There was a time in my memory bank when police were quite commonly referred to as “pigs”.

It was meant to be insulting, and over the years the ups and downs of policing has made it hard for many to turn away from that sentiment. The tasering incidents over the last few years certainly haven’t helped. There seemed to be an arrogance there that these special new toys gave police “permission” to shoot first and ask questions later.

And then the Olympics came, and turned every sentiment on its head.

This week, the Vancouver Police which has had its share of poor public relations experiences, wrote what I hope will be the closing chapter on the book of “us against them” policing.

Deputy police chief Doug LePard told the media that over the course of the world event, there were a paltry 1,230 tickets issued for consuming liquor in public, 253 persons arrested for intoxication and another 93 arrested for breaches of the peace.

With a whopping 130,000 people crowded into downtown for the closing ceremonies, it’s frankly hard to believe only 1,230 people consumed liquor in public. My guess is that far more people did so – but they weren’t creating a problem. Police, sensibly, were using their discretion.

But what I think really marks the turning point is a change in attitude.

LePard said his officers didn’t see themselves as separate from the celebrating masses. After all, he’s Canadian too and who wouldn’t want to be celebrating this great time. From the top down, there was a recognition that people were here to have fun, and the job of police was to make sure people were safe and no one got hurt in the process.

It paid off with high-fives from the public, tourists joyfully asking officers if they could snap a pic, and more smiles than they could imagine.

LePard said “it’s all about your approach to people. Put a smile on your face and say something like ‘go Canada go’ and you’ll get a positive response back.”

Wow! How simple is that. But as everyone saw – this kind of attitude that exuded through the Olympics created something spectacular. It wasn’t one person forcing it on anyone else; it was something organic that naturally bubbled to the surface. And it made a profound difference.

LePard says he doubts policing in Vancouver will ever go back to what it was before. He’s confident the relationship between the public and police is now changing for the better. Police built a bridge of trust, and the public responded with kindness.

Back in the 1960s, a bunch of hippies were laughed at for putting flowers into the guns of riot police. It was needed then, and thankfully it seems it’s not needed now.

Before sitting down to Avatar this week – a fabulous movie by the way – I spotted an ad for the RCMP and wondered about their new recruiting philosophy. Who exactly are they looking for? The brutish us versus them type, or someone looking to create and support a better world.

My hope is that they’re looking for people like LePard, who can see human potential for what it is; who not only recognize, but believe (and we all know the power of that), that each of us is essentially good.

Perhaps it’s not too surprising that there is growing scientific evidence to support this theory, being brought forward in part by that once-hippie-bastion - Berkeley University – where professor Dacher Keltner suggests goodness is our true heritage, as outlined in his book Born to be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life.

If we start from that premise, then what a great world we live in - one where we help each other to rise up.

(Karin Wilson is a freelance journalist and staff minister at the Centre for Spiritual Living in Kelowna, where she hosts the Wednesday night Gratitude Cafe. You can reach her at karinwilson@telus.net.)