by Kris Hauser
Yet A another example of our men and women in blue going above and beyond the call of duty and dissipating the sentiment that our law enforcement officials are anything but heroes. Not only do they lay their lives on the line each and every day to keep you and me safe, but they display acts of compassion and kindness that significantly exceed what is expected of them, or of anyone for that matter.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we all took the time to look for the good in people? In doing so, that is exactly what we will find. We ought to seek and focus on the positive occurrences our law enforcement officials carry out in their day to day lives. Our hats off to all of you who put 100 percent into serving your communities and its people. The following is one more story about a police officer who has gone the extra mile.
Lending More than a Hand to the Homeless
Officer Jim Barrett, with the Hartford Police Department (Connecticut), not only has a heart for serving and protecting his community, but he also has a heart for the homeless — and has demonstrated that heart for many years.
Officer Barrett is devoted to helping the homeless. This is something he does in-between his everyday policing duties, including the police calls he responds to daily. He can be seen outside the Hartford City Hall and the Hartford Public Library putting smiles on people’s faces, which comes easy for him. It is evident just how easy it is once you see him smile. His smile is infectious. Officer Barrett dedicates his life to assisting folks, and one of the ways he assists others is by helping them get back on their feet. However, they must be just as devoted as he is when it comes to committing to the plan at hand.
Officer Barrett once met a man whom he saw standing in the cold wearing raggedy flip flops, the man’s only shoes. The man’s name was Joseph Edwards, “I started talking to him, he found out I served in the military for a couple of years, and he just looked at my feet and told me he was going to change it,” Edwards said.
And so, it began. Within in days of Officer Barrett talking to Mr. Edwards, he had purchased a pair of winter boots for Mr. Edwards. This inspired the start of a program called Footwear with Care. Since its conception in 2016, the organization has provided more than a thousand pairs of shoes and boots to Hartford’s homeless population.
“I found out that a uniform doesn’t make a person, the person makes the uniform, and it has made a total difference in my life,” Edwards said. The interaction with Edwards was the beginning of turning Officer Barrett’s city hall office into a revolving door.
Officer Barrett believes in second chances. He will bring folks into his office to listen to their story — something few people bother to do. “I knew when I joined the department, I wanted to make a difference in people’s lives,” Barrett said. He has turned away those who “weren’t ready” to make the right choices, he said. But he will still take the time to listen to their stories, whether they are ready or not.
Officer Barrett reaches out his hand to those in need. Whether it is helping someone find a job, overcome an addiction, or get day-to-day essentials, he is there. He is an inspiration to all those who come in contact with him.
Justin Jeremia Sweetwater of Hartford had this to say about Officer Barrett, “I’ve been suffering from depression all my life, I am 65, and they’ve had me on every kind of pill you can imagine, but just talking to that man was better than any pill.” Jeremia also said, “He is our ambassador, he represents more than just a uniform, he represents the people.”
“It’s like a safe haven for them in city hall, whatever your needs are I’ll address them and if I don’t have the resources, I’ll make certain phone contacts to obtain them,” Officer Barrett said. “A lot of these guys lost hope of believing in themselves and once you start seeing them spark a light or some energy, they’re like, I can do this. I can get out of my situation and be successful in life.” He said the motivation for helping the homeless is the reward of seeing them succeed. Officer Barrett offers the homeless something not many people do, and that is hope. Having hope can make all the difference in the world to those who don’t have it. It changes lives.
He certainly made a difference in Kayley Foote’s life. “He was like a guardian angel,” she said. “With all the things going on in the world, he showed me that there’s good in people.” A relative was living under a bridge when Barrett encountered him on his rounds. He had lost everything, including his confidence. But Officer Barrett helped him get a replacement Social Security card which is necessary in helping secure employment and housing.
“He had hit rock bottom, and without his Social Security card, he’d still be there,” Foote said. “He didn’t have a voice until he met Officer Barrett.” Barrett has helped men fresh out of prison get clothes beyond the ones they were discharged wearing. He’s listened to complaints about bed bugs in homeless shelters, making phone calls to city officials that have prompted investigations. He truly goes above and beyond!
“Once I start seeing progress I’m not letting go, I’m on them, I’m going to be riding them to the very end till they succeed,” he said. “All I request from them is pay it forward, once you achieve your goals and get yourself set up, if you see someone that is in need, that was in your situation, help them to get ahead.”
His kindness caught on, inspiring West Hartford’s Fleet Feet Sports to host a boot-and-shoe drive for Hartford’s homeless. “He’s valuable,” Deborah Barrows, program manager for Community Partners in Action, said of Barrett. “He’s not only keeping Hartford safe, he’s also making a difference in individuals’ lives.”
Barrows connected with Barrett through her work running her organization’s community-service branch in Hartford Community Court. Many of the men and women that Community Partners in Action have helped connect with food, housing, and other services were referred there by Barrett she stated.
“The philosophy of community-oriented policing speaks to partnerships, looking at why people do what they do and plugging them into resources, so they don’t repeat the same behaviors,” she said. “Jim personifies that.”
It is a philosophy that Barrett knows well. One of the big issues he faces in the area he covers is panhandling, especially when the homeless encounter office workers as they venture out of their buildings for lunch.
“Look, I could do one of two things: give them summonses, take them to community court and be done with it,” Barrett said, “or I could give them summonses, pull them aside and ask them what’s going on.” It’s empathy with a purpose: By forming these bonds, these relationships, trust is earned, and Barrett accomplishes his main role of maintaining public safety. “The work that I do, even though it’s not technically part of my job, it helps my job,” he said. “It makes it easier to solve a car break-in for example, because I have a pulse of what’s going on.”
People are constantly walking up to him as he walks down Main Street. They stop to say hello, give updates on their lives, or simply just to thank him. Officer Barrett has a positive impact on those in his community and that is what it is all about.
Barrett served in the U.S. Army for 21 years where he was deployed to Iraq and Bosnia. He also helped train soldiers in Germany. “When I got deployed back in ’07 overseas, I made a pact to my neighborhood Asylum Hill that when I come back I’ll take care of them,” he said. “In my mind it motivated me to give all I got if I come back or when I come back.”
He spent seven years working with the Department of Corrections and has been serving as a Hartford Police Officer for 18 years. The Police Commissioners Association of Connecticut awarded him for going above and beyond the call of duty.
Roy Williams, a North End native, can attest to this as Officer Barrett was there to lend him a hand in his time of need. Williams life was upended when his house was damaged in a fire. Williams can only live in his home in the summer; when winter comes around the lack of heat forces him to go to a shelter. To make matters worse, he was struggling to pay taxes he owed on the damaged property. When Williams told Officer Barrett his story during their first meeting, Barrett knew that Williams was a Vietnam War vet, having served in the Army’s 101st Airborne Division. Barrett understood that Williams could get some tax relief with his discharge papers. So, Barrett, a veteran himself, helped him get the necessary documents from the Department of Veteran Affairs. He even went a step further and saved him copy fees by letting him use the equipment in his office.
“He never looked down on me, never treated me like a second-or-third-class citizen,” Williams said as he and Barrett talked outside the Hartford Public Library. “This man has done so much for me. He’s gone above and beyond the call of duty.”
In addition to the above, there is one more story about Officer Barrett that shows he is a hero in every sense of the word.
A man was about to jump off the Columbus Boulevard pedestrian bridge during a busy lunch hour one day. A witness recalls this day well. “There were tons of children going to the science museum,” said Manon Morande. “This could have been horrific.”
Officer Barrett, who was in the vicinity on his bike, thought that something wasn’t right and was there in seconds.
Morande watched the powerful life-and-death encounter between Officer Barrett and the person jumping. “I saw the officer on the other side of the bridge, lunging as this gentleman jumped over and put his arm out and caught him,” she said.
“There was no negotiating,” said Barrett. “He was committed to jump and he was in the position to actually jump. He was in the motion of jumping. That’s when I had to take the initiative and take charge and stop it from happening.”
“I said, ‘Hey, we’re going to get through this together,” said Barrett.
Morande said, “I’m not trying to get emotional. He was amazing. We need more people like him around here.” They are both grateful the man is alive and getting the treatment he needs.
If you are interested in helping Officer Barrett and Hartford’s Homeless the information is as follows:
Footwear with Care is a program of Community Partners in Action with the Hartford Police Department, Fleet Feet of West Hartford and Connecticut Podiatric Medical Association.
Community Partners in Action provides Officer Barrett with items for the homeless such as food, socks, and underwear. The group also works with Officer Barrett to connect those in need to other services. For more information on how you can help, contact: Program Manager, Deborah Barrows: [email protected].
Another organization that helps Officer Barrett gather goods for the homeless is Church Army, USA. You can reach out to Dorathy Smolkis: [email protected] if you would like to help.
Thank you, Officer Barrett, for impacting lives in your community in such a positive and compassionate manner.