Interior and Police Minister Franklin Almeyda has now got over his mid life crisis, but with egg on his face. 

After ordering 52 Harley-Davidson motorcycles for the police who patrol the barrios of Santo Domingo,  he was heavily criticized by the tax paying public and newspapers at the extravagance and expense of this highly questioned shopping expedition. 

The Harleys were all bought without tenders at a cost of US$17,000 each, the whole fleet costing RD$28.7 million pesos at the RD$32.5 per dollar rate.  

Not only was the purchase harshly criticized but the local cops couldn’t even ride them and needed a special training session from New Jersey Police! 

The purpose of buying the Harley-Davidsons was to initially patrol the many small barrios in and around Santo Domingo however once the Harley’s arrived there seemed to be a slight problem in that the glamorous and powerful machines couldn’t fit in the narrow roads, alleyways and streets that the barrios are made up of! 

Ever resourceful, the Harley Davidsons were handed over much to the glee of the Metropolitan Transit Authority (AMET) whose traffic cops now use them to patrol the highways from Santo Domingo and Santiago in an attempt to keep normal folk from "hogging" the traffic lanes....  

Meanwhile the regular police are back to riding their old dirt bikes in their quest of law and order in the barrios of Santo Domingo once again.