ArchivedLogs:Mutants with Badges

Mutants with Badges
Dramatis Personae Eric, Chief Wendin (Gyrase)	2014-04-21 Eric makes a proposal for a new position, and loses an old one.
Location <NYC> One Police Plaza
Easter Monday is not a holiday for most police officers, even in the administration area of 1 Police Plaza. In fact, it tends to mean more work, not less, for the officers of the New York Police Department, and Eric is no exception. Stepping through the lobby of 1PP, Eric's steps are steady and even as he steps through the unfamiliar corridors, up through the administrative sections. His uniform has been ironed and de-linted meticulously, the metal and plastic on it shined to a bright polish. His badge has his row of metals underneath it - a purple shield, a few unit citations, a firearms proficiency bar, and an exceptional merit bar. His cap is pulled down tight on his head as he strides up to the door of the Commanding Officer of the Special Operations Division. He takes a long, deep breath, checks his watch, then raises his hand to knock on the door twice. "Come in," The voice reverberates through the heavy wooden doors as if they were paper thin. Within, the office is larger than most, as his position warrants, but it seems vaguely unused. The walls are wood paneled, a dark cherry, but they have the thinnest layer of dust on them. The windows looking out onto the busy New York streets are covered with Venetian blinds in beige sheet metal, tilted in such a way that that only evening sun comes in in thick bars across the office furniture and floor. There's a couch set up to one side, between the different filing cabinets and shelving units, but it is as dusty as the walls and the awards on the wall. To be fair, it's not atrociously neglected, it just seems that the chief only lets someone in here to clean once or twice a year. The desk, on the other hand is entirely different. The man is surrounded by paperwork, but it is neatly stacked, stored in binders, folders and bins of horizontal and vertical orientation. There are a couple stacks of papers on the open space in front of him, bt it is what he is currently working on. His computer hums, his keyboard set up on a shelf under the monitor so that he has space to work. When Eric enters, Harry Wendin shuffles the stacks in front of him into one and sets it aside, folding his hands in front of him and giving him a long look. "So. What did you want to see me about?" Eric's steps through the doors are as crisp as his uniform, closing the door with a quiet click and raising his hand in a salute. "Sergeant Sutton, Chief." The police officer glances around the room for a moment and then turns his attention back to the man in front of him. "Thank you for seeing me." The police officer hesitates for a moment before he takes a seat in front of the Assistant Chief and takes out the folder from under his left arm to pass along the table towards the other man. "I've been doing some research, Chief, on mutant criminals. Even though they account for only ten percent of the ESU call-outs, they account for over forty percent of ESU injuries, and the arrest rates are minimal." Eric plows into the topic in a rush, Georgia accent thickening slightly as he spews. "And in patrol calls, the rates are not much better for arrests, even considering the lesser violence risk." "I know who you are, Sutton. You have an appointment." Wendin grunts as he resists the urge to grab his paperwork and move onto something more demanding. He instead reaches out and takes the folder and opens it up to look over the information. He looks up to give Eric a dead pan expression as he speaks, waiting for the punchline. He scowls and inhales deeply. "What's your point?" The paperwork is a batch of the latest in thrilling material: a long, dry recitation of different statistics related to police work that Eric has managed to dig up from God knows what pit in the Records office. "If we're going to bring those numbers down, we need to level the playing field, Chief. A mutant who can breathe poison, or start fires with their mind, or teleport? You can't handcuff them, even if you could get near to them. Batons don't work. Tazers don't work. Guns don't work." Eric pauses for a second, lacing his hands in his lap, uncomfortably. "Fight fire with fire, sir. Who better to arrest mutants than mutants?" Wendin looks over the report quietly again when Eric continues, a nerve in his brow twitching. "Fire with fire, Sutton?" His scowl deepens and a grumble rumbles in his throat. "Fire with fire. Do you have any idea what the collateral damage of one of your mutant arresting mutants fight could cost? Explosions everywhere! That's what the public's going to think. People being thrown through walls. Who is going to clean that up? Shit, Sutton. This is a terrible idea. It's going to escalate violence all over the place." "I imagine that you fought against similar things when ESU was introduced, sir." Eric demurrs, nodding his head once. "With normal tactics, we have no choice but to escalate. Tear gas, shock and awe tactics, whenever mutants are involved. With the right mutants working on the force, we can minimize all of that. The right mutants can even keep the incidents from starting at all." Eric's voice grows in confidence as he continues. "It's only going to get worse, Chief, if we keep doing nothing. Once it becoms widely known that we can't protect people from mutants, it's going to be chaos." "Now you're telling me that we're not doing anything?" Wendin shakes his head grumpily. "Any time we even consider taking more drastic measures to deal with threats to the citizens of this city, we proceed carefully. I'm sorry if that's not moving fast enough for you." If he's sorry, he doesn't sound like it. He lays down the paperwork and folds his hands over it, leveling his gaze on Eric's face. He is at least listening for all the rebuffing he is doing. "You think the public's going to feel any safer when we put badges on mutants and authorize them to act against perceived threats?" Eric remains silent for several seconds, his back straightening so much that it could be used as a ruler. "I think that the public trusts us to keep them safe, and they don't much care about the details. One police officer is just as much as another, as far as they are concerned." He pauses, jaw clenching for a moment as he takes in a shaky breath. "And with respect, Chief, there are already badges on mutants, just not where they can help with these problems." "You're not just talking about having mutants on the task force, but letting everyone know, that they are mutants. Right now, the public has their suspicions about mutants with badges, but it's just that, suspicion." Wendin leans back in his chair still thoughtful. "It would be a violation of the public trust in the climate that we are in to say we're authorizing mutants to act - and to act violently. It won't fly. That department would spend more of its time in court defending its use of powers than on the streets doing ... anything." "The violence has been getting worse, Chief," Eric says, gesturing to the paperwork that he passed over. "And I am not saying that we should change our continuoum of force standards for the mutant unit, either. They should we held to the same standards as every other officer. It would only be the method, not the level, of force that would change, sir." Eric argues. "And if it is only ever used on mutants using their powers offensively, I can't imagine it would be much of a court case." "You're not hearing me, Sutton. I'm not arguing police protocols with you. I'm telling you that every shop keep and landlord is going to sue our department for challenging these high powered mutants and that they're going to sue this department and the city for damages whether they were inflicted by the criminals or the police nabbing them. Why? Because they can. No one trusts mutants right now. No one thinks they are the answer. Sure, the mayor handed out some keys a little while ago to a bunch of people for saving the city, but you have to remember what was happening during the catastrophe. People were being killed because mutants were responsible. One mutant, sure, but every other mutant was a stand in. And you want me to deputize them." Wendin closes the folder and leans over it, like a vulture hunched over its prey. "I'm not fighting for this, Sutton. Let it go. You're a good officer with a future ahead of you. Don't throw it away on a pipe dream about mutants fighting mutants." Eric looks across the desk at the Chief and nods his head, once. "Thank you for listening to me, Chief. I appreciate your time." His eyes look sadly at the other man for a second before he shakes his head. "I try to be, sir, but I'm afraid I don't have a future on the force, as it stands." He straightens his back up a little bit more. "All I've wanted to do is be a police officer ever since I was a kid, Chief. To serve." He pauses for a second, and takes in a slow breath. "My card came in, Chief. Delta. I'm not going to give it up, sir, because I have nothing to lose." "I see." Harry Wendin leans back in his chair again, looking over Eric with new eyes. He inhales deeply and then lets it out through his flared nostrils. "I regret to say I can't be of more help. I know what kind of uphill battle this will be, but you're going to need more than a bunch of statistics and a witty idea to make this change. I'd wish you good luck, but it's all going to be hard work." He nods to dismiss him before adding - "you know what paperwork you need to submit now that you have your card. Make sure you do everything right, or your department might take off without you." "Yes sir." Eric says, looking a little bit surprised. "I will. Hard work is my specialty, Chief." With that, Eric stands and gives the officer a crisp salute. "Thank you again, sir." With that, he turns sharply on one polished heel, and steps out the door, closing it behind him with a quiet click. He looks both directions down the hall, then heads further into the building - towards Human Resources. It is a long time before he comes out.