Parades & Public Relations

I just got back from taking the kids up to see the However-manyeth Annual Winter Springs Holiday Parade. Had the usual assortment of kids throwing candy and organizations that you wonder why they joined the parade, but no collision between the Shriner's go-karts this year (it actually happened last year. Never actually saw a go-cart get totaled, but that fiberglass body just busted into pieces on impact). And, of course, as it always is, the parade was kicked off by a police color guard, followed by motorcycle cops from about 7 local agencies.

What really caught me as interesting though were the actions of the motorcycle cops. They rode by, 5 rows of 5, 25 in all. And then there were two more, almost riding along like an afterthought. They were the two cops from the Orlando Police Department.

The OPD cops were the only ones from Orange County (Winter Springs is in Seminole County). And these two were riding around like they were on the Shriner mopeds. They were doing figure-8s, leaning the bike over as far as they could without falling off, tight circles, all of that.

But more importantly, they were having fun. They both had big grins on their faces. They would ride right along the side of 434 where all the kids were lined up and they were high-fiving the kids, stopping to show them the bikes or how the sirens worked. They were laughing and making the kids laugh.

It was an amazing dichotomy.

You had the Seminole County officers riding along in perfect rank and file. They were anonymous. They stared straight ahead; stealing only glances to the side to make sure that they were still in perfect lines. It was almost like a Stalinist show of force military parade. Perfectly pressed uniforms. Hard steely faces looking forward. Jackboots. It was all very impressive - if this had been a police funeral procession where discipline is the order of the day.

But this wasn't a funeral. This was a holiday parade. It was a wonderful opportunity for the cops to show the community that they too are human. All too often, especially with kids, the only contact with a motorcycle cop comes when they pull you over for a traffic violation. People forget that the cops on bikes are capable of having fun, too. They are seen only as stern authority figures.

The two OPD cops played the public relations game beautifully. The other 25 were, as on every other day, the stern, unyielding authority figures. The two OPD cops were a couple of regular guys, who liked to show off (just like kids do) who just happened to wear a badge, a uniform, and ride a motorcycle with flashing lights. When the 25 went by, the kids just sat; when the two came by, they were up on the road cheering, pointing, laughing, and most importantly learning that not every encounter with a cop has to be bad.

Now I'll grant you that OPD is a much larger organization and probably much more in tune with the beat officers doing PR. But it's not hard. These small agencies seem to want to make everything into a proving ground of their discipline and their orderliness. Along the way, they lose their connection with the community. Yes, they're disciplined. Yes, they're orderly and efficient and all that other stuff. But they also are, from all appearances, smug and elitist, not willing to mix it up with the "common folk" who pay the taxes that pay their salary. They don't seem like they're one of us; they don't seem like they want to be one of us. They act like they believe themselves to be above us, there only to keep us abiding by their laws.

Maybe if they had treated the holiday parade like a fun, festive event - like it's supposed to be - I wouldn't have a problem. But my kids have already had such poor experiences with the cops around here that they distrust them. I have spent more than a few nights trying to explain to them that not all cops are bad, evil, or uncaring. But the cops here do nothing to help in that. They look and act the very part which I'm trying to convince my kids that they're not.

Why couldn't these guys at least try to smile during a holiday parade? That's not even PR, that just basic humanity.