Who is the narrator, can she or he read minds, and, more importantly, can we trust her or him?
Third Person Narrator (Limited Omniscient)
"The Cop and the Anthem" is told in the third person and only follows our main character, Soapy. Although other people's reactions to him show us a little about how they feel about Soapy, we only see these reactions from his point of view. Although this narrator is omniscient (knows everything) where Soapy is concerned, they still only reveal certain details. That's why we say the omniscience (knowing everything) is limited.
In other words, what we have here is a very reserved narrator, one who gives us clues about Soapy's past, present, and future, but little solid information about Soapy himself. It's possible this is meant to suggest that Soapy is also reserved, as if he would hold back a lot from us if we were to talk to him about his life. Or maybe this narrator is trying to respect Soapy's privacy in an effort to try to preserve his dignity. Yet, he does share Soapy's most intense moment in the story, and even talks about what is going on in Soapy's soul.
Every detail the narrator reveals—from descriptions of Soapy's clothing to descriptions of New York City—seems authentic and realistic. This helps establish a sense of trust between readers and the narrator and makes it easier for us to believe in what we're being told.
You might also notice that this story is heavy on narrative and light on dialogue. This might be meant to mirror Soapy's isolated state. He doesn't seem to really interact with others all that much, except out of necessity. He seems to live in his own little world; one that other people barely penetrate. The anthem does manage to penetrate it, though, inspiring Soapy to crave the company of people, like "mothers" and "friends" (41).