Too often we only focus on the negative in life. Especially with the current political climate, it can be hard to remember that law enforcement is here to protect us and improve the community.
That's why this story of a rookie police officer helping a family in need is going viral.
Officer Leonardo Almeida, a 25-year-old rookie, was doing his regular patrol at 2:30am on Monday morning when he came across something troubling.
There was a parked car and Almeida could see a man sleeping inside. When he got closer to the vehicle, Almeida noticed there were more people than he thought.
"They located a male party sleeping in the driver side and a female in the passenger side. In the back of the truck, 2 children, age 2 and 3 years old," said Taunton Police Department Lt. Paul Roderick.
The family was homeless, with only their Chevy Silverado to live out of. Officer Almeida was left heartbroken.
"Our new officer took it upon himself to make arrangements because they had no place to stay, because it was cool in the evening," said Lt. Roderick. "They explained to the front desk, out of the goodness of his own heart, he paid $190 to stay at the evening."
Dad told the police their family house had just been sold and they didn't have a place to go, so their car was the only option. They had been staying with Dad's mom for a while, but she was just renting her place so when she moved out, they were left stranded.
A rookie cop on patrol finds a homeless family sleeping in a car. 2children were in the backseat. This officer helped the family in need. pic.twitter.com/W0dQxjuBQK
— Malini Basu (@WFXTMalini) May 30, 2017
Officer Almeida didn't even tell his bosses what he did, because it wasn't for the attention. It was out of the goodness of his heart.
"I'm proud of James Olivera, the Field Training Officer, and Leonardo, my opinion, he's a humble man and cut out for this job," said Lt. Roderick.
