A snapshot of life

April 11, 2009
Fredericksburg, Texas
4:00 p.m.

While wandering the main street of this tourist town, which features many wine-tasting rooms and German beer-serving restaurants, we noticed two Fredericksburg police officers (one male, one female) who represented the very epitome of community policing.

The officers were wearing regular uniforms, not tactical "operator" clothing, and were slowly walking down the sidewalk, interacting with shop owners, browsers and pedestrians with the same manner for all - friendly, helpful and accommodating, despite the fact that most of the adults had an alcoholic drink of some sort in their hands (there apparently is no open-container law in the town, and consuming while ambling about is quite tolerated, if not openly encouraged).

We observed these officers for an extended period as they were walking at about the same pace we were, and we were struck at how service-oriented these individuals were being. Giving out directions, warning Junior to stay out of the street, seeing how the day's business was doing - all of these tasks were done quite professionally with a smile, without a hint of barking of orders or the aloof air of "us versus them", which is a far cry from some of the more brutish police behavior we've unfortunately documented here recently.

Keep up the excellent work, officers. Your community is lucky to have you protecting it. You two are doing fine work, and it was noticed.