HINGHAM, MA (WCMH) — When 3-year-old Lillian Israel saw the officer eating alone at Panera Bread, she asked if she could join him.

“I had an empty seat there and she looked at it and said can I sit, and I said sure,” Sgt. Steven Dearth with the Hingham Police Department tells WHDH.

Lillian says she likes police and that’s what prompted her to leave her parents and baby brother behind to have the meal with Dearth.

According to Dearth, the two had an in-depth conversation about her favorite things including her movie, “The Little Mermaid.”

“We had a great conversation. I learned a lot about her. She’s very social, very outgoing.”

Dearth tells WHDH, he loved the dinner date and hopes more children will say hello to police officers when they see them around.