Tag: police officer

Does This Renew or Destroy Your Faith In Humanity?

On By Michel McDonaldIn NewsLeave a comment

homeless man gets boots

I was so touched when I read about the story of a police officer in New York City giving this homeless man socks and a $75 pair of Sketchers boots.  According to police officer Lawrence DePrimo, a two-year veteran of the NYPD, “he had blisters about the size of my hands.”  He felt sorry for the guy so he did a good deed and he paid with it out of his own pocket.  Bravo!

See, I was homeless when I was a teenager and when I was in my early 20’s, so any time I see anyone giving so generously to a homeless person who never asked for anything, it gives me hope.  However, this homeless man, now identified as Jeffrey Hillman had allegedly “sold” or “gave away” his new shoes, according to an article that I read.  Whether he did that or not didn’t diminish the good deed that Lawrence DePrimo did.  I still have faith in humanity.

I am just now finding out that Jeffrey Hillman isn’t homeless.  According to CNN…

“Jeffrey Hillman, who served in the military, is eligible for support through the federal Housing and Urban Development’s Veterans Affairs Support Housing program, Diamond said.

“Thanks to that program, Jeffrey Hillman has a Bronx apartment that has been paid for outright, Diamond said, emphasizing there was no need for the man to “panhandle on the streets to pay rent.” Diamond would not give any details about Jeffrey Hillman’s use of the apartment.”

The thing is, even knowing this “homeless guy” has an apartment, it doesn’t diminish the good deed done by Lawrence DePrimo who had no idea that the man he was helping didn’t need help.  We shouldn’t all lose our faith in humanity just because this homeless guy turned out to be faking being homeless because maybe he gets enough money to pay his rent, but what about his food?  Look at him, he’s skin and bones.  Perhaps he really doesn’t have shoes, I mean, according to the officer, he had blisters about the size of his hands on the bottoms of his feet, so maybe he doesn’t get enough money to get by.

I am not defending him, I’m just saying don’t throw your hands up in the air and say this whole thing was a fraud because the cop was still doing a good deed, and no matter what the outcome is, it was still a good will story and we needed some good news after hurricane Sandy.  Don’t give up on believing in humanity just because the guy who was surprised with a gift wasn’t really homeless.  The cop didn’t know that and he didn’t give him the boots for a publicity stunt, and the homeless man wasn’t expecting to receive any gifts that day.  According to the article on Huffington Post, “He smiled from ear to ear,” DePrimo said. “It was like you gave him a million dollars.”

What I’m really saying is, don’t be so skeptical about everyone because there are still some good people out there in the world doing good deeds.  They say “one apple spoils the barrel” but that doesn’t mean you should give up on everything else from here on out.  I still say that cop deserves a medal for his good deed and I thank him for his service and his gift.

DUI Check Point

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily BlogLeave a comment

It’s Friday and it’s also April fool’s day so you know people are going partying tonight to celebrate… er um… pranks?  We were on our way to Hometown Buffet tonight with a family friend of ours and we happened to get trapped in a DUI check point.

There were traffic cones in front of 2 of the neighborhoods so you couldn’t turn into them to get out of the trap, you were forced to go ahead.  It wasn’t clear that it was a DUI check point right away when there was opportunity to turn into the AM PM, Taco Bell parking lot or the freeway so from a distance it just looked like there was construction.

So there was just 1 lane and then all of a sudden it turns into 2 lanes, there is a police officer with a stop sign signaling for people to go into the right lane with another stop sign or allowing them to go on past the check point.  They were using the church parking lot as their mini police department and it was full of cars too.

We were lucky to have been let go and not be checked because that definitely would have ruined our night lol.  I guess they profiled us because Darrin didn’t look young and he was wearing a dress shirt and a tie.  I think if he were wearing a regular t-shirt like I was and if he were a bit disheveled he might have been chosen to get checked.

As we were passing we could see people in handcuffs, and that was only at 6:50pm.  Imagine what may have happened later tonight.  As we were coming home we saw that people were still being arrested and they were towing cars.

It’s funny, I have never in my life gone through a DUI check point, granted I don’t drive but still, even as a passenger I’ve never been through one.  In fact, this is the first time I’ve ever seen a DUI check point.  It was a shock to see there were so many people being stopped and how many cars that were sent to the church parking lot.  You know that if you got sent to the parking lot you are in trouble.

So is this a lesson for people?  Don’t drink and drive, and that’s not an April Fool’s joke either.

Shafter Police Officer Video Tapes Attack

On By Michel McDonaldIn NewsLeave a comment

I just saw this on the Bakersfield Californian website via Facebook.

Caught on tape: Shafter officer inadvertently videotapes himself beating suspect

This cop in Shafter turned off the safety on his taser which turned the video camera on and he inadvertently video taped himself beating a suspect who was not resisting arrest.  He had his taser in 1 hand and his baton in the other hand which is what he beat him with.

Q: Do you think the city and county ought to buy cameras for all their police tasers, like Shafter has done?

A: They have the dashboard cameras for chases, they should be video taped the entire time, not just when they pull people over but also when they have to run after a suspect and they are far from the vehicle. It protects them but it also protects us from them.

Britain has head-mounted video cameras for their police officers and I think that America needs that too.  Although, this article says that it cost $6 million dollars for 2,000 cameras and that’s probably more than our countries budget can afford, especially since the deficit is much higher now.  But perhaps this will be put in place some time in the future.  Maybe certain cities can buy 1 for each of their officers that go out on the streets only.  Maybe this will force them to be peace officers instead of dickhead officers.