Cleveland Police Thank Everyone for the Beautiful Love at the RNC With an EPIC Video

I wrote from Cleveland last week::

Here, at the Republican National Convention, the police are the heroes of the story. Everywhere you go, whether it’s inside the security perimeter or out, you’ll find people thanking law enforcement officers for keeping them safe. People thank the police for waving them across the street, for directing them to the right queue for security, and even for searching through their bags before entering the venue.

I can’t count the number of times I heard people cheering for police as they rode by on bikes or walked past in a group. People were genuinely grateful for these men and women in uniform who were willing to put themselves in harm’s way to protect convention attendees and protesters alike. People also appreciated that cops took the time to do things like this:

A Indiana State Police officer runs through a fountain with a small child in Public Square in Cleveland, during the Republican convention. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

One night after the convention had wrapped up for the evening, I watched an interview on Fox News with Steve Loomis, head of the Cleveland Patrolmen’s Association. Loomis talked about their efforts to get involved in the community. He told the interviewer (I’m paraphrasing here), “It’s hard to hate up close.”

That’s the spirit with which these law enforcement officials approached their jobs last week — as men and women striving to make their community a better place. That spirit was evident in the way they treated people, not just the delegates and elected officials who got the VIP treatment, but also the sweaty, unhinged protesters on Cleveland’s Public Square. I saw nothing but professionalism exhibited by the police all week long. That includes not only Cleveland’s local officers, but also officers who came from all over the country to help out during the convention — local cops, members of the National Guard, FBI, DHS, U.S. Secret Service, and the U.S. Marshals Service. All performed admirably and were a credit to oaths they swore to uphold.

Ohio Governor John Kasich wrote this in an op-ed after the convention:

As Cleveland sweeps up from the Republican National Convention and things begin returning to normal, soon the only reminder of our 50,000 visitors will be the head-nodding we’ll share for years to come as we look back and say, “You know, that all went pretty smoothly.”

The nation expected trouble but it never showed up. Why? One reason is the planning and professionalism of the 3,100 law enforcement and first responders from Cleveland and from across Ohio and 23 other states. They did an incredible job under tough circumstances, and on behalf of every Ohioan I extend my deepest thanks to them for helping keep things calm.