The elderly woman was crossing the road when she tripped and fell.
Fortunately, she had almost made it to the other side when it happened. A passer-by managed to get her up onto the pavement, but she was still lying down. She was obviously shaken. The incident occurred during a busy time on the main street through town and it could have been a lot worse. By the time the policeman arrived at the scene, several people were crowding around the old lady.
With a commanding voice, the officer cried, “Everybody step back, please.”
Instantly, they all stood, then moving away, they lined up obediently with their backs against the wall of the building; three men and two women, all standing to attention.
The officer was amazed at this level of compliance. He boomed, “Sit!”
Again, without hesitation, they all slid down the wall and took up positions sitting cross-legged on the sidewalk.
It was then that the senior officer appeared and took the policeman to one side. He grinned and said, “Before you get them all to roll over… I’ll take it from here.”
The first officer nodded and went on with his patrol.
He had recently been transferred from the police dog training unit.
