A Prince George's County, Md. police officer is being lauded for the kindness he recently showed to a homeless mother and her baby.
Corporal Che Atkinson was filling out paperwork last Wednesday at the Hyattsville police station when a front desk officer told him that there was a homeless woman and her baby, according to WUSA-TV.
The woman told the 8-year veteran of the force that she had left an abusive home and was staying in a shelter, but for some reason had to leave. Out of options, she decided the last place to look for help was the police station.
Atkinson stayed on the phone all morning to try to get her help and finally got a hold of a social worker before he headed out on patrol.
When he arrived to station the next morning, the woman was sitting in the same place he'd left her with her child. She had been there all night.
"I told her this is what I'm going to find. I'm going to find you a place…I'm going to put you up for the night," he said.
With his own money, Atkinson bought food for the woman and her baby and got them a room at a nearby hotel.
"It was here's somebody here with a child – one-years-old - had nowhere to go," Atkinson told the news station. "I had the extra money. What would it hurt just to put them up for a night to make sure they're safe?"
He also tracked down a car seat for the child and packed their luggage in a patrol car.
As this was happening, Atkinson's sergeant was taking photos without Atkinson knowing. The photos were posted on the department's Facebook page and as of Tuesday had more than 15,000 likes.
"I'm a little overwhelmed and shocked," he said. "Other officers do stuff like this all the time. It's not a big deal."
Police said the woman and her baby are now staying with relatives.
