The York-Poquoson Sheriff’s office announced Monday that its patrol cars new bear a new decal reading “In God We Trust.”
Sheriff J.D. “Danny” Diggs, who announced the move in a lengthy Facebook post, said the decision was made in an effort to honor God “by acknowledging him for his blessings upon us and it shows our patriotism by displaying our national motto.”
Diggs ordered about 100 decals for the department’s 50 marked patrol cars. Diggs said he paid for the decals, which cost about $1,480, out of his own pocket.
The decision has been in the works for about two years, Diggs said, and he decided to go ahead with it as part of a larger graphics update for the patrol cars and after seeing other police departments and sheriffs’ offices around the country do the same. A check of local departments, though, found York County to be the exception. Among the police and sheriff departments that do not bear a spiritual message are Newport News, Hampton, Poquoson and Williamsburg, along with Gloucester, Mathews, Isle of Wight and James City counties.
Diggs, a Christian, said the purpose was twofold: to display his office’s patriotism and to “honor God.”
And he was clearly ready for pushback — his 2,400-word post includes lengthy quotations from the Code of Virginia and from congressional resolutions and cites federal, state and U.S. Supreme Court rulings.
The phrase “in God we trust” was adopted as the national motto of the United States in 1956 and has been repeatedly upheld as constitutional, but has long been the target of secular groups who say the motto is exclusionary.
Reached by phone Monday afternoon, Diggs dismissed the idea.
“It doesn’t say ‘in Jesus we trust.’ … Everybody has a God — the Jews and the Muslims have a God. Hindus and Buddhists and everybody else has a God, except, let’s say, atheists,” Diggs said. “I don’t get why atheists would be so threatened by something that doesn’t exist to them.”
Diggs made clear that the office doesn’t respond differently to people based on their religious or political preferences.
“It doesn’t say, ‘If you don’t believe in Jesus, we’re not going to respond to your call,’ ” he said.
Diggs said he floated the idea within the office and externally but hadn’t talked to anyone with the York County or Poquoson governments about it.
“If it blows up in my face, it blows up in my face. It’s not on them,” Diggs said.
York County Supervisor Sheila Noll learned about the new decals from a reporter on Monday afternoon.
“It’s a worthwhile motto but I don’t know if it’s appropriate on a vehicle in case there are others who don’t feel the same way,” she said.
Later, Noll said Diggs “is a constitutional officer. The county doesn’t control him.”
Chad Green, another York County supervisor, said he’d heard about the move from several people Monday afternoon and wholeheartedly supported Diggs.
“‘In God We Trust’ is on our money. I have no problem with it,” Green said. “If it’s good enough for our currency, it’s good enough for our county deputies’ cars.”
Local nonbelievers found the decals offensive.
Aiden Barnes, an atheist who lives on the Peninsula, thinks the decals will worsen the trust issues and tension between citizens and law enforcement that has been a growing issue all over the country.
“What was wrong with ‘To Protect and Serve’?” Barnes asked. “This is a government office showing preference for a belief in a deity…. That says to me, as a resident of the area, that since I don’t believe in God I’m not as valued to these people.”
Star LaBranche, an atheist who lives in Hampton and drives through York County often, said the new decals make her uncomfortable.
“I feel like police should protect everyone and making a public statement with religious conviction like that just doesn’t sit well with me,” LaBranche said.
Larry Jones, senior minister at Northside Christian Chuch in Yorktown, favors the decals if the deputies driving the cars want them there.
“If it’s encouraging for them to have a reminder on their cars that God is with them for the things they endure on a daily basis, then they should have it,” Jones said.
Diggs said if a deputy had an issue with the decal, he would discuss it case by case.
The post, which went up on Facebook a little after 11 a.m. Monday, had garnered about 2,300 likes and generated more than 350 comments by 6 p.m. It had been shared more than 750 times.
In the comment thread, reactions were split. The majority lauded Diggs, many thanking him for his actions.
Others complained that the decals were a way for Diggs to try to spread his faith, that nonbelievers may feel that the sheriff’s office doesn’t represent them and that they were worried about the separation of church and state.
One woman, Stephanie Armstrong, wrote that she regretted voting for Diggs and that she viewed the decals as a way for him to “proselytize your specific religion.”
In the announcement posted on Facebook, Diggs says that having the phrase on the cars “is not an attempt to urge anyone to support or convert to any one religion.”
Black can be reached by phone at 757-247-4607; Clift can be reached at 757-247-7870; and Murphy can be reached at 757-247-4760.
