We all know that police officers go above and beyond every day to help protect people in their community, but many don’t know that they are also doing everything they can to protect and serve the animal kingdom as well!

Carolyn B.R. Hammett and her husband Kevin were recently driving home on a stormy day in Greenbelt, Maryland when something very unusual caught their eye. They saw a police officer standing in the middle of the road, and though it was pouring rain outside, the cop had a huge smile on her face!

“As we got closer, we realized that she was standing over something,” Carolyn said. It was only when they pulled up to the officer that they noticed she was protecting a large, snapping turtle.

The officer had received a call about the turtle and had alerted animal control, but the cop feared that a motorist might hit the turtle before officials could arrive, so she decided to stand over the turtle in the rain to protect the creature. The Hammett’s immediately started scrambling to find an umbrella for the officer in their car, and Kevin quickly ran out to give it to her as soon as they found one.

“The officer thanked us and we thanked her and we all went on our way,” Carolyn said. “She was smiling a big broad smile the entire time and she never seemed to care that she was drenched completely through. She was delightful, inspirational, kind, all the things that you think a police officer should be.”

After Carolyn posted the photo to social media, it went viral, and people all over the country praised the officer for going above and beyond to help the turtle. The cop was later identified as Officer Sharnice Hawkins-Graham, and weeks later, the city of Greenbelt named her as their Officer of the Year!

We applaud Officer Hawkins-Graham for doing what needed to be done to help this turtle! SHARE this story so your friends and family can see this as well!