Officers in Westchester County confronted the shoplifter and their bodycam was able to capture the encounter as they went above and beyond to serve a member of their community in need.
Watch it here: Youtube/CBC New York
A Dollar Tree store in Mount Vernon, New York called the Mount Vernon Police Department to report a shoplifting incident. Officers Christopher Cartwright and Jason Velez then responded immediately after receiving the call.
The man was attempting to shoplift from the store on a Sunday afternoon, according to the call. Luckily, the suspect was still on the premises when the officers arrived.
The officers had a calm conversation with the suspect, who honestly admitted what happened.
Cartwright said:
“Soon as we went up up, he gave me the look: you got me. He was honest, upfront, rolled with it.”
The suspect confessed that he was in need of socks and that he tried to steal multiple pairs. The police bodycam video captured the encounter. They can be heard talking with the man, who told the officers he was homeless. The way that the Mount Vernon police officers responded to the incident garnered compliments and commendations from both their department and social media users alike after the footage was posted to MVPD’s Facebook page.
Watch it here: Youtube/CMVNY
Instead of taking him into custody, the officers opted for a more sympathetic response: One of them suggested buying the suspect a dozen pairs of socks, provided that he agreed to stop shoplifting. After the homeless man agreed to Cartwright’s conditions, the officer turned his attention to the store clerk and they bought him $15 worth of socks.
Cartwright told the homeless man:
“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.”
According to the MVPD, the Dollar Tree manager authorized the cops not to arrest the suspect and also told the man that if he was in need, he could just tell her. Also, Officer Velez then told the man that he could stop by the police department for help if he were in need of services.
Mount Vernon Police Commissioner Glenn Scott commended Officers Chris Cartwright and Jason Velez saying their effort was “the norm for our police department, not the exception.”
Scott said:
“You’re de-escalating the situation, calming everyone down, and coming up with a solution.,”
“It’s what the PD wanted. We want to get rid of these old accusations so that we can focus on moving forward.”
Scott also said that his officers are trained to think about how they would want their own family members treated and are encouraged to use discretion.
The MVPD praised their officers and their community in the Facebook post:
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.
Sources: taphaps, Youtube/CBC New York, mynbc5, fox23, nbcnewyork, Facebook/ Mount Vernon Police Department, NY, Youtube/CMVNY, theblaze, abc7ny