NYPD officer's kindness sparks online sensation

 
No Author Published: November 29, 2012    Comment on this article Leave a comment

photo - This photo provided by Jennifer Foster shows New York City Police Officer Larry DePrimo presenting a barefoot homeless man in New York's Time Square with boots Nov. 14, 2012 . Foster was visiting New York with her boyfriend on Nov. 14, when she came across the shoeless man asking for change in Times Square. As she was about to approach him, she said the officer came up to the man with a pair of all-weather boots and thermal socks on the frigid night. She took the picture on her cellphone. It was posted Tuesday night to the NYPD's official Facebook page and became an instant hit. More than 350,000 users "liked" it as of Thursday afternoon, and over 100,000 shared it. (AP Photo/Jennifer Foster)
This photo provided by Jennifer Foster shows New York City Police Officer Larry DePrimo presenting a barefoot homeless man in New York's Time Square with boots Nov. 14, 2012 . Foster was visiting New York with her boyfriend on Nov. 14, when she came across the shoeless man asking for change in Times Square. As she was about to approach him, she said the officer came up to the man with a pair of all-weather boots and thermal socks on the frigid night. She took the picture on her cellphone. It was posted Tuesday night to the NYPD's official Facebook page and became an instant hit. More than 350,000 users "liked" it as of Thursday afternoon, and over 100,000 shared it. (AP Photo/Jennifer Foster)

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She wrote: "The officer squatted down on the ground and proceeded to put socks and the new boots on this man. The officer expected NOTHING in return and did not know I was watching."

DePrimo said buying the boots "was something I had to do." He tried to persuade the man to get something to eat, but he declined and left.

"When I brought out the shoes, it was just a smile from ear to ear," he said. "It was a great moment for both of us."

DePrimo said he only told his family about the incident at the time, and was surprised when a friend told him the photo was posted on the Internet some time later.

Foster, who is a dispatch manager at the Pinal County Sheriff's Office, said she's worked in law enforcement for 17 years and has never been more impressed.

"His presentation of human kindness has not been lost on myself or any of the Arizona law enforcement officials with whom this story has been shared," Foster wrote on Facebook. She said she never got the officer's name.

DePrimo said he has been on the NYPD for 2½ years. He is assigned to the Sixth Precinct, encompassing Greenwich Village and the West Village, and lives on Long Island with his parents.

He said he keeps the receipt from the boots in his bullet-proof vest, as a reminder that even when things are tough, some people have it tougher.

___

NYPD Facebook page:

http://on.fb.me/UdfGeX

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