All too often we hear stories of police officers out of control , sometimes even getting away with murder — so when a story about a cop like Gaetono Acerra comes along, it serves as a reminder that police work, when carried out with caring and compassion, can truly be a higher calling.
When a call came in to the Sumter, South Carolina from a desperate teenager saying he wanted to leave home because he was sick of fighting with his mother, it was Officer Acerra who took the call . He picked the 13-year-old up and took him home.
But when he arrived at the house where Cameron Simmons lives with his mom, what the policeman saw shocked him.
The teenager, Cameron Simmons, did not even have an actual bed — in fact, he had almost nothing in his room. He had almost nothing that kids need just to have regular kid lives. But he did have one thing.
“I said, ‘You have it good, you have a roof over your head,’” the officer told the youth. “I told him I would try to help him out, and here we are now.”
Along with the message about appreciating what he has rather than focusing on what he lacks, Acerra knew that young Cameron needed some of those things that he was lacking.
“My heart went out for him,” said Gaetono Acerra. “I thought the little things that he needed I could give him, to make him a happier kid.”
Within another few weeks, Officer Acerra was back at Cameron’s house . But this time, he was not responding to a cry for help or an emergency. He was there because he wanted to be — with a truck full of stuff.
He brought a queen size bed, a desk where Cameron could do his homework, a TV set — even a Nintendo Wii video game system that a buddy kicked in upon hearing Acerra’s plans to help Cameron.
“I didn’t do this for publicity or to get people to notice me,” said Gaetono Acerra. “I did it because I could. It was the right thing to do and I think people should do things like this.”
The officer plans to pick up a few more items for Cameron soon — a mirror and a dresser, maybe some more bedroom furniture. But the officer also gave the youngster something even more valuable.
His phone number, with an open invitation to call anytime.
Because as much as Cameron got for his newly refurbished room, Officer Acerra got something out of the deal, too. A new friend.