WATCH: A picture of a chance encounter between a young boy and a Halifax police officer has gone viral. The photo has appeared in newspapers and magazines around the world since being posted online this past weekend. Julia Wong reports.
HALIFAX – A Halifax family is in disbelief after their photo of an officer giving their three-year-old a fake parking ticket went viral.
“I just think it’s unreal,” said mother Lisa Tramley.
On Friday night, Const. Shawn Currie was patrolling the Halifax ferry terminal when he encountered the little boy named Declan Tramley.
“This young fellow came up on his plastic motorcycle. We talked and I gave him a shoulder patch. He was very excited. A couple minutes later, he parked where the motorcycles usually park,” he said.
No parking is allowed on the loop by the ferry terminal.
“We thought it would be very funny to go over and write a parking ticket, a fake one, and just pretend.”
The moment was captured in pictures from Declan’s father and the boy’s expression, a mixture of resignation and defeat, at that exact moment is priceless.
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Halifax police posted the picture to their Facebook page on Sunday and it has since exploded online. The story has been featured on People.com, Time Magazine and Britain’s Daily Mail.
“Don’t get me wrong. Again I think my son is adorable. It’s just unbelievable that one photo could spread so fast across social media,” Lisa said.
“I didn’t think it was a possibility when we snapped the pictures. Honestly you just take pictures of your kids all the time and we just sent them to the police officer just to be nice.”
Police surprised by reaction
Currie said he was not expecting the picture to go viral.
“I figured it would have a reach within Halifax but I didn’t think it would go national or international,” he said.
“It’s cute. It’s very innocent looking and fun. It’s refreshing to see an interaction with a police officer and a young kid like that. There’s nothing malicious about it. We just all had fun with it and he enjoyed it.”
Currie said he hopes the picture makes people realize police officers are approachable and relatable.
“Most times, police officers are put in such a light, where we’re at a crime or we’re arresting people, it just gives everybody a different view of what a police officer is,” he said.
“We’re interacting with the public every day. We are human. We’re just like everybody else.”
Chief Jean-Michel Blais said the response to the picture is not surprising considering the reach of social media.
“It just shows the importance of us being present on social media, of being that beacon amongst all the noise that’s out there,” he said.
Blais said he sees there are significant challenges in regards to trust between police in the United States and the public, and he thinks the picture resonated with so many for that reason.
“One of the things we’ve been targeting is developing further the trust we already enjoy with the community. I guess the biggest thing here is to show that trust is here. It’s alive and well,” he said.
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