MPD officers go viral in photo helping toddler
2-year-old found in unheated home with pregnant mother
A photo of a 2-year-old boy eating chicken McNuggets on the lap of a Milwaukee police officer had been shared thousands of times on social media by Tuesday.
Officers Vin Paolo and Dan Resnick were called to a vacant, boarded-up home on N. 29th St. near W. Locust St. on Friday morning to assist child welfare workers who had received reports of a pregnant woman living inside, according to Milwaukee police.
The officers found the woman and her 2-year-old son, who was wearing several coats, in the unheated house. They got the hungry boy a meal from McDonald’s and brought him into the warmth of a squad car.
As the boy sat on Paolo’s lap, Resnick took a photo and sent it to Paolo’s wife because the couple have adopted five foster children.
“Coworkers often joke with me as if I’m going to take home every child that I see, and I really wish that I could,” Paolo told reporters from WISN-TV (Channel 12) and WITI-TV (Channel 6).
“It hurts my heart when I see children like this,” Paolo said.
Resnick said seeing children being victimized is the hardest part of the job.
The photo Resnick took was posted on Facebook, with the boy’s face obscured to protect his privacy, and has since been shared more than 2,000 times and attracted more than 4,000 “likes” and other reactions.
“We don’t want recognition,” Paolo said. “It’s just what we do because we’re dads, we’re people.”
“We don’t just do it because we’re police officers and it’s our job,” he said.
Milwaukee police say Child Protective Services has taken custody of the boy and his mother is being assisted with finding permanent shelter.
“Coworkers often joke with me as if I’m going to take home every child that I see, and I really wish that I could.” Officer Vin Paolo Milwaukee Police Department