Patrolman Keith Perry: Officer’s Act Of Compassion Before Snowstorm

The true duties of a police officer are to serve and protect, and Patrolman Keith Perry, from the Seekonk Police Department of Massachusetts, lives up to that pledge every day. In fact, Patrolman Perry goes above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to serving his community.

Patrolman Keith Perry, along with Patrolman Adam Laprade, recently responded to a call at a local Walmart store regarding a woman who had fainted in the bathroom. Perry soon learned that the woman who had fainted was homeless and hadn’t had anything to eat in a while.

Being homeless and hungry is a horrible situation, and to make matters even more dire for the woman who had fainted, snow was coming down quickly, and a major snow accumulation was being called for in that area.

With snow falling outside and a woman with no food and no place to shelter inside, Patrolman Perry took money out of his own pocket and bought her groceries, and then arranged for her to stay in a hotel room through the storm. His local police department confirmed this act of kindness to the Huffington Post. Furthermore, this act of living out the time-honored concept of “to protect and serve” was caught on camera by Patrolman Laprade, who shared it on the police department’s Facebook page, where Perry’s gesture was summed up perfectly.

“Officer Perry epitomizes the meaning of public service.”

And that certainly does ring true.

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Lt. David Dyson explained to news outlets that his colleagues had arrived at the Walmart after the woman had fainted in the bathroom and that it was his concern over her lack of shelter and hunger that prompted Perry to act. After securing the woman a hotel room, he bought bread, peanut butter, and jelly, as well as various snacks and beverages so that she would have something to eat while the storm raged on outside.

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As for Patrolman Kerry, he has been surprised by the overwhelming outpouring of praise and support that his simple, kind, and compassionate acts have garnered him. But, Lt. Dyson says, no one who knows Patrolman Kerry is the least bit surprised that the plight of the homeless woman spurred him into action. Kerry is known by everyone for his compassion, as well as his tendency to go above and beyond the call of duty required for an officer.

“This is just typical of Keith Perry,” Dyson said. “Everyone said he did a great job, and I agree!”

Addressing homelessness and hunger, if even for a night or two, if even just for one woman, is an act of compassion and kindness. But it’s certainly not the first time an officer has made the news for a seemingly simple act of compassion. Cops are often getting “caught” in acts of extreme kindness, and as the men and women who serve and protect our communities, these stories are even more common than many may think. In Indianapolis, a police officer stopped at a red light near an exit off a busy interstate, where a homeless man named Fred frequently panhandled, and instead of giving him a ticket, the police officer grabbed a new pair of boots from his trunk and presented those to Fred, instead. And there was another pair of cops who responded to an elderly couple’s call and discovered that they didn’t actually need help — they were just lonely. But rather than admonish the couple for calling emergency services, the cops brewed the couple a pot of tea and sat down to share a cup.

[Image via Shutterstock]