In recent years, police officers in the USA have acquired a bad name for themselves amongst certain circles. Excessive brutality and unlawful use of firearms from individuals - especially against minorities - has led to the police force as a whole getting labelled as a bad group of people, and it's an image that's very hard to shake off.

Every now and then, however, a cop does something which proves that there certainly are some good eggs amongst them.

Last week, Facebook user Seth Kazz shared an image of a police officer - since identified as Officer Todd Bing - bending down to speak to someone in their car at a gas station. Along with the picture, Kazz provided an explanation about what had just gone down between the pair - and it's a heart-warming story, to say the least.

"An elderly woman came into my station today and gave me $3 in change to put on her gas pump," Kazz wrote.

"A police officer was standing behind her and happened to hear the amount and saw she was using a cane, struggling to walk back to her car. He went outside and told her to sit in the car as he would pump the gas for her.

"After a few minutes of getting to know one another he realized she was really struggling and didn’t have any gas or money left. The $3 will only get her so far. He told her to hang tight- came inside and put her another $20 out of his pocket. He went back and finished pumping and she told him her husband had recently passed away and she’s stuck paying all their bills and is behind every month.

"This $20 really helped her! She would of most likely ended up running out of gas."

Kazz then went on to say that, despite the bad press that the police get these days, there are still good people on the force.

"Nowadays there’s so much negativity towards police officers. No one respects them. We hear all the complaints and 'bad' stories.

"I’m not saying every officer is perfect, I’m sure some are at fault at times. We all make mistakes- but we should all respect, appreciate, and thank them for what they do.

"Leaving your family everyday to try and make sure everyone’s else’s is safe can be tough. Think about it- who do you call when you’re in danger? Who’s running in harms way as you’re running away?

"To all the men and women in blue I THANK YOU for your service!"

The gas station owner also noted at the bottom of the post that the elderly woman did not actually own the car, and it was being loaned to her in order to help her get around.

Kazz also provided a link to a GoFundMe that has since been set up for the woman since the post went viral, and, at the time of writing, it's already raised more than $7,700.

It just goes to show that one small act of kindness can cause a snowball effect, inspiring others to come forward and perform their own good deeds. So, to Officer Todd Bing, and, indeed, anyone else who takes time out of their day to help someone in need: thank you!

This police officer's simple act of kindness at a gas station is going viral for all the right reasons