When officer Jonathan McLeod of the Hayward police department stopped a car with an expired tag, he was just doing his job.
He stopped cars with expired tags all the time so this was part of his work routine.
But when he talked to the driver, it became more than just routine.
It turned out the driver was a woman and she had her two small children in her car with her.
“I could tell they had either been living in the vehicle, or they go from place to place in the vehicle,” Officer Mcleod said.
And when the woman handed her driver’s license, what she said confirmed Officer McLeod’s thoughts.
“She gave me her license and she told me, ‘Hey, my license is suspended right now. This is all I have, me and my children. We go from to to shelter to shelter,'” Officer McLeod recalled.
Normally, when he apprehended a car with an expired tag and an expired or suspended license for the driver, he would have the car towed.
But this time, Officer McLeod was pulled to do something different.
When Officer McLeod pulled them over, the woman had stopped at the parking lot of a McDonald’s. So he asked her if the children had already eaten and the woman said they hadn’t yet.
Motioning to McDonald’s, Officer McLeod added, “That’s when I said, ‘Hey we’re already here, let’s go inside and get you something to eat.'”
They both parked their cars and went inside the fast-food restaurant. He told them to order whatever they wanted and he would pay for it.
He paid for their food and left so they can enjoy their meal. He left without giving her a ticket.
He didn’t tell the police department what he did and he just wanted to keep the experience for himself.
But there was a customer who was there who noticed what Officer McLeod did. He offered to split the bill with Officer McLeod but the police officer declined.
The customer took a photo of the gesture and sent it to the Hayward police department to commend the police officer’s kind gesture.
Now that the secret is out, Officer McLeod hopes that his act of kindness will give people a different perspective about law enforcement officers.
“Each person I make contact with, I at least want to leave them with the impression – ‘Wow, that officer with Hayward PD, Officer Mcleod, he was a great guy,” he said.
And the police department is thankful to Officer McLeod for his act of kindness.
Hayward police Sgt. Ryan Cantrell said, “The impact that one encounter has, that one moment that Officer Mcleod had with that lady is going to resonate for the rest of her life and her children, too.”
Thanks to police officers like Officer John McLeod, there are still members of the police department who still look out for the welfare of their citizens. And they should be recognized to restore the people’s trust in the police department.
Watch the video below to learn more about Officer McLeod’s act of kindness.
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