A single act of kindness can go a long way, and come from anywhere.
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To police officer Justin Roby, serving the community is about more than administering justice.
On January 17, Roby received a call reporting a shoplifter at a London, Kentucky Kroger supermarket.
He arrived to find the alleged criminal was a single father attempting to steal formula for his 6-month-old child. Living on the edge of poverty, the man reportedly used thievery as a last resort.
Instead of arresting the man, Roby purchased the formula for him while explaining local services designed to help those in poverty feed themselves and their children.
Happily, the Kroger’s manager decided not to press charges.
Roby said cops are often viewed negatively, but the reality is slightly different.
He told WKYT,
Behind the uniform, I’m a human being and I’m a person out in this community just like any of them.
I have a little boy. I’m a father just like that gentleman was.
The kind officer called upon his community to examine the “gray” areas of situations like these, in which one simple purchase can change the path of a life.
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Originally posted on Elite Daily
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Photo: Aaron Fulkerson
This police officer never forgot that he was and still is a member of the community that he is to protect and serve.. This cop fulfilled the #7 principle of Sir Robert Peel’s 9 Principles of Policing: PRINCIPLE 7 “Police, at all times, should maintain a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the INTERESTS of community welfare and existence.”… Read more »