Police Officer Helps Homeless Woman and Her Child

Day News

September 3, 2015

A police officer from Hyattsville Md, stepped up for a homeless woman and her 1 year-old child, when no one else would help them.

Corporal Che Atkinson, from the Prince George’s County Police Department, was filling out some paperwork, when a front desk officer approached to him and said there was lady with a baby at the office, who said they were homeless.

Corporal Atkinson went out to speak with the lady, and she told him she left an abusive home, then stayed in a shelter, but they had to leave. That’s when she decided to go to the police station.

The officer then started to make phone calls, trying to find a social worker, or a relative who could pick up the lady and her child. Finally, he got a hold of a distant relative, who agreed to pick them up. However, when Corporal Atkinson arrived to work the next morning, he found the woman still sitting in the same place she was the night before. Apparently, the relative wasn’t going to be able to come at least for another day.

The officer then decided to take things in his own hands, and took the pair to a nearby hotel. With his own money he paid for one night, so they had a nice place to sleep. He also bought them food and drinks, because it was 2 days since they had eaten.

The woman is now staying with relatives, but the news about Corporal Atkinson’s act of kindness are still spreading. When he was about to transport the woman and child to the hotel, his sergeant took pictures and put them on the Prince George´s County Police Department Facebook page, where it collected thousands of likes and shares very quickly.

Corporal Atkinson says his contribution to the wellbeing of this homeless family was “not a big deal”, and that he sees other fellow officers do things like that all the time. Yet, it’s undeniable that the officer went above and beyond his duty to help this mother when she most needed it.