A police officer in Florida was stunned after he rushed to a family home after receiving a 911 call only to discover that the call had been placed by a child who wanted a hug.

The body cam footage shows the police officer responding to the 911 call in Riverview, Hillsborough County, in the US state of Florida, and asking a woman if it is her home, shortly before 1 pm on Wednesday, 1st November.

She says that it is and says that the police officer should talk to her son.

The unnamed woman then calls the boy outside and asks him if he had called the police.

The young boy, whose age was not reported, explained that he “wanted to give him a hug”.

The boy rushes over and then gives the police officer a hug.

The cop, named only as Deputy Pracht reciprocates the hug and then proceeds to explain the importance of the emergency phone number to the young boy and to only use it when there is a real emergency.

Newsflash obtained a statement from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday, second November, saying: “Body worn camera captures the moment an HCSO deputy responded to a call from a young boy who dialed 911 not because of an emergency, but because he simply wanted to hug a deputy.

“Deputy Pracht shared a hug, and took a moment to teach the importance of the emergency line while spreading love.”