Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana
Last updated on Tuesday, August 4, 2015
(BEDFORD) - Tatiana Ritter was troubled. Her soon-to-be kindergartener was refusing to sleep in her room and having nightmares about “bad guys and bugs.”
So she reached out to her Facebook friends for advice.
"I'm not sure if Gwen had seen a show that was just a bit too old for her or what, but it caused about 2 weeks of chaos in our home," Ritter says.
Tatiana and her husband Isaac were not sleeping, her son Evan was getting woken-up and of course Gwen was not sleeping.
"Which in turn, altered our days and the happiness as a family," Tatiana says. "We were getting desperate!"
Bedford Police officer Morgan Lee, who is a friend of the family, saw Tatiana's post and offered to help.
"He said that he completely understood what it was like to go through something that we were and he felt like maybe him talking to her... that she'd be able to rest so the rest of the house could get some rest," Tatiana says.
Officer Lee stopped before his shift started.
"He made sure he was here with plenty of time before his shift to allow for questions and chatting," Tatiana says. "He then took them out to his police car, let them explore and ask questions."
Officer Lee told Gwen that anytime she got scared all she had to do was grab the teddy bear he had brought her and remember that officers like him were driving around every single night protecting her and her family from "bad guys."
"He made quite an impression on the children," Tatiana says. "I haven't heard a single word about 'bad guys' since Officer Lee came. Not one. We are very thankful!"
Bedford Police Chief Dennis Parsley is proud of Officer Morgan and his police force.
"Officers are not just here when bad things happen," Parsley says. "We too are a part of this community and our job doesn't stop with just taking in the 'bad guys.' We too shop, eat and live in this community and we are concerned about families, friends and neighbors."
Chief Parsley says the department's goal is to become more approachable and keep the public informed.
"We have taken steps to do that with our Facebook page and being involved in more community activities," Chief Parsley says.
Police are the enforcers of the law, but their duties go well beyond that.
"We too are members of this community and yes our job is to enforce the law and keep the community safe, but our duties go well beyond that," Chief Parsley added. "Officers are just like any other member of the community. They have family and friends. They have a job to do. But but we can't do this alone. We need the community's help and we want to be here for the community - if it is helping a little girl not have bad dreams, chasing bats from homes or catching a snake off a porch or at a time of crisis - we will be there. We want people to feel free to call us for anything."
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