When we hear about police officers in the news, it is often something that is very negative. The media tends to prey on the dark side of life because they realize it attracts more viewers. The fact of the matter is, however, many police officers still take their role of protecting and serving the community very seriously. They work tirelessly day and night to ensure that we can feel safe and secure in our homes.
Do you ever feel as if police officers are only the individuals we call when we have an emergency? It may be true that we would call on them during that time but they also do many small things throughout the day that in most cases go unnoticed. Those small acts of kindness that they perform are the reason why they are public servants and we can be comfortable with the fact that they are out there.
Recently, two police officers from Tukwila, Washington have been in the news. They have captivated a national audience and they never gave up their identity. The story was shared by the local police department and those two police officers saw a child running through the park with torn, dirty socks and he had a serious caught on the bottom of his foot.
The police officers knew that he needed help so they intervened in an amazing way.
“Sooo…Sergeant Modest and Officer Bashful (names have been changed to protect their bashfulness) were patrolling on foot at Cascade View Park yesterday afternoon. They came across this guy running around in torn dirty socks and bleeding from a decent sized cut on the bottom of his foot. The sergeant cleaned up and patched his foot with his first aid kit. When asked where his shoes were, their new friend told them that he didn’t have any shoes because the pair he had was too small for his feet to fit in.”
“The sergeant ran out and grabbed a pair of shoes for him while the officer kept him and his friend’s company. He came back with not only a pair of shoes but also with a bunch of popsicles because what isn’t better than a cold popsicle on a hot summer day?! The officer helped to tie his new friend’s shoes and they all enjoyed a popsicle together before parting ways.”
There is nothing quite like a story with a sweet ending. After this story hit Facebook, it went viral. Thousands of people were sharing and liking the post from the very start. The police department was also touched and they posted a reply:
“What our officers did is no different than what officers do daily all over the country. It is representative of the small acts of kindness that occur daily between police officers and members of the communities that they serve nationwide. A small gesture such as this one or the countless other gestures of kindness that officers do daily goes a long way towards building rapport and trust with every member of the community regardless of their socioeconomic status.”