Larry DePrimo: To protect and serve

A picture of 25-year-old Larry DePrimo kneeling down to place socks and shoes on the feet of a homeless man in New York has spun around the web. DePrimo is a NY police officer. One cold night, he found a homeless man sitting on the pavement with no socks and shoes.

In the video above, DePrimo describes hearing people laughing at and joking the old man. DePrimo went to a shoe store and purchased the elderly man a pair of thermal socks and some all weather boots.

Police officers often get a bad rap (sometimes deservedly so), but the purpose of police is to protect and serve. DePrimo epitomized this motto. As I think of it, men in general, get a bad rap. Women are seen as nurturers and those who care heartily about the welfare of others. Men are often seen as rugged individualists, who only care about themselves.

That notion is so far from true, that it is utterly ridiculous. Men are loving, warm, caring and even nurturing in their own way.

There is a passage in the Bible that speaks to this event with Officer DePrimo:

The Sheep and the Goats

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fireprepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

My dad has taught me a lot about helping the "least of these". I've written about it here before. As a kid, I remember one night picking up a family whose car had broken down in a torrential rain. We all sat stuffed in an old pick up truck, piled up on laps. They were soaking wet.

Then there was the old wino who my dad would pick up from time to time, who walked around Uptown in my hometown. My dad says you should never turn your back on someone who needs you, no matter what condition the person is in.