In a Facebook video published on Friday, Birmingham police Officer Christopher Lassinger can be seen performing “random acts of kindness” that are inspiring the low-income community he patrols in western Birmingham.
In the video uploaded by WVTM’s Fred Davenport, Lassinger is found playing basketball with children in a local neighborhood during his downtime.
One resident told WVTM that this type of neighborhood-focused, caring policing is “what the community needs.”
She added, “They need the officers involved within the community.”
The video then shows Lassinger explaining why he is so involved, noting that when he noticed their basketball net was tattered, Lassinger went and bought the children a new net and basketball. He also said it is a small deed compared to actions of his fellow officers.
Lassinger explained that this type of compassion, and going the extra mile, by police officers is not often reported on by the media.
“I think it’s important to get out and do things like this, but it happens all the time. It really does. It happens way more than anybody notices,” Lassinger remarked.
He added, “People just don’t realize – every day, officers are doing something [like this]. And a lot of times it’s the bad things that get seen and put on the news, but everyday officers are out there doing positive things, I can assure you of that.”
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Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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