Policeman Praised for Helping Homeless Woman

Image: Officer Fleming escorts Gloria, the homeless woman, to a Brookhaven hotel (Brookhaven Police Department).

A Brookhaven police officer is winning praise on Facebook and an Atlanta TV station for helping a homeless woman get out of the cold on Sunday night.

Officers responded Sunday to a pair of 911 calls about the elderly woman, who identified herself as Gloria, according to a post on the police department’s Facebook page. Though the night was cold and blustery, Gloria was wearing short sleeves and had no jacket or cold weather gear.

One officer, identified as “B. Fleming,” took it upon himself “to pay for a room in a Brookhaven hotel to give Ms. Gloria a warm place to sleep for the night,” the department said on Facebook. It also posted four photos of Officer Fleming escorting Gloria to the local hotel.

“These are the types of gestures that makes Officer Fleming an exceptional officer but most importantly ... a human being,” the department said.

As of Monday afternoon, the Facebook post had drawn 187 likes, 11 shares and about a dozen comments from people who praised Officer Fleming and the department. One commenter wrote: “We have the BEST officers in the whole world! Thanks for making a difference in our community!”

The story was also picked up by WAGA-TV (Fox 5 Atlanta) and featured on the station’s morning show, “Good Day Atlanta.”