When Texas police officer Justin Gower pulled over a driver on Oct. 17, he was dismayed to see that the man's three young daughters were sitting in the back without car seats. But rather than issuing a ticket, Gower and his fellow officer Cale Hawkins decided to help the family out.
"I was upset because it’s extremely dangerous,” Officer Gower told KXAN. “I have kids and I know how fragile they are, especially how young these kids were."
Gower and Hawkins pooled together their money with other officers from the Cedar Park Police Department to purchase three car seats for the 1-year-old, 3-year-old and 4-year-old girls. According to Today, their father "was grateful."
Gower told KVUE that when he stopped the driver for a malfunctioning light and expired registration, he realized he had heard about his financial woes from other officers.
After speaking with Officer Hawkins, who had pulled over the father earlier that month, Gower decided to do what he could to help. "We just kind of stepped off to the side and said we need to do the right thing and get these people some car seats," Hawkins said.
"They’re trying to get things going, they’re going in the right direction, and to issue them citations for each child, would just devastate them," Gower told KXAN.
The two officers purchased the three car seats at Walmart, and with a special discount from the manager, they paid a total of about 145 dollars. When the story hit local news airwaves, community members praised their good deed.
In response to the positive feedback, the Cedar Park Police Department shared a Facebook post about Gower's and Hawkins' actions.
"We are honored to wear a badge and even more so to serve this community," reads the post.
Great perspective!
H/T Today
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