# NY Cop Buys Boots for Homeless Man **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 2, 2012, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-cop-buys-boots-for-homeless-man/642716 "2012-12-02T00:03:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-cop-buys-boots-for-homeless-man/642716/21 "2012-12-03T17:14:54Z")
Officer DePrimo did a kind and generous thing, but I’m not surprised it’s turned out that way. I don’t know if Hillman would actually be in danger if he wore those nice boots, but it’s obvious a lot of long term homeless people are mentally ill and even a gift is not necessarily going to help. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-cop-buys-boots-for-homeless-man/642716/22 "2012-12-03T17:47:07Z")
If you go barefoot for a long time, wearing shoes is going to feel very weird. If my dogs could type, they could explain it better. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-cop-buys-boots-for-homeless-man/642716/23 "2012-12-03T17:53:50Z")
Wonder if the follow-up photos of DePrimo beating the shit out of Hillman with his nightstick and taking the shoes back will also go viral. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-cop-buys-boots-for-homeless-man/642716/24 "2012-12-03T18:17:39Z")
> [@luv2draw](#): > > Update: there’s an article in today’s NY Times online. The headline says that the guy is barefoot again and that he’s put the shoes in a safe place. > > Sorry, no link. I couldn’t bear to read the article it’s that sad to me. This man must be in such a mental state… A woman who read the story says she gave him shoes a few years ago. I doubt they’re in a safe place. I would suspect he either sold them or traded them. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-cop-buys-boots-for-homeless-man/642716/25 "2012-12-03T18:21:58Z")
This isn’t surprising at all. Part of Officer DePrimo’s charm is his young naivete. It’s still every bit as commendable, but right after the photo went viral I read about other New Yorkers familiar with Hillman sitting barefoot in front of the shoe store. This isn’t the first time he’s gotten a free pair of shoes which promptly come off. Doesn’t matter. I read somewhere recently that mentally ill homeless are far more likely to be victims of crime than commit crime, and it is possible wearing expensive boots would make him a target. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-cop-buys-boots-for-homeless-man/642716/26 "2012-12-04T00:41:36Z")
Helping the homeless is very complicated. Their needs…their issues…are very different from the things we normally think about. I can easily believe that he would be in danger if he wore nice shoes. It was a nice thought, but unless you’re very familiar with the person’s situation, it tends to be better to leave the hands-on contact and support to organizations who specialize in this sort of thing. -D/a ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-cop-buys-boots-for-homeless-man/642716/27 "2012-12-04T12:44:32Z")
Even if he feared for his life wearing the new boots, why take off the socks? It’s another example of why helping homeless people isn’t an easy task. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-cop-buys-boots-for-homeless-man/642716/28 "2012-12-04T12:53:01Z")
Well, duh. He didn’t want to get his socks all dirty. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-cop-buys-boots-for-homeless-man/642716/29 "2012-12-04T12:57:05Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > I’m not. It was to the woman you quoted–critiquing her characterization of this act as being part of his role as a police officer. Teachers buy classroom supplies from their own money, too. Sometimes fiscal reality and theory don’t go hand in hand. Sometimes protecting the vulnerable, even if technically part of your job, means personal sacrifice. He was a good cop and a good person. No need to separate the two. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-cop-buys-boots-for-homeless-man/642716/30 "2012-12-04T14:04:04Z")
This is such a perfect story–it has everything. Pathos, a heartwarming act of kindness by a friggen NYC cop, suffering, gratitude, and then a followup in which the recipient of touching charity is revealed as a typical misguided homeless person with no more judgment than a cat, and people defending his right to sell the friggen boots off his feet in the winter–what next, I ask, what next? I would bet my next week’s salary that the cop is being solicited for the book rights. (I can’t lose that one, because if it turns out that he isn’t, I’ll ask him myself if he wants a co-author or an academic press to publish his story.) This is just too good. ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-cop-buys-boots-for-homeless-man/642716/31 "2012-12-04T14:12:39Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > This is such a perfect story–it has everything. Don’t forget the heartless hypocritical religious elder brother who is quite content to let his kin freeze to death on the dangerous NYC streets until he discovers the error of his ways. Anyone else find this shocking? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-cop-buys-boots-for-homeless-man/642716/32 "2012-12-04T15:33:17Z")
> [@Endemic](#): > > … religious elder brother who is quite content to let his kin freeze to death on the dangerous NYC streets until he discovers the error of his ways. > > Anyone else find this shocking? Nah. Same ol’, same ol’. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-cop-buys-boots-for-homeless-man/642716/33 "2012-12-04T17:42:38Z")
Sad but the homeless guy is severely delusional-as are many of the homeless. A few years ago in Boston, a local citizen did a good deed-he bought a homeless bum a new winter coat. The bum later sold his coat to buy some cheap vodka. He had different priorities. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-cop-buys-boots-for-homeless-man/642716/34 "2012-12-04T17:53:48Z")
Jeez, that photo looks like it’s right out of a Norman Rockwell painting! Ed Koch has a write up at HuffPo. ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-cop-buys-boots-for-homeless-man/642716/35 "2012-12-04T18:14:29Z")
> [@andrewbub](#): > > calling bullshit on the $100 cost of a pair of boots from skechers. Believe it. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-cop-buys-boots-for-homeless-man/642716/36 "2012-12-04T19:23:45Z")
> [@Endemic](#): > > Don’t forget the heartless hypocritical religious elder brother who is quite content to let his kin freeze to death on the dangerous NYC streets until he discovers the error of his ways. [Here’s what the family actually says.](http://www.examiner.com/article/homeless-man-with-new-boots-from-nypd-officer-identity-revealed-stuns-family) I’m not sure what you think they can do about his problems if he won’t get help on his own. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-cop-buys-boots-for-homeless-man/642716/37 "2012-12-04T19:34:12Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > [Here’s what the family actually says.](http://www.examiner.com/article/homeless-man-with-new-boots-from-nypd-officer-identity-revealed-stuns-family) I’m not sure what you think they can do about his problems if he won’t get help on his own. That’s common, unfortunately. Homelessness is much more a mental healthcare issue than laziness and hard luck. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-cop-buys-boots-for-homeless-man/642716/38 "2012-12-04T19:52:54Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > That’s common, unfortunately. Homelessness is much more a mental healthcare issue than laziness and hard luck. I’m sure it is. Nothing the family said in that story supports anything **Endemic** posted. ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-cop-buys-boots-for-homeless-man/642716/39 "2012-12-05T13:24:46Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I’m sure it is. Nothing the family said in that story supports anything **Endemic** posted. I was referring to [this video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7-ErkxuNSs). See in particular the interview with the brother at 1:28. He doesn’t seem terribly sympathetic to me. Of course there may be a long and complicated backstory, but in the interview he just seemed mostly uncaring… ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-cop-buys-boots-for-homeless-man/642716/40 "2012-12-05T13:27:01Z")
> [@luv2draw](#): > > Update: there’s an article in today’s NY Times online. The headline says that the guy is barefoot again and that he’s put the shoes in a safe place. > > Sorry, no link. I couldn’t bear to read the article it’s that sad to me. This man must be in such a mental state… Barefoot again! I knew it, I bet someone is stealing htem off his feet! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-cop-buys-boots-for-homeless-man/642716.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-cop-buys-boots-for-homeless-man/642716.md?page=3)