More than duty

After parking his cruiser behind a small strip shopping center on Cross County Road, North Charleston police patrolman Patrick Norwood grabbed his flashlight and walked into the woods behind the stores.

It was a chilly February night, not the coldest of the month, but it had rained for much of the day and fog hung in the night air.

Walking a winding path, stepping over fallen tree limbs and muddy puddles, he stopped just short of a blue camping tent, faintly illuminated by a dim light within.

Norwood didn't barge into the tent. He didn't start banging on it with his flashlight.

Instead, he stood a respectful distance from the tent's threshold and asked, "Anybody home?"

Someone stirred inside, awakened by the visit.

Norwood called out the man's name.

"I am sorry to come out here so late," Norwood said. "But I wanted to talk with you."

The man got dressed and came out of the tent. The two men hugged.

Norwood asked the man if he needed anything. "I've got a really nice blanket in my car," Norwood said. The man agreed to walk back to the squad car. Norwood popped open the trunk.

Inside there were jackets, canned goods, blankets and stuffed animals. Not the kinds of things you'd expect to see in a police cruiser.

The stuffed animals aren't for the homeless, he said. "I give them to children I see on domestic-violence calls. It takes their mind off it, plus it develops a trust in police."

Norwood gave the man a comforter, a sack of canned goods and a jacket. He also offered to take the man to church with him.

Norwood, 29, has been working for the city for more than five years, first as a firefighter, and for the last year and a half as a police officer. He said his faith has guided his career choices, and that he felt he could help people even more by working as a police officer.

"I became a Christian when I was 21," he said. "I never had anything to do with God before that. I felt like he was leading me to the fire department."

In a December 2009 letter nominating Norwood for departmental recognition, his supervisor, Sgt. Timothy Blair, praised Norwood's compassion for those less fortunate.

"Norwood is a good, aggressive officer and has no problem enforcing laws and arresting persons that need to go to jail," Blair said in the nominating letter. "On the other hand, he has a lot of compassion for his fellow citizens that he protects and serves."

Blair also said Norwood is a person of high moral character, "which is a credit to himself, law enforcement and the city of North Charleston."

Norwood grew up in a military family, living in Texas, Illinois and Mississippi, he said. He came to Charleston to attend The Citadel, where he was graduated in 2003.

Norwood and his wife attend Cathedral of Praise off Ashley Phosphate Road. His wife is a teacher at Cathedral Academy, a school affiliated with the church. When folks at the school heard what Norwood was doing with the homeless, they began donating jackets, blankets and other items. Members of the church also pitched in, he said.

"We got an abundant amount of coats," he said. "They just kept coming." He had so many coats that he was able to donate some to the Salvation Army and to relief efforts in Haiti, he said.

At any given time, there may be as many as 3,000 homeless people in Charleston County, said Becky VanWie, associate director of the Lowcountry Continuum of Care Partnership.

Norwood said there are hundreds of homeless people in the city of North Charleston, most of them in the southern portions of the city. "The majority that I've talked to have had something traumatic in their life," he said. Some have mental conditions. Some have drug and alcohol problems. Some are physically disabled.

He patrols the city's northern region, where there are upscale developments such as Coosaw Creek and Wescott Plantation. Homeless people dwell in encampments all around the area, Norwood said. He has identified more than half a dozen homeless people who regularly walk the streets in his patrol zone.

When he sees them, he gets out of his cruiser and talks with them. He said he believes building trusting relationships with homeless people not only helps them, it can help police solve crimes. "Some of them have given me information about criminal activity," he said. They are like extra sets of eyes and ears on the street, he said.

Norwood said his supervisors and co-workers have encouraged his outreach to the homeless. "North Charleston police are a great group of people to work for and to work with," he said. "We've got a good group of officers."

Reach David W. MacDougall at macdougd@postandcourier.com or 937-5655.