A former drug addict was reunited this week with the California officer who helped save her life by encouraging her to go to college during her numerous arrests.
Tiffany Hall is now nine years sober after being addicted to crack and she will soon be a college graduate.
On Tuesday morning, Hall reunited with Long Beach Lt Jim Foster, whom she says ‘encouraged’ her to get help and go to college.
On Tuesday, former drug addict, Tiffany Hall, reunited with California officer, Lt Jim Foster (pictured hugging), who arrested her multiple times and tried to help her get her off the streets
Hall (left) is now nine years sober after being addicted to crack and she will soon be a college graduate. Hall said Foster (right) ‘encouraged’ her to get help and go to college during her numerous arrests
Photos of their reunion show Hall hugging Foster and even kissing him on the cheek. She thanked Foster for helping save her life.
‘Everyone has a story that led them to that point,’ he said, according to the Press Telegram. ‘The greatest story of my career is connecting with people from the streets from time to time who have turned their lives around.’
Hall then handed Foster a white envelope containing an invite to her graduation.
‘I wouldn’t miss it for the world,’ Foster said to her as he smiled.
Hall, who now hopes to be a social worker, recalled how Foster arrested her multiple times while trying to push her off the streets.
‘He’d say, “Tiffany, you can do better than this. Tiffany, why don’t you go to school? Tiffany, why don’t you stop?”‘ Hall remembered. ‘I really appreciate the encouragement he gave me.’
Hall said it took her years to break away from crack. She said: ‘Crack is different, you can’t get away from it. You have to have it.’
She described her former life as a product of her environment and her family, adding that gang-banging and drug selling were essentially family traditions.
In 2009, Hall entered a rehab program, and only spent a couple of months in prison. She got clean, went to cosmetology school, and started doing women’s hair and makeup. But she knew she wanted to do more. ‘I want to help families and children,’ she said. ‘I want to give back’
Next month, she will graduate from Cal State Dominguez Hills, and she plans on applying to a master’s programs to study social work. She even gave Foster an invitation (pictured) to her graduation
Hall recalled how she would sit in the back of his patrol car and try to talk her way out of jail. Foster, Hall said, would laugh good-naturedly – and then book her.
However, Foster said he noticed Hall’s ‘unique spirit’.
‘She wasn’t afraid to tell you like it was. She had a tough outer shell but I could tell there was a soft inner person,’ he said.
In 2009, Hall entered a rehab program, and only spent a couple of months in prison.
She got clean, went to cosmetology school, and started doing women’s hair and makeup, according to the Telegram.
But she knew she wanted to do more.
‘I want to help families and children,’ she said. ‘I want to give back.’
Next month, she will graduate from California State University, Dominguez Hills, and she plans on applying to a master’s programs to study social work.
‘I’m proud of what I’ve become,’ she said.