A man was caught shoplifting, and a New York store called the police to deal with the situation. Police officers met the suspect when they arrived, and the encounter was recorded on a bodycam.

In response to a call from a Dollar Tree business in Mount Vernon, New York, officers Chris Cartwright and Jason Velez from the Mount Vernon Police Department arrived. On a Sunday afternoon, a man was allegedly trying to shoplift from the store, according to the call. The suspect was still present when the police came. The individual was “honest” and “upfront” with the cops as they cautiously questioned him.

The stealing suspect admitted to needing socks when confronted by the police and that he had tried to steal several pairs. When the clip was shared on MVPD’s Facebook page, it captured the altercation and showed the Mount Vernon police officers behaving in a way that won them praise and applause from both their department and social media users.

The shoplifting suspect calmly told to the Mount Vernon police officers that he was homeless and in need of the socks he was stealing, per the Blaze. Despite having caused to handcuff the man, the police chose a more sympathetic course of action: in exchange for his promise to stop stealing, one of them made an offer to buy him more than a dozen pairs of socks.

Officer Chris Cartwright with the Mount Vernon Police.

The cops spoke with the store manager about the incident after patting the man down to make sure he hadn’t taken anything else. Fortunately for the shoplifter, everyone concurred that it would be best if the officers bought the socks the man was attempting to take. Officer Cartwright recalled saying, “Soon as we went up up, he gave me the look: you got me. He was honest, upfront, rolled with it.”

Officer Jason Velez with the Mount Vernon Police.

In the video, Cartwright can be heard questioning the man. The guy responds that he was only “walking around” when the man asks him where he was staying. “You’re a little light on some socks?” Cartwright asked.

“All right, I’ll tell you what. I’ll buy you a couple [of] pairs of socks though, but you gotta stop stealing. Fair enough?” the officer continued.

The officer turned his attention to the store clerk, asking, “How much are they?” after the homeless man agreed to Cartwright’s conditions. The officer turned back to the homeless man after discovering that the socks were only $1 per pair and asked the cashier to ring him up for $15 worth.

Cartwright told him, “Listen, I know how important it is to have a nice pair of socks, especially when you’re out running around and, you know, you got nothing else going on, so we’ll get you taken care of.”

“If you weren’t honest, I wouldn’t have bought them for you,” he added.

The individual was then informed by Officer Velez to visit the police station for assistance if he needed any services. The Dollar Tree manager agreed that the man shouldn’t be charged and even extended an offer to assist with a hot dinner in the future, NBC 4 said. This shows how far-reaching the kindness mindset established by Officers Cartwright and Velez has become. According to the NY Post, she reportedly advised the man to “he could just tell her,” if he needed any supplies.

Mount Vernon Police Commissioner Glenn Scott appropriately commended Officers Chris Cartwright and Jason Velez for their deeds.

“You’re de-escalating the situation, calming everyone down, and coming up with a solution,” Police Commissioner Scott said.

Similar sentiments were expressed in the following Facebook post by MVPD:

“We love this city and the citizens we serve. Even though we are all going through some trying times, some of us are in tougher situations than others. …

Mount Vernon is a fiercely hard working community that never gets the positive attention it needs. The community is proud and resilient and always keeps its head up and marches on towards a better tomorrow. These positive incidents happen every day in our city, not only with the police, but also with our other municipal employees and with our business partners.

The Officers of the Mount Vernon Police Department will continue to serve our community to the best of our abilities. Thank you to Officers Cartwright, Velez and to all the other Officers that have served proudly over the last year. Your hard work and dedication did not go unnoticed.”

“How do you deny something essential he needs?” Cartwright asked. For Cartwright and Velez, however, it was just the right thing to do. As the community seemed to agree as evidenced by the overwhelmingly positive response on social media, where users thanked, praised, and applauded the officers for their efforts.

“Judging from my military days, (socks) are really important,” he said.

A social media user wrote, explaining that she eagerly showed it to her 9-year-old son, saying:

“I love this so much! It really touched me. He was becoming disillusioned about the role of police officers lately. We just watched the clip together. I was so incredibly proud to show him what our Mount Vernon Police Officers are doing. Thank you Officers Cartright and Velez!! My son has a bit of renewed faith in police officers because of what you did. A little bit of kindness really goes a long way.”

Watch the videos below for more details:

Sources: TapHaps, NY Post, NBC 4, The Blaze

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