On a recent trip to Cal’s in the heart of the downtown to buy the newspaper and a lottery ticket, we passed by a Lynn police officer who was patrolling the area.
There weren’t many people around. The downtown isn’t a terrifically heavily traveled area – but the policeman’s presence was noticed and appreciated.
It is easy for some residents to wonder about all the fuss being made by having police officers walking the downtown beat.
But unless those officers are there, the downtown is given away in some form to those who would abuse the relative peace of the place and turn it into their own form of a living nightmare.
For downtown business owners, the presence of a beat policeman takes back the turf from wrong doers who feel unfettered about doing as they please because the law isn’t around.
With the law around, wrongdoers have to think twice or give up the tendency for mayhem altogether.
This fact alone makes the presence of police officers walking the beat in the downtown a reason to exist.
At times, the police officers walking those beats might well say to themselves, “Why do they have me doing this? There really isn’t much going on?”
And they are right about that observation.
They are there because of what might go on without them being so present and noticeable.
We bought our newspaper at Cal’s and our lottery ticket.
We said hello to the beat cop.
We were happy to see him.
Their presence in the downtown is a good thing.