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

Chapter 81 Different Times
After listening to the broadcast, Eric parked his car on a street in the western part of downtown Los Angeles, between Wilshire Boulevard and Olympic Boulevard.

We've arrived at the vicinity of Koreatown.

Koreatown has a decent location, covering about 3 square miles, adjacent to the south of Hollywood, and only about 5 kilometers from downtown.

Historically the heart of Hollywood's Golden Age, it is now known for its Korean culture, food, and nightlife.

As a result, a large number of Korean immigrants have settled here, opening numerous Korean restaurants, shops, and entertainment venues.

Even where he parked, there were several shops with signs in Korean on both sides of the street.

Besides the predominantly Korean-American Asian faces, there were also some white and black people walking by.

After thinking for a moment, Eric took out his personal phone and found a phone number.

This is Will's private phone number.

His patrol officer colleagues.

If things go smoothly, the bureau's plan to take action against the Graystone Alley Brothers will inevitably be a large-scale operation to wipe them out.

As I just heard in the office, the Wilshire Precinct of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), which has direct jurisdiction over Koreatown and the surrounding area, will likely get involved as well.

Eric looked at the phone number and dialed it.

In such encirclement and suppression operations, the Special Operations Bureau is usually responsible for the main part.

Of course, it's not that there are no patrol officers involved; on the contrary, the role of patrol officers is also very important. Apart from some senior patrol officers who participate in the main operations, the rest will patrol the surrounding area to form an encirclement.

Therefore, experienced patrol officers like Will are usually assigned to the main operations.

He will inevitably be scheduled to attend the deployment meeting before the operation begins.

"Eric?"

Will answered the phone quickly, bringing him back to his senses.

Eric looked out the windshield and said calmly, "Will, I need your help with something."

Will hesitated for a moment before replying: "Hmm?"

“You’ll most likely be summoned back today for a deployment meeting, and I need to understand what’s going on,” Eric said.

The sound traveled through the electrical signal to Will's ears, and he abruptly stopped the slowly moving patrol car.

Outside, a young Black man named Facree, who was walking with the patrol car, also stopped and looked at the patrol car with a hesitant gaze.

Will frowned and asked, "What happened?"

Eric said calmly, "You'll understand when the time comes. Will is very important to me."

It's perfectly normal that Will was unaware of it; less than a day has passed since his house was broken into, and the news has been blocked.

Aside from those in the know, there's a significant information gap here; otherwise, the Graystone Alley gang wouldn't have been able to capture Oleg so quickly.

Given the speed and ruthlessness of this underground gang, Oleg's chances of surviving are slim.

Will frowned, sensing that something big was about to happen, but he was still completely confused. However, he did not refuse Eric's words.

"Okay, if it's as you said, I'll try my best to let you know what meetings are scheduled for today."

Eric showed no surprise at Will's answer.

"Thanks."

Eric let out a soft sigh after hanging up the phone.

If you ask him what the most united group in the Los Angeles Police Department is, he would only say the patrol officers.

The Blue Rule: An informal code of silence among police officers, which dictates not to report misconduct, misconduct, or crimes committed by fellow officers, including police brutality. So, despite the Los Angeles Police Department's seemingly righteous facade, in his view, the system is incredibly murky and rife with corruption.

After accepting bribes, they illegally exempted the perpetrators from punishment and covered up the facts of their illegal and criminal acts.

There are even many corrupt police officers who cooperate with organized crime groups and their related illegal activities such as drug trafficking, prostitution, money laundering, and gambling.

No matter how many anti-corruption operations were carried out within the police station, they still ran into a very thick wall and smashed it to pieces.
Eric put away his personal phone and sat quietly, watching the group of young Korean men gathered at the street corner.

The bureau's actions take time, but his solo actions do not.

There's a lot of room for maneuver here.

He only needs to wait for the meeting minutes to reach him before he can take immediate action.

So he was too lazy to bother with the investigation himself.

If you have the opportunity to reap the rewards without sowing, then you'd be making trouble for yourself; that's something only a fool would do.

The Los Angeles Police Department has a strong intelligence network with a large number of informants and undercover agents, including those investigating files. Investigating an underground gang is a piece of cake for them, and they can do it much faster than anyone else.

Eric glanced around to make sure nothing was amiss, then got out of the car and headed towards the nearest coffee shop.

This was a coffee shop run by a white couple. Eric casually ordered a coffee and sat in a corner, waiting to see how things would unfold.

All he has to do now is wait.

A quiet and peaceful neighborhood.

Next to an illegally parked car, two patrol officers were writing down a ticket and issuing a parking ticket.

One male and one female.

The man was around forty years old, while the woman was very young, like a college student, and exuded a heroic spirit.

Annie stood next to Officer Ruhr, feeling the quiet and peaceful atmosphere, but for some reason, she felt very bored.

She glanced at Officer Ruhr, who was filling out a form. She didn't know this instructor for the day, but from what she'd heard, he was a real veteran.

"Are you looking at me like that because you're curious about something?"

Perhaps because her gaze was too conspicuous, Officer Ruhr suddenly spoke up and asked, glancing at Annie.

"You'd better complete the task assigned to you by the duty commander, otherwise he really means what he says, and the work at the warehouse is very tiring."

Annie paused for a moment, then asked curiously, "You like being a cop like this? Giving out tickets all the time?"

Upon hearing this, Officer Ruhr smiled, inserted the ticket into the windshield wiper of the illegally parked vehicle, turned and walked towards the patrol car, answering Annie's question as she followed.

“I love going home and being with my family. My kids love having a perfect dad.”

Upon hearing this, Annie fell silent for a moment. Seeing Officer Ruhr get into the car, she could only follow and sit in the passenger seat.

Officer Ruhr steered the car away slowly from its original position: "Any other questions? I'd be happy to help you get first place."

Annie took a deep breath and asked, "Was it smooth sailing when you first joined the police force?"

Officer Ruhr said calmly, "There's no such thing as smooth sailing or not smooth sailing; it's just that things are different now than before."

Annie followed up, "What's the difference?"

“There’s a lake across this street,” Officer Ruhr said in a rather calm tone.

"That lake was drained more than a decade ago, and eight guns were found there."

Annie looked puzzled, unable to see how the sentence was related to her question, but the next second she understood.

(End of this chapter)