The clerk was in a cop bar, half a block from police headquarters, drinking club soda so that he could fit in.  The police knew who he was, of course.  He appeared at all the cop funerals.  He headed a civic committee that looked after the families of cops and firemen who died in the line of duty.  Never asked for anything in return, either.  Never even asked to fix a ticket - he'd never gotten one in his life, but no one had ever thought to check?