Police the real stars of the Republican Convention

CLEVELAND, Ohio (KTVU) - The spotlight may be on the people inside the Quicken Loans Arena, but the real stars of the Republican National Convention are outside the security gates.

Law Enforcement Officers from all over the country have descended on Cleveland to help with convention security, but a lot of their time has been spent shaking hands and taking selfies.

“Oh yeah, more than I can count,” said an officer with the California Highway Patrol who was standing watch over large demonstrations in Cleveland’s public square in downtown.

Seconds later a stranger came up to shake his hand.

Scenes like that have been taking place all over the city, as fears about mass protests have started to ebb. Approximately 2,000 officers from out of state are in Cleveland this week to assist the city with security and crowd control

On Wednesday, mounted police officers smiled for pictures as people in the crowd took turns petting the horses. The officers with the cowboy hats had come all the way from Fort Worth, Texas.

With one more day of the convention left, many of the officers hope the mood remains friendly. More than 10,000 demonstrators are registered with the city of Cleveland, but so far there have only been a few arrests.

One family from Cleveland sat in the public square Wednesday afternoon, wondering where the protesters were.

“We thought there would be more people out here.”

Then they watched as the Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams was stopped by a man who wanted to give him a hug.