America, starting as a trainee police officer

Chapter 87 The Chaotic Room

No, absolutely not.

The man was a little flustered.

In Li Wei's eyes, this was full of loopholes.

"Step back and raise your hands."

Seeing this, Lopez directly warned the man.

His hand was also placed on the butt of the gun.

Seeing this, the Middle Eastern man dared not resist.

He obediently opened the door, took two steps back, and spread his hands out where Levi and Lopez could see them.

"what the————"

Looking at the mess inside the house, Lopez couldn't help but want to say something like "Wang Defa" (a famous Chinese comedian).

Inside, more than a dozen bunk beds were lined up densely.

The entire house, apart from the bed, consisted of only a passageway; there was no other space.

Li Wei was very familiar with these wall-mounted rooms. In a place called "Four Minus One" there were many such rooms not long ago, priced at 20-40 RMB per day.

How many people live here?

Lopez looked at the Middle Eastern man in disbelief.

The older brother didn't say a word.

"Li, search him."

Having received orders from his superiors, Li Wei nodded and went up to restrain the man against the wall.

I searched it up and down.

They only released the people after confirming they were unarmed.

Lopez then drew his Glock from his waist and took a few steps inside.

Most of the residents inside were Mexicans, speaking Spanish. They were watching the two policemen, partly because they couldn't speak English, and partly because they were more afraid of the immigration officers than the police.

"Pericia! Pericia!" (The Spanish pronunciation of "police")

Upon seeing Lopez, a young boy hurriedly ran into the inner room.

Lopez followed and saw a woman who looked sick and bedridden.

Without a doubt, it was also Mexican.

After looking around and confirming that there were no dangerous people inside the house.

Lopez looked at Levi: "Go and take the banner down."

Then, Lopez approached the Middle Eastern man again: "How much do you charge these people? Five hundred dollars in rent, and you're charging them twenty times that?"

"These illegal immigrants are afraid to call the police to cause you trouble, so you take advantage of them?"

Li Wei listened to Lopez's words from the side.

It's just a pity that Lopez doesn't quite understand the suffering of people at the bottom of society.

$500 is indeed not a lot for police officers like them.

But for those who crossed the great river, from Mexico, a place worse than hell, to America, this hell,...

They simply can't afford it.

A Middle Eastern guy puts a dozen bunk beds in a $500 house and rents out each bed for $100. It seems like a huge profit, but at least the illegal immigrants can actually afford to pay $100.

Of course, they could also find five people to share one of these houses.

This is more comfortable and has more space.

However, the probability of finding four people to share an apartment with is quite high, unless it's a group of people smuggling themselves into the country.

In a sense, this kind of subletting also provides convenience for people who need a place to stay temporarily.

Things should be viewed from both sides.

After putting the banner away, Li Wei looked at Lopez, who was visibly angry, and asked, "What should we do with him?"

"Make a note of his driver's license number, check his background, and the municipal government's civil law enforcement department will come to handle it tomorrow."

Bang bang bang!

"Police! Open the door!"

Li Wei was still shouting outside the door.

This time, a Black woman opened the door.

"Is there anything I can do to help you, officers?"

"Madam, there's a pornographic banner hanging outside your window. We need you to remove it."

Lopez looked at the woman.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that."

The woman shook her head.

"We know your neighbor paid you, but your banner violates Section 415, Section 5 of the California Penal Code. If you don't take it down, we have no choice but to arrest you on that basis."

Li Wei gave the woman an explanation.

"But I really need this money."

"Madam, that's only a hundred dollars," Lopez reminded her.

It means that the crime is not worth it compared to a hundred cuts.

Of course, this is just her value system.

In a woman's value system, a hundred dollars could kill her.

"only?"

The woman chuckled speechlessly: "Officer, have you ever experienced a time when you didn't have a single penny on you?"

"I almost ended up homeless, just one step away! And this hundred dollars will determine whether I can pay my rent this month and stay, or whether I can't afford the rent and get evicted."

Seeing this, Li Wei interrupted the woman: "Listen, ma'am, we sympathize with your situation, but you still have to take the banner down."

"On another note, we just uncovered a major illegal case in this building. As punishment for the building's owners, it is reasonable to waive your rent for several months."

Li Wei's words shocked the woman: "Really?"

There's no way around it. On one hand, there's the difficulty of reading written English; the legal terminology is simply incomprehensible to the average person. On the other hand, the American Bar Association is intentionally or unintentionally promoting the specialization and complexity of legal provisions.

This results in ordinary people having no understanding of the law.

If Li Wei hadn't upgraded his [Law] skill to the maximum level, he wouldn't have been able to find such details in those legal clauses that were simply designed to make things difficult for people.

Lopez glanced at Levi with surprise, then looked at the woman: "Really, go and take the banner down."

The woman smiled slightly and went to retrieve the banner.

Lopez looked at Levi with surprise: "Rookie, looks like you did your homework well."

"Yes, that's right. It must have been hard work memorizing all those legal provisions."

Outside the last room.

Li Wei was holding a large pile of pornographic banners.

"Once this apartment is checked, we're done."

Upon hearing this, Li Wei reached out and knocked on the door.

Bang bang bang!

"Police! Open the door!"

Bang bang bang!

"Police! Is anyone home?"