01/23/2025
Great job South Bend Police Department!!
Why is there a picture from an officer's body camera in your newsfeed? Did SBPD post it by mistake? No... it's going to help us tell you a story of our officers and dispatchers coming together for someone in a time of need.
Earlier this morning, Officer Joshua Pennington observed a snow-covered vehicle parked at a local park. The park was closed... so Officer Pennington went over to check on the vehicle.
Inside the car, Officer Pennington found a mother and her two young children, attempting to get some rest. They didn't have anywhere to go for the night and were trying to stay warm in their vehicle.
After exploring some shelter options, Officers Pennington and Alan Wiegand (pictured below) decided to put together their own money to reserve the young family a night at a local motel to help make them more comfortable. As the officers were discussing their plan, St Joseph County 9-1-1 dispatchers Shelli Mathews and Cheyenne Whiting pitched in some of their own money as well. The dispatchers also worked with the motel to bring down the room rate for the evening.
Before heading over to the motel, officers stopped by the SBPD food pantry to provide the children with some extra diapers. Officer Kassandra Duran helped deliver those necessities. Before leaving, officers shared some additional resources to help the family in the coming days.
We commend Officers Pennington, Wiegand and Duran for going the extra mile to help someone in need. And we also recognize dispatchers Mathews and Whiting for assisting us from afar.
The SBPD food pantry is currently running low on newborn and size 5 diapers, as well as wipes. Our pantry runs on donations... so if you have any extras to spare, we would gladly accept your generosity. Donations can be dropped off at our front desk at 701 W. Sample Street in South Bend!
