Here the subject is the police officer. Something you seldom see anymore in big cities in the US. The officer here mostly rides around on small motorcycles. Not the police cars or armored SUVs most ride here; that is a BIG saving in money, I expect. And there are a lot of them. They ride around, occasionally stopping for 15 or 20 minutes and just chatting with the locals and tourists. Don't get me wrong, they also have armored SUV SWAT teams here and there, but mostly at Banks and places needing higher security. The idea seems to be to spend money where it is needed and save it when possible.
Here is a family of tourists that carried on an animated conversation laughing and pointing. I think they were asking for recommendations or directions. It was a fun, friendly conversation, with everyone laughing and smiling and waving when they left.
The officer was there for about 30 minutes, and locals came up to just say hello, and chat. Eventually, he left and went across the street, and parked for a while.
It reminded me of growing up, and officer friendly was walking a beat where he knew everyone, and everyone knew him; today, most of it seems there is a lot of tension around police officers, and few walk beats anymore.
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