You drive 4½ hours from the Atlanta suburbs to provide security for the president's re-nomination, and you draw traffic detail outside the arena. Why not have a little fun, right?
A trio of officers from the Clayton County Sheriff's Office spent all day Thursday shaking their moneymakers and generally goofing off as they directed traffic at a busy intersection in downtown Charlotte.
They did "Thriller." They swiveled their hips like Elvis. They made guns out of their fingers and went all Yosemite Sam on passing patrol cars from other agencies.
And people ate it up. Cars honked, pedestrians stopped to take pictures and video. The crowd at the corner of Fifth and Tryon was bigger than any group of protesters since the weekend.
At one point, the officers held up cars while a group of girls did cartwheels through the crosswalk.
Traffic, we should note, seemed to move along just fine.
Check out some AP video here: http://youtu.be/7bqONAE_C-U
And see more images from AP's Mike Stewart here: http://nbcnews.to/RMRg8T
— Bonny Ghosh and Mike Stewart — Twitter http://twitter.com/MikestewartAP
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EDITOR'S NOTE — Convention Watch shows you the 2012 political conventions through the eyes of Associated Press journalists. Follow them on Twitter where available with the handles listed after each item.