'Nation's Largest Back The Blue Rally' Coming To Hauppauge

HAUPPAUGE, NY — A "Back the Blue" rally is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday in Hauppauge. The event will meet outside of the H. Lee Dennison Building, at 100 Veterans Memorial Highway.

It's expected to be the largest pro-police rally in the United States, as law enforcement associations and unions representing more than 80,000 law enforcement officers from the New York-Metropolitan region will be joined by Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association President Noel DiGerolamo, Nassau County Police Benevolent Association President James McDermott, and New York City Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch, according to a news release.

More than 2,500 police officers, law enforcement families, and local residents are projected to attend the event while displaying large pro-police signs and "thin-blue-line" American flags to support the men and women in law enforcement.

Widows and families of fallen law enforcement officers are expected to speak at the rally. Crime has spiked in New York, especially in New York City, where shootings doubled in August and murder is up by 50 percent, according to the Suffolk Police Benevolent Association.

"The number of police officers killed in the line of duty has surged 28% nationally as anti-police rhetoric, protesting, and riots continue across the nation," the release states.

As of Thursday, 37 United States law enforcement officers have been reported killed in connection with a felony in 2020, according to FBI data. During the previous year for the same time period, 33 officers were feloniously killed.

The 28 percent figure cited by the SPBA reflects the national numbers as of a July year-to-date comparison, according to an ABC 7 report.