Cops buy mom of twins new car seats after her vehicle is stolen
On Friday night, police officers with the Savannah Police Department in Georgia, pulled over a young woman who had no license plate. Upon further inspection, the officers saw that a set of 1-year-old twins were not properly restrained in the vehicle. The officers spoke to the 21-year-old mother, and offered to help instead of "harass" her, according to ABC News.
"The mother was only 21 years old and had her original vehicle stolen recently, hence the no license plate," the department's Facebook post, shared on Saturday, read. "She had also just started a new job."
The officers recognized the woman needed assistance, so they decided that corporal Steve Bland would go to the store to purchase car seats for the twins while officers William Daniels and Austin Neumann, a dad-to-be himself, kept the children calm and entertained.
The photo of Officer Neumann holding one of the twins has received a lot of attention on the department's Facebook page, but it was Neumann’s wife, Kelsey, who initially shared it with pride.
"This dad to be melts my heart," Kelsey wrote. "He helped this little boy’s mama get a new car seat and was obsessed with him! He said this is my new friend... I can’t wait to see how he is with [his daughter] Addy."
Neumann tells ABC News that the young children were crying and afraid of what was happening.
"I kind of leaned down next to a little boy," Neumann said. "He just turned right to me and wanted to be picked up. And that was it — we were just best friends after that... He didn't want to be let down."
According to Neumann, this is an integral part of policing, and he's hopeful that such interactions will let the public know that the police aren't trying to "harass" or arrest drivers — they just want to ensure that everyone is safe.
"You could tell that that not only touched the hearts of the officers and the boys, but [also] the mother," Savannah police spokeswoman Bianca Johnson told ABC News. "With the way some attitudes are toward police, those interactions are really priceless."
The officers installed the car seats for the young mother, and she "drove away with a completely different outlook on police," according to the department's Facebook post.
It is highly recommended that parents who have put in car seats themselves ensure that they have been installed correctly. Police departments, fire stations, and hospitals often inspect car seats free of charge, and locations that provide this service can be found at seatcheck.org or safekids.org.
According to Kelsey — who said her husband and his colleagues do this all the time, and she "didn't expect anything less from them" — the moment served as good practice since the couple is expecting their first child in January.
Representatives for Savannah Police Department and Kelsey Neumann did not immediately respond to Yahoo Lifestyle’s off-hours requests for comment.
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