DALLAS – A Dallas police officer trainee used his love for music to bond with a reluctant homeless woman earlier this month.
Michael Morey II was working with Senior Cpl. Larry Bankston Jr. on July 4 when he saw the woman walking with a guitar, WFAA reported.
Morey attempted to start a conversation but was rebuffed, the television station reported.
“I followed her and she initially was really resistant,” Morey, who has been with the Dallas Police Department for two months, told WFAA.
“(As) soon as he approaches the young lady, he says, ‘So you play guitar?’ And she immediately responds with, ‘I don’t F with police.’” Bankston told the television station. “Like real aggressive.”
Morey, who has a Ph.D. in musicology and a doctorate in musical arts from the University of North Texas, did not give up.
“I just came out of the gate and said, ‘Hey, I’d really like to hear you play,”’ Morey told WFAA. “That’s all. I have no other business than to hear you play.”
The woman sat down and began to play, but Morey noticed the guitar was out of tune and offered to tune it while she strummed on the instrument. The interaction drew a crowd of the woman’s friends, and other people gathered to watch.
Unknown to Morey, Bankston was filming the moment on his cellphone.
“He didn’t give up,” Bankston told WFAA. “I was impressed with his tenacity.”
About an hour late, the woman approached the two officers and asked for help, as a man had stolen her bag, the television station reported.
“She came up to us, and she treated us almost as like we were best friends,” Morey said.
Bankston and Morey were able to find the bag and make an arrest.
The officers were able to retrieve the woman’s bag and make an arrest. They also made a breakthrough by winning the woman’s trust.
“I did feel that, at least, by the end of that conversation, we were going to be better off. Both of us,” Morey told WFAA.
