HAMPTON, Va. - Change is the request the community is demanding from the Hampton Police Division.
“I feel like at this point, all the protests, all the riots, everything - our voice has been heard,” said Walter Jones, who organized Friday's Black and Blue Unity March.
He believes it’s time to take action.
“We are dressed in suits because we mean business,” said David Olivis.
The organizers of the march invited police officers and their families to walk with them from the Hampton Harbor's parking lot to the police station.
“After everything that’s going on, we are focusing on what’s next, and what’s next is reform,” Olivis adds.
Organizers say marching is great, but being able to do it with police and ending right at their department is the best way to start the conversation about change. Assistant Police Chief Orrin Gallop agrees.
“What this is showing is that there hasn’t been that type of open conversation... that we’ve had surface conversations but if we go in depth and we deal with it,” Gallop adds.
City leaders believe it’s time to become a united force.
Related: How long will local protests last? Community organizers weigh in
“We are here because many of us, in the words of Fannie Lou Hamer, 'We are sick and tired of being sick and tired,'" adds Hampton Mayor Donnie Tuck.
Organizers say they are optimistic about the future.
“With them standing in solidarity with African Americans, this is the beginning,” said Lance Jones Jr.
The beginning of a potential long-standing relationship.
