Stories like this happen often. While they're rarely national news, they're often local news. A cop finds someone committing a crime because they're poor and he buys them food/shoes/toys, etc. Great story, but it's part of a bigger problem https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/02/us/shoplifting-christmas-police-trnd/index.html 1/10

Really, it happens often:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/12/us/police-officer-lunch-homeless-trnd/index.html https://www.cbs42.com/top-stories/ 
birmingham-police-officer-buys-food-for-homeless-during-covid-19-pandemic/
https://www.facebook.com/ABC15/videos/phoenix-police-officers-help-homeless-vet-buy-shoes/962292374255695/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2020/01/10/arkansas-cop-buys-groceries-family-after-dad-is-charged-with-shoplifting-food/
https://www.reddit.com/r/police/comments/kmank2/oregon_cop_buys_shoes_for_halfbarefoot_homeless/
https://www.nbcboston.com/news/coronavirus/rookie-boston-cop-helps-woman-buy-groceries-during-coronavirus-pandemic/2100974/
2/10

See, this is the feel-good side of America's lack of social safety nets, suspicion of "communist" or "socialist" concepts, and desire to reduce property taxes means people go hungry or ill without help, then get desperate, then become a police problem. 3/10

So this cop, because he is a good person, finds people who stole from hunger and lets them go and buys them dinner. The cop shouldn't be placed in this situation. This is exactly what happens with the mentally ill: there's no place for them to turn until the cops show up. 4/10

1 in 7 men and 1 in 3 women booked into American jails have serious mental health issues. Because America has effectively no mental health safety net, the mentally ill are left to their own devices, which fail often, which leads to jail. Or death. https://qualitypolicing.com/violencereduction/selby/ 5/10

So, while these "buy them shoes" stories warm the heart, they rarely cause people to ask WHY it is necessary. And how this leads to real issues. Let's say a homeless person got anaphylaxis from a meal a cop bought - you can be sure it would be considered a police killing. 6/10

Or those feel-good stories every Christmas when cops pull people over and hand them gift cards - what happens when they pull over a car and there's a meth pipe or weapon on the floor? There was no PC for the stop, now we're in the shit. 7/10

The fact is, America treats its police as the first and last line of defense against a range of things that it shouldn't. Cops have no business performing medical procedures, but more and more carry NARCAN for ODs, because who else will? Cops often beat EMT to the scene. 8/10

Somehow, we're all fine with this until a mentally ill person on flakka or PCP gets desperate and confused and afraid and strips down and starts breaking car windows, and the cops come, there's a fight and a heart attack, and everyone shouts, "The cops killed him!" 9/10

When we talk about defund or refund the police, these are the LOWEST of the low-hanging fruit. Take some of the money used for enforcement and put it into prevention, like food and healthcare and mental health services. It's an investment that will pay off very quickly. 10/10