A Louisiana teen with a mission to hug police officers in all 50 states visited the Fayetteville Police Department to spread her message of love Friday.
For seven years, 14-year-old Rosalyn Baldwin and her mom have traveled the U.S. to show the good in police departments, mother Angie Baldwin said. The family created the nonprofit, Rosalyn Loves, to support the goal.
“I thought this was one of the best ways to show that not all officers are bad — that there’s always a good side to everyone and that officers are human,” Rosalyn said Friday.
The family has visited 45 states thus far, with Washington, Hawaii, Alaska, Oregon and California being their last stops, said Angie Baldwin, who grew up in Goldston.
Rosalyn said the 2016 killing of five police officers in Dallas, Texas, inspired her to begin her journey.
“I was reading this headline when I was 6 years old … I was like, ‘Why are cops seen as bad?'” she said. “It first started with me and my family, particularly my mom, first delivering to our local police station. We gave them cookies and stickers, something simple at the start.”