We meet Dr. Willard Maxwell, Jr., Pastor of New Beech Grove Baptist Church located in Newport News, Virginia. Dr. Maxwell started the InTouch basketball tournament in Newport News to build better relationships between citizens and law enforcement. The InTouch Basketball Tournament includes first responders from all over the Virginia Peninsula; the sheriff’s department, police officers & more. The games come to a culmination with the winning community team playing the winner of the first responder team. The tournament brings together individuals that normally would not interact in such a positive way, says Dr. Maxwell. Normally community members only interact with police when there has been a crime or if they are being questioned. Unfortunately, police do not have many occasions to see citizens in a positive light. The InTouch basketball games, police dog demonstrations, bounce houses, information tables and more permit law enforcement to have positive interactions with citizens.
The tournament started a couple of years ago, after Dr. Maxwell had an unfortunate interaction with a police officer during a traffic incident. He was struck by how easily he could have become a statistic after he was misunderstood by the officer. Dr. Maxwell said that God gave him the idea to form an event that brought together members of the community and the police. This event has been said to cut down crime in Newport News and has improved community relationships. Police have requested the event to be annual and it was a police chief’s idea to make the tournament expand to several gyms in the area, for easier access for the community. It is important to go to the community and bring Christ to those in need, instead of waiting for the lost to walk into the church he also said.