A prayer vigil was held in Fort Lauderdale Tuesday for the five officers killed in Dallas as well as the men killed in Louisiana and Minnesota.
An "All Lives Matter" anthem was echoed at the vigil, where pastors put an empty casket at the center of the gathering as a reminder that death comes for everyone regardless of skin color.
"That's the message we want to get out to everyone, that we are one. Forget the black and white situation and talk about people," said Dr. Dennis Grant, senior pastor at Place of Restoration.
Broward County Sheriff's deputies, along with the top cop himself, Sheriff Scott Israel, lit candles in solidarity with the pastors and community leaders in mourning.
They remembered the five Dallas police officers killed last week, along with Alton Sterling and Philando Castile who both died at the hands of law enforcement.
"United we stand and divided we fall. If we continue to separate from everything happening around us we will certainly fall," said Dr. Gwen Denton, of Lauderdale Lakes.
"This isn't a time for lawlessness or hate, it's a time for love and healing and compassion and to make sure justice and truth is served, not injustice," Sheriff Israel said.
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Sheriff Israel said he wants to build trust between the community and his deputies. He said he's bringing in an independent consultant to look at BSO's training program and give recommendations on how to improve.
"I'm going to invite them to our agency to let them come under the hood and see how we train and diffuse and de-escalate situations," he said.
It's the kind of change the group wants to see, so the expressions of unity transfer to the street.
