The real life of an American police officer: Winning over others with virtue

Chapter 153 Solo Flight
At 9:30 p.m., a muscular pickup truck drove away from the night traffic and turned into the West Canyon Police Department's internal parking lot.

Eric unbuckled his seatbelt, looked around, and got out of the car.

Business as usual.

I greeted my colleagues as I entered the police station building, checked in at the front desk, and completed the leave cancellation and return procedures.

But the atmosphere this time was different from the past.

Most of the patrol officers passing by looked rather somber.

Eric frowned slightly, a premonition forming in his mind. It wasn't until he went upstairs that he learned the reason for the somber atmosphere from several patrol officers.

It turns out someone tragically died yesterday.

The specific reason was that when he sensed something was wrong with the car in front of him, he tried to stop it but was instead attacked by the driver inside, ultimately resulting in his death.

The suspect who launched the sneak attack was also apprehended by the angry patrol officers and shot dead on the spot, without even a chance to go to jail.
Eric slowed his pace and looked down the corridor.

A person stands in front of a small, alcove-like memorial corner.

It's Benny, the trainee officer Weston is mentoring.

He looked like he had just arrived at the police station. Eric sighed inwardly and walked over.

Eric's approach caught Benny's attention. Seeing Eric approaching, he nodded as a greeting.

"Commander Eric."

“Hmm.” Eric stood beside him, looking into the small space inside.

Inside, there are portraits of colleagues who tragically died, and below them are piles of flowers.

Eric glanced at the caption below the photo: "Deepest condolences to Officer Adler."

The name brought to mind the face of his patrol colleague, but all he could remember were fragments of them nodding and exchanging greetings.

Eric heard Benny's heavy breathing beside him and glanced at him, saying, "Feeling bad, huh?"

Benny took a deep breath: "We've talked before, and he taught me some common sense."

Upon hearing this, Eric stared at the photo and couldn't help but sigh. These kinds of sudden attacks on patrol officers are common, so being a patrol officer is quite a dangerous job.

Simply put, being a patrol officer means risking your life.

Therefore, police stations are often short-staffed.

Eric noticed a donation box at the bottom of the photo.

He pulled all the cash out of his pocket and, under Benny's watchful eye, stuffed it one bill at a time into the gap at the top of the box.

"This box set up at the command post is to raise funds for the families of the fallen brothers."

Eric stuffed all the cash he had into the container and looked at Benny:
"Just do what you can."

After saying that, he left and walked towards the locker room, leaving one person to watch him leave, Benny lost in thought as he looked at his back.

------------------

Despite having only taken a day off, Eric still had to report to Superintendent Daves's office as required.

Looking at the Black police superintendent sitting upright behind his desk, Eric stood at attention and said loudly.

"Superintendent Daves! Patrolman Eric Stevens, badge number 3462, has completed his leave and is reporting for duty!"

Daves looked up at Eric standing in front of him and said something that surprised him but was not unexpected.

"Officer Annie is on leave tonight. Should I arrange a new partner for you?"

Is this little girl planning to run away? Eric raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself, and said aloud:

“Sir, this isn’t the first time I’ve patrolled alone.”

The current staff is already fixed. To give him a new partner, we either have to break up the existing team or transfer someone from the next shift.

So he shouldn't harm others.

Besides, he preferred the freedom of patrolling alone to patrolling in pairs. "OK." Daves nodded, not surprised by Eric's answer.

Normally, patrol units are patrolled by two people, but when there is a shortage of manpower, there will be patrol units patrolled by one person. If you were to ask him to find the most suitable person for a solo patrol, it would be Eric.

Thinking of something, Daves looked at Eric seriously and said, "Don't be reckless or act individualistically. If you sense something is wrong, be sure to wait for backup..."

Eric knew why Daves had changed, but he was different from his fallen comrade; his rapid fire level 5 (specialization) was enough to allow him to empty his magazine before the enemy could fire.

Even so, Eric nodded seriously and said:
"Yes! Sir!"

Daves nodded in satisfaction and said, "Go ahead."

Eric turned and left, beginning to follow the onboarding process step by step.

The first step is to change clothes in the changing room.

In the second briefing room meeting, Daves conveyed more real-time information and task assignments, and then presided over a memorial service for his fallen colleague, Adler.

Eric also learned from this that the two suspects who had previously targeted 24-hour stores and caused a death had been caught.

"It was another police station that ran into those two guys."

With Will's additions, Eric learned more details, but he considered this normal.

Because robbery is a very common occurrence in any country, it can be big or small, but when it results in death, it's a different story, and the level of attention it receives will basically double.

With the police department involved, this outcome is to be expected.

As time passed, the evening meeting came to an end.

"Alright, have a good night everyone. If anything comes up, feel free to call me anytime. I'm always here..."

"Thank you, sir!"

Daves lingered his gaze on Eric for a second longer before stepping down from the podium and leaving the briefing room.

back row.

Will, Weston, and Darren all know that Eric is going solo tonight.

“We’ll be hanging around your neighborhood tonight,” Will said, getting up and looking at Eric.

Weston and Darren meant the same thing:
"If anything comes up, remember to let me know."

“OK!” Eric nodded, extended his hand to bump fists with each of the three men, and said calmly:
"Thanks, guys."

-

After the second step, we move on to the final step, which is to officially start working.

Eric, carrying his self-funded M4 carbine in his left hand and a shotgun in his right, walked toward the 'Explorer' patrol car he was going to drive that night.

We kept greeting each other along the way.

Eric tucked the M4 into the gun rack in the trunk, slammed the trunk lid shut, and walked toward the driver's seat, shotgun in one hand.

For some reason, a long-lost sense of ease welled up inside me.

“Training a newbie is really exhausting.” Eric smiled slightly, opened the car door, and got into the driver’s seat.

"It's more comfortable and more carefree to be alone."

In fact, he patrolled alone for longer than he patrolled in pairs.

Eric casually rested his left hand on the steering wheel, shifted gears with his right hand, and lightly tapped the accelerator.

As the Explorer police car slowly drove away from the parking space, he casually picked up the walkie-talkie.

"10-L (Single Patrol)-11, Begin Patrol."

A female voice from the dispatch center responded: "Received!"

As the sound rang out inside the car, the Explorer patrol car drove out of the internal parking lot, followed the auxiliary road to the exit, and made a right turn to merge into the night traffic.

(End of this chapter)