Police officers are exposed to so many different sights and experiences on a daily basis but it takes something very different to really catch them out. When one little boy walked into a police station in Charlotte, North Carolina, he was wearing a sign around his neck and carrying a bag. On closer inspection, the officers realized that this was not going to be any ordinary day on duty.
Despite his young years, five-year-old Jayden Hooker was very aware of the tension between his community and his local police department. He was often woken in the night by violent sounds in his neighborhood and was scared by them. But little Jayden is no ordinary child because this special little boy wasn’t just scared for himself.
Jayden thought that if he was scared, the police must be too so he decided he wanted to help in some way. He asked his mom to take him down to their local police station to give the officers donuts and hugs. He didn’t want his neighborhood police officers to be scared anymore.
Hooker told ABC News, “I’m happy the police officers didn’t get really hurt. I want you to stay safe and I don’t want anybody to hurt you.”
Despite not knowing anyone at the station, he walked in there wearing a sign that said, quite simply, “Free Hugs.”
The officers couldn’t believe what he had done and took him up on the offer. Some officers were moved to tears by the kind gesture.