose.

Larry has painted nine blue lines in his neighborhood so far, and now he's getting some help.

"There is a fantastic young man who lives up the street that goes to high school, he's volunteered to help me on this," he said.

The thin blue line has a special meaning to that young man.

"His grandfather is a retired police officer," said Rose.

Rose hopes more people will do this, to show their support for officers.

"They're there to protect us and to help us, not to hurt us," he said.

Larry says he will be painting more blue lines later on this week.