Officers Pay Diners' Bill

In the midst of the tension between police and the communities they serve, this story is a breath of fresh air. These officers paid the dinner bill for a couple after they refused to be seated with them.The incident happened over the weekend at Eat N' Park in Homestead, Pennsylvania, just outside of Pittsburgh. As the officers had dinner, Jesse Meyers, a server, attempted to seat the couple right next to them. They bluntly refused. Meyers gave a statement for WTAE:

"The guy looks over at one of the police officers and was like, 'Nah I don't want to sit here.' So they got moved completely opposite, away from the police officers."

Officer Chuck Thomas attempted to smooth over the situation.

"I looked over and said, 'It's okay sir. You won't have to worry about it, we won't hurt you.' He looked at me hard again and said he's not sitting here and walked away."

That's when the officers decided to counter rudeness with a random act of kindness.[caption id="attachment_6868" align="alignnone" width="610"]

Source: WTAE[/caption]The officers paid the cost of the couple's dinner, a $28.50 bill. They also left a $10 tip.[caption id="attachment_6869" align="alignnone" width="610"]

Source: WTAE[/caption]"Essentially the whole goal of it was to let him know that we're not here to hurt you," Thomas said. "We're here for you. We work for the public. And we just want to better the relationship between the community and the police."After the shooting in Dallas, Thomas said, tensions have been very high between officers and their communities.

"A lot of people were coming up to us and shaking our hands and thanking us, but you could just feel tight air through the community," he said. "It just dawned on me, I should do this real quick just to show this guy look, I don’t know if you had bad experience with the police in the past -- you may have you may have not -- but I just want you to know I never had an experience with you and I’m not here to do anything to you. And neither will my partners."

As they left the restaurant, one of the people that had dismissed them gave a smile and a quick thank you; a significant gesture on the road to healing.