Officer Michael Rivers has worked with the Goldsboro Police Department in North Carolina for nine years, during which time he has become familiar with the faces of the city’s homeless population. However, on Wednesday, he spotted a woman who was homeless and hadn’t seen her before. And he looked at her shirt. “Homeless,” it said. The quickest route to oblivion.
He had his windows down, so they exchanged a quick “Hey” and looked at each other. According to Rivers, he drove away, but something kept nagging at him to turn around.
“I felt compelled by God to get her lunch,” the 29-year-old police officer told CNN. “I asked her, ‘Hey, did you eat today?’ as I turned around. And she responded, “No.”
So he went to a local pizzeria, got himself some pepperoni and cheese pizzas, and sat down on the lawn next her. Rivers claimed that although the pizza they shared was delicious, the discussion was even better.
Rivers and the homeless woman—who he claimed to be Michelle—talked about their lives for forty-five minutes. And a bystander snapped a picture of the endearing moment, which her husband posted on Facebook.
Chris Barnes said on Facebook, “Law enforcement does so much for our community, with a lot of it going unnoticed.” The post has since received over 3,000 shares and close to 1,000 likes.
“You are seen by Goldsboro P.D. Keep up the fantastic job, Barnes said.
Michelle revealed to Rivers that she has a 12-year-old daughter in foster care who is battling liver disease as soon as they speak. According to Rivers, she also has a 23-year-old son. While they talked, her homeless husband stood on the other side of the street.
Following their completion of their meal, the two parted ways. However, Rivers claimed that the conversation helped him realize that Michelle and he shared similar perceptions of the world.
People who are homeless are frequently rejected by society and held responsible for creating their own circumstances.
In the meantime, Rivers expressed his opinion that because society only pays attention to the “bad apples,” police personnel are frequently perceived negatively.
However, according to Rivers, “homeless people are just people who are down on their luck.” “Anyone can experience it.”
Furthermore, according to Rivers, he didn’t become a police officer in order to make people’s days miserable.
“When I get to work, I ask myself, ‘Who can I bless today?'” Whom am I able to cheer up? stated Rivers. “I don’t want to take away someone’s mother or father and put them in jail.”
Police Chief Michael West claims to have praised Rivers for his kind deed after seeing the photo making the rounds on social media.
“This picture just shows we’re human like anyone else and any chance we get to serve the community and help people, we take that chance,” West told CNN. “The circumstances around our job are often an unpleasant call to service.” Officer Rivers is a very fortunate addition to our department.
