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In Photos: A Day On Patrol In Liberty City

Nadege Green
Officer Daniel Mocombe stops by Omega Power and Praise Ministry. He meets with Hariette Wilson Green, who runs a food pantry at the church.

Miami’s Police Chief is encouraging officers to engage with the communities they patrol beyond arrests and traditional law enforcement actions.

Daniel Mocombe is a neighborhood resources officer in Liberty City doing just that. When he's not answering emergency calls, he's building relationships in the community.

His approach to the job comes from his own negative experience with a police officer when he was a teen.  This is what the job boils down to for him: "People just want to be treated like human beings."

Officer Daniel Mocombe stops by Omega Power and Praise Ministry.  He meets with  Hariette Wilson Green,  who runs a food pantry at the church.  She says he comes by often to pick up food for needy families he comes across while on patrol.

Credit Nadege Green

Like all officers, Mocombe responds to emergency calls, but as a neighborhood resource officer, his job comes with a specific focus on building relationships in the neighborhood. Sometimes that means checking in on older residents who live alone like Stella Starks. 

Credit Nadege Green

Stella Starks high-fives Officer Mocombe after agreeing to participate in elderly programs at the neighborhood parks. Starks says she doesn't get out like she used to. Mocombe has been trying to coax her out of the house more. 

Credit Nadege Green

Officer Mocombe holds up a citation for doing the right thing. He hands them out to neighborhood kids. The citation comes with a coupon for a free pizza. 

Credit Nadege Green

Officer Mocombe  runs into Edward Darden, right, and friend, left,  at the Liberty Square housing projects. He offers them a ride as it starts to rain. Darden says Mocombe is a mentor to the young men in the neighborhood. 

Credit Nadege Green

In the back of his police car Mocombe carries a box filled with laundry detergent, dish soap, Ritz crackers, and cookies. He says sometimes he runs into a homeless person who needs a snack or a mom who needs cleaning supplies to wash her children's clothes. 

Credit Nadege Green

At the Liberty City police station, Officer Mocombe hosts a reading club.  Other officers and police staff volunteer and help neighborhood kids who struggle with reading. 

Credit Nadege Green

Officer Mocombe reads "The Royal Slumber Party" to 8-year old Raissa Coffie. 

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