Officer Scott Marsh of the Huntington Beach Police Department in California spotted a suspicious vehicle in a parking lot last Wednesday. He discovered that a woman and her 11-year old daughter were living in it. He called in the department's Homeless Task Force to assist them.
While they were talking to the mother and trying to find ways to help her, Officer Zach Pricer distracted the girl by teaching her how to play hopscotch. The Orange County Register quotes department spokeswoman Officer Jennifer Marlatt:
“It distracted her from an adult problem,” Marlatt said.
Pricer, a 13-year veteran, said he used hopscotch as a tool to learn more about the girl’s welfare.
“For an 11-year-old girl, to see a police officer towering over her is a scary thing,” said Pricer, 38. “I was trying to break the ice and get her to feel comfortable with me.”
On Thursday, a Homeless Task Force officer was working to find housing for the mother and daughter.
-via AP