CSULB Police Officer's Caring Effort Brings Homeless Man Back From The Brink

Press release from California State University Long Beach:

January 21, 2021

Officer Chad Robbins

I recently met a 32-year-old male outside Blair Field. He didn’t appear to be homeless. He was clean, well dressed, and he had a French bulldog with him. I also have a French bulldog so that was my connection with him.

I approached him and we started talking about his dog. We shared stories about our dogs and shortly after, I started asking him about himself. I asked him the normal questions I ask everyone I encounter: What his name was, where he is from, and what he was doing in the Blair Field area?

When I asked him where he lived, he became quiet, and his eyes started tearing up. He pointed to a tent that was just outside the center field wall of Blair Field. He broke down and told me he had just become homeless and he was staying in a tent with his dog. He also told me he played water polo and graduated from Long Beach State in 2009.

Todd* was originally from San Diego, had a good career, a nice car, and owned a nice house. He told me he was a surfer - I am a surfer as well. He was raised by a very good family, which he had been “on and off” with over the years due to his heroin addiction. He had become homeless because of his addiction.

Todd said he was scared and unsure of how he would survive on the streets. He said he felt vulnerable, not knowing anyone on the streets, he was afraid for his safety, and feared his dog would be stolen from him. I asked him what I could do to help. He broke down and asked me for help.

He gave me his dad’s phone number. I contacted his dad to verify the story. When I identified myself as a police officer, his dad broke down, and told me he had to pull his car over.

Todd’s dad began crying and said he thought I was calling to notify him that Todd was dead. His dad confirmed everything I was told – he even told me he had to do CPR on Todd multiple times when he found him overdosing on heroin. His dad said he hadn’t heard from Todd in over a year, and he had given up hope.

He could no longer be a part of Todd’s life because he was too traumatized by everything Todd had put him through. He had sent Todd to multiple rehabs and nothing worked.

I shared with him my background with working with the homeless and people on drugs and I promised him I would do everything I could to help get Todd’s life back. His dad later told me he thought I was fake; I was not real. He has never heard of a police officer doing this for anyone.

I told Todd that if he is 100% in, I would do everything I could to get him his life back. I reached out to a few people who could get him into rehab, but it would take a few days due to insurance. Todd asked me to take his dog until he sobered up.

I made a few contacts with other local transients who have been in the area for years. In a way, they are the shot callers for the area. They told me they would watch out for Todd and his dog until I returned.

When my shift ended, I came back to take Todd’s dog home with me. I fed and bathed the dog, but our dogs didn’t get along so at midnight I brought Todd’s dog back to him along with some goods for himself and his dog. I spoke to him for a few hours to reassure him that he could do this. He asked me for cigarettes and some drinks which I got for him to help relieve the stress and his detox process.

On my days off, I reached out to some other Cal State Long Beach University Police Officers. They were willing to do their part in helping while I was off attending to my sick dog and pregnant wife. During my days off those officers helped to keep Todd safe and fed. They would FaceTime me while they were speaking with him.

When I returned to work, I noticed the subject had moved to the south part of Recreation Park, where there were other transients. For the next couple of days, I stayed in contact with Todd, and he told me he still had not used heroin or fentanyl. I noticed his behavior was different. He was hanging around not only heroin users but meth users. His behavior showed he switched to using meth. I questioned him on the meth use but he admitted that he only used a sub-Oxone to help his detox from the heroin and fentanyl. I didn’t believe him, but I did not lose hope.

The next day I showed up at the park, but he was gone. I asked the other transients where he went, and one told me he had an episode and walked to his storage near the traffic circle. I tried calling his phone, but it went to voicemail which led me to believe his phone had been stolen or he flaked on me.

A couple of days passed and I would get phone calls and voicemails from him. His phone had been stolen and he called from random gas stations which I would check to see if I could catch up to him, but it failed. In his voicemails I could tell he was using meth. He was very paranoid, and he would say people were drugging him and they were trying to steal his dog.

About three weeks went by and I lost contact with Todd until one day I received a call from a San Diego number. It was him. A part of me was resentful after all that I did for him, but I was happy he reached out. His voice was calm, clear and he seemed happy. He told me he was sorry for not calling. He reached out to his father after an episode and his father picked him up from Long Beach. He drove him to San Diego, and he entered rehab. He was so happy he started the process of getting his life back. He accepted the Lord back into his life and he thanked me for everything I had done for him.

Over the next couple of weeks, we stayed in touch. After he was clean for 30 days, we made arrangements to meet. I drove to San Diego on my day off and had breakfast with him and his father. He looked and acted like a different person. He was happy again. He was working on his sobriety, building his relationship back with his father/family, and working. His father thanked me for everything I had done for his son. They were both happy to be back together. I still stay in contact with both him and his father. His father invited me down to their house to meet his family. He expressed to me how grateful he was for everything I had done.

Officer Chad Robbins has been a member of the University Police Department for 11 years. Beach Voices is an occasional feature that allows members of the Beach community – students, faculty, staff and alumni – to share their personal experiences. If you would like to be considered, send submissions labeled “Beach Voices” to StratComm@csulb.edu.

*A pseudonym was used to protect the identity of the person.

This press release was produced by California State University Long Beach. The views expressed here are the author’s own.