A Montreal police sergeant playing the piano in the middle of a public park isn’t something that happens all the time.
So, when Raffi Farkas witnessed it, he told Global News he just had to stop and capture the moment.
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“I heard the piano playing. Normally, I would just pass by, but I noticed the badge on his arm,” Farkas said.
“So, I thought it might have been public security, but to my surprise, it turned out to be a sergeant from Station 24.”
Dominic Godbout is a 16-year police veteran.
He says he started playing piano long before he became an officer.
Last week, he decided to mesh both of his passions together.
“I was just passing by, coming back from a call in Outremont,” he said.
“I saw the piano was open and there was nobody around it too much, so I said, ‘I’m just going to stop by and play a piece or two on it.'”
Farkas said he was stunned because it showed a different side of police officers.
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“Cops sometimes get a bad rap. We see people accusing them of brutality or other ridiculous things,” he said.
“So, I thought this was a great way of showing people, citizens, that you know, they’re humans too and they have interests and talents like everybody else.”
Godbout couldn’t agree more.
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“You see always an intervention with a police officer, you see us on the street, at the office,” he said.
“But every police officer has a story to tell and a life outside of their work.”
Though this was the first time Godbout has ever played on a public piano, he says it definitely won’t be the last.