I may have become a wee bit cinical in dealing with this police state that we find ourselves in, today. Many of my repostings of middle of the night warantless house assaults, youtubes showing police using excessive force, and the routine appearance of military clad crowd control police officers have often ended with, "Have you seen officer friendly?"
Officer friendly was a P.R. push years back, directed at a softer, more human image of our local law enforcement. I could relate, because my dad was a Baltimore City Police Sargent for twenty-some years. The man who held our hand to cross the street, or sang "Stinky River Rock" on our way to the beach, was the same man who went to work each day carrying a 38.
The Baltimore Police were also respected. During the College Park anti-Vietnam War demonstrations that blocked U.S. 1, the state was failing at clearing the street, to allow traffic to flow. Day after day the students would crowd blocks of this major thoroughfare connecting Baltimore and Washington. They tried the National Guard, and they tried county police, but to no avail. Then they brought in three cheese buses full of Baltimore City Police: no riot gear, no military get-up. The crowds dispersed.
This past Sunday, Jane and I accompanied about eighty-some pilgrims into West Baltimore City for the Religious Freedom Walk. As we took a rest stop, at a McDonald's on Warwick and Rt 40 in a rather tough area, our R.V., which had been following and calming the traffic, was pushed off of the main drag by the Baltimore City Police. The officer approached our leaders and asked what we were doing. He quickly called for a squad car to give us an escort. The officer quickly went about blocking intersections as our block long line of pilgrims walked our last two miles. As we reached our destination, for some it was their 100th mile, I made a point of establishing eye contact with the officer, as he blocked a huge intersection, and said "Thank you!" He smiled, and you could tell, he was glad to help. I found "Officer Friendly".
