"Sir, I know how this looks. I start talking about my products in development and then my assistant disarms an officer and shoots me with the stolen firearm but I swear I didn't plan this." I feel like a little boy in kindergarten being brought in front of the principal as Sergeant Grey stares me down.
"Sir, I saw the look on his face. He was genuinely shocked when he was getting shot at." Angela Lopez offers surprisingly in my defense even the look on Tim Bradford's face says he agrees with her.
"Officer Walker, I don't like you and it's starting to become personal…if your personal life puts me or any of my people in danger again especially here in my house, you are done and I'll see you brought up on charges. Is that understood?" Sergeant Grey threatens and I stand up a little straighter.
"Yes, Sir." I answer him and squat down to pick up one of the spent bullets then brushed my hand over my shirt.
"Heh, can't even tell I was shot…and Michelle was right about the kinetic energy of nine millimeter bullets being almost completely negated when paired with a standard plate carrier and grade three plates." My mumbles get an appreciative sigh from those still here.
"Officer Walker, it's time to hit the streets." Lopez says to me with her typical spicy attitude.
"Yes Ma'am." Answer her and follow her out of the fishbowl without forgetting to grab my duffle bag.
"Now usually the first thing you would do is go get the shop, but I got here early and got our shop squared away. Next you would get your body cam and war bags from the armory. Then before leaving the station you inventory your warbags." Angela explains as she leads me over the body cam charging racks and puts one on the she puts one on for me and then makes sure it turns on and off properly.
Then we turn to the left take three steps to the armory, "Two kits please, Virgil." Angela says in a sweet voice when speaking to the old black guy who is working the counter of the armory.
"Sure thing Angela." The old black man responds with a grandfatherly smile before walking away to get two large black duffles, and two shotguns, one for standard lethal rounds, and the other shotgun that is used exclusively for non-lethals; it has a green stock and pump action so that an officer doesn't use it to shoot lethal rounds.
I put a war bag over each shoulder. A war bag is a duffle bag stuffed full of gear/supplies for a cop to use in various scenarios, for the most part they are standardized but some senior officers tend to have specific/specialized loadouts.
"Boot, what's with the spare duffle bag?" Lopez asks me as her curiosity seems to get the better of her.
"Spare uniform, spare set of cuffs, snacks with a high shelf life, a couple bottles of water and a Gatorade…oh and a couple spare mags and a box of 9mm ammunition, Ma'am." At my reply Angela nods consideringly.
"Earlier what was all that about?"
"What when you were trying to punk Nolan and I?" Angela nods yes, making me shrug my shoulders slightly.
"I was in witsec for a few years because my uncle killed my parents and was trying to kill me to prevent me from testifying against him. So I used some jargon my case agent used to use to try and punk you…" A playful little grin makes its way onto my face at the laugh that Angela lets out.
"It's too soon to be sure, but I think we're going to get along well, Boot." A small smile on her lips as she grabs the shotguns, "Glad to hear it, Ma'am." Is my reply as Angela begins to lead me to the parking garage…my eyes drift her ass and I notice a bit of sway to her hips, looking up I see her looking back at me with a cocky/victorious look in her eyes.
My danger sense gives me a gentle warning, "Are you distracted by my ass, Boot?" Angela asks me and my danger sense's warning increases in intensity but only slightly.
"I'll admit that it is within my line of sight, but I was looking more prominently at your duty belt to see if I set my own up correctly, Ma'am." My answer to Lopez's question makes her eyebrows scrunch but it's so miniscule it's almost undetectable.
"Lopez, would you mind if I made a personal phone call?" I ask Angela as we reach the garage, she turns, looks at and arches an eyebrow at me in question.
"To get my team of lawyers started on getting Friday out of here…she's pretty integral to the day to day operations of my companies." My explanation draws a look of disbelief from the Hispanic woman.
"Let me get this straight, you want to get the woman who shot at you released from custody…are you two fucking or something?" Angela asks me without any couth whatsoever.
"Naa, we're not fucking…but she is very important to me and my businesses, plus I was never in any danger…you know she was the one that pushed for me to have all my clothes be changed over to the prototype Ageis armor fabric." Angela's eyebrows creep further up her forehead at my explanation.
"You can make your call…if you tell me the truth about checking out my ass, because I know you were looking at my ass and not my duty belt after I initially questioned you."
"I mean you have a really nice ass, once you brought up the idea of checking out your ass I found it impossible to look away, especially with the way you were adding that completely unnecessary…sexy sway to your hips." At my response Angela's lips twitch and I can tell she's struggling not to smile.
"Did the academy cover sexual harassment and proper officer etiquette? I don't mind you checking me out. I'm used to it. But other women both here in this station and out there in the field won't feel the same way as I do. And they could bring both charges and a lawsuit against you for sexual harassment and as a Peace Officer you are going to be held up a much higher standard of proprietary than you are used to as a moderately famous civilian. So as a rule of thumb avoid giving anything more than a cursory look to a woman's body unless searching for hidden or concealed weapons, drugs and or paraphernalia. Understood, Boot?"
"Yes, Ma'am…I'll keep my eyes from drifting or lingering from now on…unless they're on you." I raise my right eyebrow suggestively and get an eye roll and amused scoff from her in return.
"Stow the gear on that table there." I do as Lopez commands and we both return to the Shop.
"So you're better off than most Rookies as they tend to refer to Shops as cars for the first few months into their probationary period. But just to be sure. This is your shop. Do not call
it a car, not only will doing so cause me to write you up for misuse of department gear. The Shop is where you work. It's not just a way to get you to point A or point B, in fact it is one of the most important pieces of kit you have as a patrol officer.
Now there is a list of things that must be done everyday before you leave the station and go out on patrol, right now I'm only concerned about covering the details pertaining to the Shop. Firstly you need to check out the Shop with the Motorpool, they'll provide you with a checklist, once you reach your Shop the first thing you do is secure your department issued warbags and armaments in a secure area.
The table doesn't count as a secured storage area, but with the two of us here I am confident that the gear won't get stolen right underneath our noses. Angela walks up to the passenger door, opens it, leans inside and grabs out a steel box/clipboard that has a checklist on it.
The second thing to do is your inspection of the shop, which entails checking the exterior for damages, any nicks, scrapes, or dents, you log 'em in on here. Next you enter the Shop and test the lights to make sure the signals, breaks and headlight work as they should.
The third thing you do is write down the odometer reading, it helps out the boys and girls in the Motorpool keep up on the maintenance cycles. The fourth thing on the list is to perform an interior inspection of the Shop, now for the most part the boys and girls in the Motorpool do a damned good job cleaning up after the slobs on the force but sometimes things slip through the cracks.
Search the Shop for any trash, kit or possibly even evidence left behind by the last Officer to sign the shop out, if you do find anything document it and if it's a piece of kit return it to the armory, if it's trash throw it away, sometimes a simple looking piece of trash could be evidence so bring it to your Watch Commander's attention before moving it.
The fifth thing to do is check the cage. It isn't part of the documenting process for an Officer to write down whether or not a suspect has been detained in the cage so always assume that there was a suspect in the cage, so with that in mind always ask yourself has the suspect left anything behind? Then perform a thorough search of the cage document and, money, drugs, human excrement or anything that can be considered evidence in a crime. If you find anything in the cage other than human waste, document it and contact your Watch Commander immediately. For cleaning and disposal of human waste go to a secure lockup area and retrieve hazmat supplies, then waste however much time it takes to clean your shop because of the lazy ass who checked it out before you didn't perform their end of shift check list to the letter." Lopez walks me through the checklist and inspects the shop with me but I have an inkling that she already performed this checklist once already today.
"Now that you've squared away your shop it's time to perform a kit and shotgun safety check." What follows is Lopez waking me through removing everything from our warbags, inventorying them and ensuring we have all of the required kit for a shift, then it's on to verifying that the shotguns pump actions work as they are supposed and that they are unloaded, then to load them before securing them in the shop in the custom fitted position for storage.
"Tell me Boot, why does the L.A.P.D no longer allow Officers to secure a shotgun in the front cabin within easy reach of an Officer?" Lopez quizzes me.
"Because a study was performed and it was proven that keeping an additional firearm in easy view of possible suspects increased their hostility towards an officer by 30 to 70 percent, Ma'am."
"Huh,I didn't think you'd know that one…tell me Boot, why do you want to become a cop…if you just want to help people you're wealthy enough to do so without a badge. You aren't here for just thrills. I can tell that much just in this short time we've spent together."
"It's kind of personal, Ma'am…" I kinda snap at her feeling very defensive all of a sudden.
"And we're going to be spending a lot of time together, Boot. I need to understand why you're here to know whether or not I can trust you to have my back when things get real out there." Angela snaps right back and crosses her arms over her chest while staring me down, hard.
Letting out a sigh and running a hand through my hair, "You know how my parents were killed?" It wasn't really a question but Angela nods a softness coming into her eyes as she looks at me.
"I was sixteen about to turn seventeen when my mom's car blew up pulling out of the garage…then I was taken hostage by my uncle where he threatened to kill me. I had lost any hope of seeing my girlfriend again and then a team of cops and FBI agents stormed the warehouse where I was tied to a chair with a gun to my temple. The sheer relief I felt at seeing Detective Beckett coming to my rescue, a gorgeous woman with a gun in her hands and badge on her belt. To be honest I was in shock for a couple of months after that with the image of her busting in and saving my life playing in my head and dreams every moment of everyday. And well I guess I just want the chance to be that person for someone else to give them hope and safety after it was taken away from them. I know it's corny…sounding but it's the truth. And yes I am well aware that not everyday as a cop is going to allow me to be what that detective was to me…in fact most days are going to suck with me being the bad guy in someone else's story…but even if I only get to be one person's hero then I will have fulfilled my goal for becoming a cop."
"I guess for as far as becoming a cop that isn't the worst reason I've heard…stow the gear Boot we're hitting the streets." Lopez says with a sense of finality in her voice.