Police officers show up for little girl's kindergarten graduation in place of dad serving in Afghanistan

While proud parents, siblings and grandparents might be a common sight at a kindergarten graduation, one little girl had a somewhat unusual group cheering her on -- the local police department. When Sophia Prinkey's dad couldn't attend her graduation because he's currently on a tour of duty in Afghanistan, his fellow officers in Mesa Police Department turned out to support his little girl.

Shawn Prinkey is 14-year Mesa Police Department veteran, currently serving in Afghanistan as a part-time member of the Army. It was one of Prinkey's fellow officers, whose wife is a teacher at Sophia's school, that organized the turnout.

"They worked together with the school and with Prinkey's motor squad to make it happen," Mesa Police Det. Esteban Flores told ABC News.

More than a dozen officers showed up for the ceremony on May 13. They posed for photos with Sophia and her family, even letting the little girl sit on one of the department's motorcycles.

"There's a lot of our officers in the military," Flores said. "And they all look out for each other."