"In Fresno, police focus on building relationships, not making arrests", is the original headline of an article published by Washington Post on May 7, accompanied with cheesy photos of the chief of police posing for selfies and laughing with children.

The first paragraph reads:

The toddler had just finished having his face painted bright red and white when he barreled toward Jerry Dyer, Fresno's broad-shouldered chief of police. Dyer, his bald head reddening after several hours in the sun, bent to catch the boy.

"You having a good time?" Dyer asked with a smile, as the child's mother whipped out a phone to take a photo. "When you get a little bigger, I want you to grow up to be a police officer."

Tell me that doesn't scream pro-cop propaganda bullshit.

At a time when other cities were aggressively arresting people for minor crimes, a strategy known as "zero tolerance," officials in Fresno chose a different path. They embraced the softer community-policing ethos popularized under President Bill Clinton, which emphasizes partnerships and problem-solving instead of mass arrests.