INDIANAPOLIS -- A program that enables officers with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department to hand out bags of food directly to people in need is already paying off.
The City of Indianapolis partnered with Gleaners Food Bank for the Community Action Relief Effort (CARE) Bags program which provides sacks of groceries to IMPD officers.
In the program's first month, 57 officers provided 28 CARE bags to people in need - including two children, three seniors and 11 homeless.
In one situation, an officer was called to a disturbance caused by a young woman who had been stealing food because she couldn't afford to buy it.
Rather than arresting her, the officer gave her a CARE bag and the Office of Public Health and Safety followed up to connect her with a food assistance social service agency.
In another instance, during a welfare check at the home of an elderly woman, officers found the woman had fallen and hadn't been able to move for two days. She also had no food.
The woman was taken to the hospital for care and treatment. She was also referred to Adult Protective Services to connect with a reliable source for food.
Officers left a CARE bag with non-perishable food at her home to make sure she had something to eat when she returned.
In 2015, the Department of Public Safety partnered with Gleaners for a CARE Mobile Food Pantry.
It moves between neighborhoods in each of the six designated focus areas of Indianapolis.
MORE | Mobile food pantry serves 5,000 Hoosiers infirstweek |IMPD and Gleaners to continue mobile pantries| Gleaners' mobile food bank returns for summer
