Michael Lin loved playing cops and robbers as a kid. So much so that when it was time to grow up, he traded the imaginary badge for a real one.

“I thought it would be cool to be out on the streets, chasing down bad guys,” says Lin.

And that’s exactly what he did on a Phoenix street at 3 a.m. on March 3, 2014. 

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On his way to burglary call, the 15-year veteran of the Tempe and Phoenix Police Department spotted a man on a bicycle clutching a small child in pajamas “like a bag of groceries.”

Lin’s paternal instincts kicked in. “I’m a father, and I just couldn’t imagine the circumstances in which I would be taking my daughter for a bike ride at 3 in the morning,” he says.

So he activated his patrol car’s lights. When the cyclist accelerated, Lin cut him off, removing the little girl from the man’s clutches.  

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Earlier that night, the suspect had kidnapped the child from her home, photographing and sexually assaulting her. 

Lin prefers not to think about what would have happened to the girl if he hadn’t been there, but according to the National Center of Missing & Exploited Children, 75 percent of children kidnapped are murdered within the first 3 hours of the kidnapping—and 99 percent are dead within 24 hours. 

“I definitely didn’t understand the gravity of the situation in the moment,” he says. “I was in the right place at the right time, doing my job the best way I can. As a cop, you hear about these kinds of scenes, but this was my scene. I’m just glad I was able to reunite this little girl with her mom and dad.”   

For his quick actions that night, the National Association of Police Organizations named Lin one of the country’s Top Cops. Vice President Joe Biden praised Lin at the award ceremony last May in Washington, D.C.
 
Lin shares his story and offers advice and inspiration to rookie police officers around the United States. 

“What I tell them is what I truly believe in my heart: If you’re going to be a cop, you’ve got to do it for the right reasons,” Lin says. “You don’t do it to get rich, famous, or to work out whatever your childhood issues might be. When I put on the badge, my life stops being about me.”