In spite of the ongoing national protests against police misconduct and cover-ups, a New Hampshire police officer has proven that there are still a lot of good cops left in the U.S.

Instead of arresting a woman for shoplifting last week, police officer Michael Kotsonis decided to pay for her stolen goods, after he learned that the thief had taken items in order to bake her child a birthday cake.

According to the Portsmouth Herald, the 19-year veteran cop was called to the Ocean State Job Lots after a woman had stolen cake mix, shortening and "a couple things of frosting." Once he learned the woman's identity, Kotsonis went to her home to recover the items. However, he realized that the thief was a mother who wanted to bake her child a birthday cake.

Although he did not condone the mother's actions, he decided not to arrest her or "take away a kid's birthday cake." Kotsonis then went back to the store to purchase the items with his own money.

"I'm not going to take away a kid's birthday cake," he said. "I ended up bringing it back to the mother."

A store employee reported his good deed to the local newspaper, calling it "the kindest thing in the entire world."

"With all of these stories about bad cops, I thought y'all would love to hear this one," said the store worker, who opted not to be unnamed. "He's a Portsmouth police officer and I literally have never had such an amazing experience with an officer and I'm hoping that he can get some sort of recognition."

Kotsonis says he hoped his kindness would remain anonymous.

"I didn't do it for the attention," Kotsonis said Tuesday, according to The Associated Press. "What you do when no one is looking, that's the character of someone."

Kotsonis added that his act of kindness is something that his fellow officers "do all the time."

"We don't publicize it. We don't do stuff to brag about it. I don't need an article to know what's right and wrong," he said.

Acting Deputy Police Chief Frank Warchol said Kotsonis' actions exemplified the department's dedication to community, commitment and compassion.

"Mike's compassion took over. He used discretion and I guarantee the kids were happy," Warchol said.