CLEVELAND – As the Republican National Convention came to a close Thursday night, the police presence on downtown Cleveland streets became targets for praise.
"We have a lot of people shaking hands, coming up to us, saying, 'Thank you for your service', and we really appreciate that," said Cleveland Police Officer Luis Valdez.
More than 5,000 officers, many from different states' forces, are part of Cleveland's convention security detail honed over weeks of violence and terror in other cities.
"Everyone we've talked to says, 'Oh, nothing too exciting has happened. It has been pretty quiet. And that's a very good thing," said Cleveland resident Emily Boes.
Lifelong Clevelander Mary Keating said she believes the show of force was a deterrent.
"We were watching it go up over the weekend and thought 'no one was going to be able to do anything,' little things but nothing big," she said.
Most of the two dozen arrests over the week were made Wednesday during a melee that erupted when some self-proclaimed revolutionary Communists torched an American flag.
Protesters around the city have included anarchists, immigration advocates, Bikers for Trump and those against Trump.
But for a few flash points, all were peaceful.