Mississippi police officer Josh McConnell has a brand new partner -- a fuzzy stuffed bear.
McConnell was on patrol when he was approached by a little girl -- around 3 or 4 years old, he wrote in a Facebook post. She was holding a big teddy bear.
"I turned and asked what I could do for her, and she hands me her bear," he wrote. "I tried to give it back but she refused. She looked up at me and said it was to keep me safe."
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The incident almost brought McConnell to tears. "I said thank you while trying to keep my voice from cracking," he wrote.
The girl's mother told McConnell that her daughter's generosity stemmed from a family connection -- there is a law enforcement officer in their family. The little girl often heard others tell her relative to stay safe -- so she wanted to keep another officer safe too.
Now, Officer Bear is riding shotgun.
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