Police officers every day go above and beyond the call of duty but their work in community policing does not always get the attention it deserves.
One police officer in Stockton, California, was called out to help a child found alone in the downtown area of the city.
Stockton Police Department (SPD) shared an image of the officer with the child on Facebook and described the way the officer helped this child who had special needs.
SPD said “#ItsWhatWeDo” when detailing the action the officer took.
A local resident called authorities after finding the child “scared and confused” alone.
A bike officer then located the child and managed to get him to hand over his bus pass to identify him. It was from this the officer learned the child had non-verbal autism.
The officer then gave the child a pen and pencil so he could write down any information to help locate his family.
“Through this form of communication, the officer was able to locate a family member and the child was safely reunited with a relative,” the post read.
‘Amazing job’
The post has been shared almost 8,000 times and has attracted hundreds of comments.
One person wrote: “Great training! My son with Autism ran away from school last year. He was found a mile away by a paramedic and SPD.
“They did an amazing job getting him to communicate and helped him feel safe. Thank you so much for all you do!”
It’s policing like this that not only restores our faith in our law and order authorities but can inspire others to do the right thing and not react to a situation they don’t understand with violence.
Please share to pay tribute to this wonderful officer and thank him for his service.