Photo showing officer comforting autistic student goes viral

A compassionate act by a police officer is making rounds on the internet after a photo of the touching moment was posted to Facebook.

According to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, Officer Tim Purdy was dispatched to a high school to intervene in a situation involving a young autistic student who left the campus and may have been suicidal.

The picture shows the officer sitting on the ground next to the student, comforting him.

The post states, "In order to build a connection with the young man, Officer Purdy sat next to him on the ground, talked things through and even got him laughing."

The trust established by the officer allowed for the situation to be diffused and the student was able to get the help he needed.

"There's more to policing than making arrests and enforcing the law," the post that has been shared over 200,000 times notes. "Sometimes taking those extra little steps makes the biggest difference in someone's life."

You can read the entire post below:

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