An honorary officer

Ethan Dixon, 9, sworn in as honorary Haymarket Police officer

By Robin Earl, Staff Writer

Anyone planning to attend a quiet Haymarket Town Council meeting Monday night was met with flashing lights, a blocked-off street lined with police and fire department vehicles and a raucous crowd gathered outside Town Hall.

Ethan Dixon with his family and Haymarket officers.

Hundreds of residents showed up — at the Facebook request of Haymarket Police Chief Kevin Lands — to show support for Ethan Dixon, a 9-year-old boy battling leukemia. Ethan was understandably overwhelmed by the cheering crowd, the lights and cameras.

“When I went to get Ethan to bring him out, he said, no, he wasn’t coming. I finally convinced him to come out by telling him that his grandma was watching on TV,” Lands said. The event was streaming on Facebook Live.

Ethan, who has always wanted to be a police officer, was officially sworn in as an honorary member of the Haymarket Police Department.

Lands said he came to know Ethan through his grandmother, Anna Thompson.

“About two or three months ago, she reached out to me. She said that she wanted to make Ethan a police officer’s uniform. He was so small, she couldn’t find one anywhere. She wanted to know if it was OK to replicate our patches and emblems. I sent her some of our patches and a hat.”

Chief Lands was overwhelmed by the community’s response. His Facebook video asking for people to show up for Ethan garnered nearly 171,000 views, more than 400 comments and almost 2,000 shares.

“I posted the video hoping 20 or 30 people would show up. By Monday, I thought that if even half the people show up, I’m in trouble,” Lands said. “We had a stage already set up from a Christmas event on Saturday, so we moved it outside.” Lands estimates that between 500 to 800 people were there to wish Ethan well. The crowd included representation from 13 or 14 police departments and numerous fire and rescue squads.