He built it, and they came.
After months of planning and nearly $5,000 in donations, Gainesville Police Officer Bobby White held a grand opening Sunday for his latest community basketball court.
Located behind the Upper Room of Greater Gainesville church, 3575 NE 15th St., the full-sized court came with two adjustable hoops and a “Hoops Not Crime” insignia at its center.
The hoop was built as part of his Basketball Cop Foundation, which White started after a video of him playing basketball with kids following a noise complaint amassed millions of views on the department’s Facebook page.
On Sunday, 7-year-old Jaheim Black took jump shots from all over the court. He plays basketball nearly every weekend, his mother, Keda Sermons, said, but he had not lived near any courts. However, since the court opened three weeks ago, Black has become a regular.
“It’s good so we don’t have to walk so far,” Sermons said, adding that occupying Black’s time with a sport may keep him from turning to neighborhood-driven crime.
Karl Anderson, a church senior pastor, said there has been an increase in gang activity on Northeast 15th Street recently, which often leads the area’s youth down a path of crime.
“We’re combatting with unity,” he said. “We’re combatting with something healthy and fun.”
At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, attended by about 40 people, White, GPD Chief Tony Jones and Alachua County Sheriff Sadie Darnell spoke about the importance of building police-community relations.
The new court is the second project White has completed in the city. His first court was built in February at the site of the viral video.
For his next project, White said he wants to build a court at an apartment complex elsewhere in the city.
“If the community wants to keep this going,” he said, “keep supporting.”
The court located at the Upper Room of Greater Gainesville church was also built as part of the Basketball Cop Foundation in August 2016.
