St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson and other local cops are putting high heels on this weekend.
For a good cause!
The head of the metro department and other officers are participating in an event called "Walk a Mile in Her Shoes" tomorrow, which aims to raise awareness about sexual violence. Dotson, the organizers tell Daily RFT, will in fact be wearing heels alongside other men in uniform.
St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay will also be attending, but we hear that he will not be putting on heels. But he will be making a speech! County Executive Charlie Dooley and East St. Louis Mayor Alvin Parks will also give remarks...and will also probably not wear heels.
Organizers expect more than 100 men to participate -- putting on women's shoes and walking from the Missouri Athletic Club onto the Eads Bridge "to draw attention to sexual assault and to engage men in the effort to stop it," a news release says.
The event is organized by YWCA Metro St. Louis, which operates a regional sexual assault center locally.
The organization's center provides in-person crisis intervention 24/7 at seventeen area emergency rooms. It offers free counseling to assault victims as well as sexual assault response training for local police and medical personnel.
Last year, the group served nearly 900 sexual assault victims.
James Laurinaitis of the St. Louis Rams is also expected to attend (though probably won't be in heels):
The event starts at 9 a.m. tomorrow with registration at the Missouri Athletic Club at 405 Washington Avenue.
Here's a statement from Adrian Bracy, CEO of YWCA, on tomorrow's walk:
We are very proud of the work done by our staff and volunteers at the YWCA's St. Louis Regional Sexual Assault Center and we salute all the courageous survivors of sexual assault who have received services at the center. This walk is our way of asking the community to work toward the day when we don't have to provide those services to nearly 900 victims, as we did last year, because sexual assault is no longer tolerated in our society.
And here's a photo the YWCA sent Daily RFT of Demetrious Johnson, Tim Ezell of KTVI (Channel 2) and YWCA CEO Adrian Bracy.
Support @chiefslmpd and his team as they brave high-heels to "Walk A Mile in Her Shoes" to combat sexual violence! twitter.com/SLMPD/status/3...
— St. Louis, MO Police (@SLMPD) June 4, 2013
"Walk A Mile in Her Shoes" is this Sat., 9am @ Missouri Athletic Club. Check out the flyer for more info! #WalkAMile twitter.com/SLMPD/status/3...
— St. Louis, MO Police (@SLMPD) June 4, 2013
Every 2 minutes, someone is the United States is sexually assaulted. In 2012, our Department alone handled over 400 cases. #walkamile
— St. Louis, MO Police (@SLMPD) June 7, 2013
The St. Louis Regional Sexual Assault Center (SART) provides 24-hour crisis support, couseling & advocacy, reach them at 531-7273.#walkamile
— St. Louis, MO Police (@SLMPD) June 7, 2013
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