An Arkansas police officer has been praised after buying groceries for parents who were caught shoplifting food items from Walmart. Field Training Officer Kenneth Martin, of the Fort Smith Police Department, has been awarded Employee of the Month for his sensitive response to the attempted theft, which occurred at a store on Zero Street on November 30 last year in front of two children, KFSM reported.

Body-worn camera footage showed FTO Martin purchasing items the couple had been caught with and bringing them back to the mother. “Ring it all up again so I can pay for it. They’re stealing food and they’ve got kids. I have to take him to jail, but I don’t have to make the kids think I’m an a******,” the officer could be heard telling cashiers, joking: “Don’t let people know I’m a nice guy.”

As seen in the footage, FTO Martin walked back to the front of the store, where the family was flanked by other officers, and placed the groceries into a shopping cart. While the man was detained, the woman was allowed to leave. “I took care of these for you, OK?” Martin was heard telling the mother… Newsweek