Love And Hate Relationship With The Police
No one enjoys getting pulled over and receiving speeding tickets. On the other hand, the police are there to help those that are in need and protect the citizens.
While there isn’t a reason to call or stay around with a police officer if the situation has nothing to do with you, the experience that Andrella Jackson had was quite unique.
Kevin Had High Aspirations
Since the beginning of his career, Kevin Zimmerman, a Milwaukee police officer, aspired to give police a better name and help his community.
As someone who enjoys serving the state and helping the public, Kevin is a man who doesn’t find it hard to get up early in the morning and head straight to his work.
Being A Police Officer Is A Challenging Job
While any average person isn’t the biggest fan of the police, you have to admit that the work they do is extremely dangerous and challenging.
Knowing that, Kevin wanted to use the given opportunity and prove to others that a police officer can create a positive impact and be of help to citizens that are vulnerable and in need.
Not An Easy Goal
Still, the idea that Kevin had to both enforce the law and help ordinary people in the street isn’t easy to get through.
As a police officer that was designated to keep the streets safe by pulling over stolen and speeding cars, he was busy not only during the weekdays but also Saturday and Sunday.
An Opportunity Shows Up
During his first few years in the force, he did act as an upright cop but simply didn’t have an opportunity to make things easier for those that truly needed it.
Still, as he never gave up his idea, such an opportunity came straight to him on a chilly day, at the end of November.
It Started Out As A Regular Working Saturday
Much like most other police officers (depending on the shift), Kevin Zimmerman was out on the roads almost every Saturday. He wasn’t surprised that the day was windy and chilly as it was the norm at the end of November.
The first couple of hours were pretty relaxed as Kevin had to deal with just a single case of reckless driving, issuing a speeding ticket in the process.
Kevin Didn’t Know That This Day Will Change His Life
As he came to work, Kevin was eager and motivated as usual. Still, he didn’t have any particular expectations as Saturdays are usually easier for monitoring traffic.
At first, there wasn’t a single red flag that Kevin will take part in a life-changing act just a few hours into his shift.
Pulling Over Speeding/Unregistered Cars
The task of monitoring the traffic is quite challenging, although most people assume that all it comes down to is reading the registration plates. Frankly, it is essential to keep the community safe and pull over people who engage in reckless driving.
Furthermore, by searching for unregistered cars, Kevin Zimmerman plays an essential role in solving cases of stolen vehicles or related to some kind of criminal activity.
Kevin Detected An Unregistered Car
Believe it or not, the registration plates of your vehicle were probably checked hundreds of times, and you don’t even know it. You know why? Because at no point did the vehicle raise an alarm that it is unregistered.
That is exactly what happened when Kevin Zimmerman was performing a routine check with the traffic monitoring device. As soon as the alarm went off, he decided to pull the vehicle over and get more insight into the situation.
Kevin Was Prepared For The Worst
Although vehicles with unregistered plates are an everyday occurrence, Kevin always takes these situations pretty seriously. The main reason for that is the profile of drivers related to speeding or driving stolen cars.
What triggered the device alarm? It was an invalid registration that is a huge red flag for police officers in most cases.
Risky Situation
Kevin Zimmerman was aware of the chance that the vehicle driver may be armed or prepared to revolt when asked for his driver’s license and other documentation.
Still, that didn’t stop him from flagging down the car and pulling it over. He would have a conversation with the driver, and it would probably result in a fine and vehicle confiscation.
Kevin Had To Follow The Law
Much like any other police officer, Kevin isn’t a fan of stressful situations, but he was ready to react if things got ugly. His job is to enforce the law and protect other citizens.
It is pretty wild to know that Kevin didn’t have a single clue that the driver profile and situation would be completely different from his expectations.
Calm And Cautious
As we have suggested above, Kevin didn’t know anything about the car or the driver apart from the fact that the registration was invalid.
With that in mind, he remembered what they are taught at the police academy - “when in doubt, stay cautious”.
Could Be A Criminal
The main reason why Zimmerman was so suspicious is because vehicles with invalid plates are mostly related to serious criminal activities such as drug smuggling.
He had to be 100% prepared that the driver would try to run or even attack him. This didn’t stop Kevin from going over to the car and requesting that the driver pull their window down.
An Unexpected Profile
While Kevin doesn’t have any prejudices, he was expecting to encounter a male driver who was prepared to argue about his invalid registration or do something worse.
That expectation was far off the reality given the fact that it was a middle-aged woman that pulled down the window of her car. This was something that Kevin was pretty shocked by, but he had to go on with the procedure.
A District 5 Milwaukee Woman
Unexpectedly (for someone driving a vehicle with invalid plates), the woman was pretty cooperative and immediately provided Kevin with all details of the situation. She said that she was coming from District 5 and that her name was Andrella Jackson.
While Kevin believed her, given that he checked her identity document, the excuse that she provided for the invalid plates wasn’t something he was too sure about.
The Reason Justified The Situation
In an interview that followed this day, Kevin mentioned that, as he takes his job seriously, he is always prepared to hear more than a few reasons that make absolutely no sense.
However, the fact that Andrella Jackson wasn’t coming off with your typical get-away sentences was something that confused him. After a couple of minutes of conversation, Zimmerman was pretty sure that she was telling the truth and offered help.
What Was The Excuse That Andrella Jackson Had?
Something that Kevin didn’t have any experience with before was that the car had just been bought at an auction. With that in mind, it was clear that Andrella was on her way to register the car when he pulled her over.
While he believed her excuse, that was not something that Kevin was concerned about. He was more alarmed by the fact that she bought the car at an auction. As a man who wants to help those in need, Zimmerman wanted to help her financially.
He Had To Write A Ticket
Before proceeding with his goodwill, he had to enforce the law and write an invalid registration ticket to Andrella. Unfortunately, as a police officer, he can’t make excuses for not following the rules.
As he gathered all the required information, ready to hand out the ticket, there was an alarming noise from the back seat of the car. Once again, Kevin was cautious and prepared to react in case things turned for worse.
What Was The Noise?
Already not comfortable because he had to write Jackson a ticket, Zimmerman was pretty eager to find out more about what is happening behind Andrella.
When he opened the back door, he saw Andrella’s baby and two more of her children. Apart from being shocked, he once again found himself in an unpleasant situation as additional rules were broken - they weren’t sitting in car seats.
What Do The Driving Laws Suggest?
Kevin Zimmerman is a police officer, which means that he knows the rules perfectly. After registering the situation, he informed Andrella Jackson that this was a standard offense.
According to the effective regulations, all children that are under 16 have to be secured by a belt or in a child seat. Furthermore, children below the age of 8 have to be in a child seat unless they are taller than 4’9” (in which case it is a seat belt).
More Trouble
What this meant is that Andrella was facing more trouble because apart from driving an unregistered vehicle, she was committing a standard offense.
While it was pretty clear to Kevin that Andrella had no intention of wrongdoing, the police officer was concerned. He thought that the mother wasn’t aware of the risks and dangers of driving without child seats/belts.
Kevin Took A Pause
It is a fact that most police officers would instead proceed to write another ticket.
However, that was not how Kevin imagined his position as a police officer. Furthermore, the fact that Andrella was going through a financial struggle and had to provide a living for three of her children brought tears to his eyes. On the other hand, the fact that they weren’t driving safe is something that he was mostly concerned with.
He Wanted To Understand Andrella
Being a parent, Kevin knew that Andrella had nothing but love for her children. Still, he had to know why they weren’t in a child seat or protected with child belts.
Once again, he got an answer that saddened him. Apparently, due to the rough winter, Andrella was making much less, and she was having a lot of financial struggles. Thus, she couldn’t buy the child seats that were required.
She Got Off With Just A Warning
Hearing her excuse, Kevin Zimmerman knew that it wouldn’t be right to issue a ticket for something that she couldn’t buy. That is why this kind police officer decided to let her go with a warning.
However, this is not where the story ends, as once they got through with that part, Kevin wanted to know the weight of her children. At this point, Andrella was confused why he would ask such a thing.
Kevin Zimmerman Had To Help Her Out
As an honorable police officer, Zimmerman knew that he should help Andrella out, and he was trying to figure out a perfect plan.
Although Kevin had to continue with his officer’s duty until the end of his working shift, especially considering the emergency call that he received, he wasn’t going to forget that he had to help Andrella.
A Trip To Walmart
The main reason why Kevin asked about the weight of Andrella’s children was because he wanted to buy car seats for them (thus preventing any further standard offense).
Luckily, as a police officer, it was pretty easy to find her address and go over to her house with a pleasant surprise.
Kevin Wanted To Make Her Day Better
Hearing the struggles that she had throughout the winter, Kevin’s idea was to help her and try to make her day better.
Coming to her door, he was pretty excited, while Andrella was hesitant to open up as she was sure that it wasn’t for something good.
Andrella Was Incredibly Grateful
When she heard what Kevin had to say and saw the car seats, she started crying. As she said, no one has ever been that kind to her. Kevin knew that it was all worth it and decided to help the family even further.
He spent a couple of hours playing around with the kids and teaching them how to install and adjust the car’s seats. He was all about helping Andrella and her young ones.
Act Of Kindness
In the times that we live in, random acts of kindness aren’t the most common occurrence. Still, what Kevin did just goes on to show that humanity hasn’t left us just yet.
We should all thank Kevin for pushing through with his ideals and showing the world how little acts can make a huge change!