Sometimes upholding civilization is a difficult thing. It can mean being a soldier on the front lines or a police officer sitting in a car waiting for a terrorist to strike
Outside the synagogue a police car waits silently painting the sidewalk red and blue. No matter what the mayor and his pet police commissioner says, the NYPD is bracing for a terrorist attack.
After 9/11, the sight of heavily armed police officers became the new normal in New York. It's the new normal in gun-free Europe where the capital cities of the continent fall are locked down and the people are told to stay away from the windows.
It's just life.