When emergency crews recently responded to the apartment complex to investigate a gas leak, Officer Fleming spotted children outside playing.
Once the leak was deemed not a threat, Fleming wanted to make sure the children felt safe.
“It’s something I’ve always tried to do,” Fleming, who will be celebrating his 15th year on the force, said about his interaction with the children. “When I got into this job, I knew there was something different, other than just writing tickets and being the bad person all the time. I figured if I could be that bright spot in someone’s day then that’s all that mattered.”
Roper-Boswell said she believed Fleming’s genuine interest in the children and her neighbors came through in the images she shared.
“People need the positivity,” she said. “I was telling him that my daughter, my niece, and some of the other children here were afraid of cops. So when he came and played with them, I captured that moment, not because I thought it would go viral, but it was amazing that my niece didn’t break out into tears.”
Fleming said he hoped his actions, and those of his fellow police officers, would lead to real change in police and community relations.