“It’s on the ticket,” Kopriva told her, handing her the driver’s copy. He walked briskly back to his car.
Sitting behind the wheel, he shut off the spotlight with his left hand and punched the button to extinguish the bright take-down lights on top of the car. The woman signaled, paused, and pulled out into traffic. Kopriva slid the ticket in the visor above him.
He didn’t feel any better.
He reached for his mike to clear the stop when a shrill tone broke over his radio.
2215 hours
Patrol Captain Michael Reott sat at the head of the table. He’d just finished a short introduction outlining what he hoped to see any task force accomplish. He also covered some of the pitfalls he hoped such an endeavor would avoid. Lieutenant Hart, Lieutenant Saylor and Sgt. Michaels occupied seats at the table with him. Michaels sat in for the vacationing Lieutenant Powell.
“So what options do we have?” Reott said, signaling that he’d finished talking for awhile.
Hart pounced on the opening. “Sir, the media is skewering us over this. We need to be high profile on this task force. Back them off a little bit.”
Reott paused, considering the logic.
Saylor disagreed. “Cap, the newspaper is going to bash on us no matter what. That’s a given, but the television media has been pretty fair. I mean, the guy has gotten away with how many armed robberies? Fourteen, fifteen?”
“Fifteen,” Hart supplied.
“Fifteen, then,” Saylor allowed. “Plus, he’s shot at cops and now he’s killed a guy.”
“What’s your point, Rob?” Reott asked.
“The point is we have to get this sonofabitch before he kills someone else. Telling everyone that we are forming a task force takes away the element of surprise. If he watches TV and sees a news report, he’ll be more cautious. We need to capitalize on his carelessness.”
Reott considered, but did not commit. “What about the copy-cats?”
Hart jumped in. “A highly publicized effort on our part will deter further copy-cats. They will be too afraid of getting caught.”
“What’s to fear?” Saylor asked. “This guy is fifteen-for-fifteen.”
“And the only copy-cat is oh-for-one,” Hart shot back.
Saylor shrugged. “Even so, you can expect more copy-cats the longer this goes. Which is why we have to shut this guy down.”
Reott looked at Michaels, who gave a shrug. “We need to catch him, that’s all I know. What are the detectives doing? We don’t want to step on their operations.”
Hart spoke up again. “My plan won’t have any negative impact on whatever the investigative division is doing.”
“Which doesn’t look like much,” Saylor said wryly.
Reott shrugged. “They’ve been as successful as we have.” He motioned to Hart. “Lay out your plan.”
Hart beamed. “Thank you, Captain. My plan is to ask for volunteers during the hours Scarface has hit the most, twenty-two hundred to zero two hundred hours. Seven total cars. Five cars will sit off on particular stores. We’ll rotate which ones throughout the shift. At the same time, two cars will cruise between the five selected stores as a mobile response to augment patrol. Radio silence is to be observed. All units will use their regular call signs if they have to break radio silence. A code-word will be used, which will be given out at roll-call. If a surveilling unit sees a robbery shaping up, they get on the air, call the code-word and location. Instead of a time-delay, we get started before the robbery is even completed.”
He leaned back, obviously pleased with his plan.
Saylor nodded his approval. “It’s a good plan. The unit on surveillance has to be extra careful, though, as far as engaging the suspect. Keeping a visual on him would be best, even if he gets out of the store before patrol arrives. At least this way, we might get a good perimeter set up and force him to go to ground. Then we could bring in the K-9 for a track.”
Reott pursed his lips. “Okay, but do you foresee any liability issues with that unit basically watching a robbery take place?”
“No,” both lieutenants responded simultaneously. Saylor motioned for Hart to continue.
“It’s a matter of officer safety, sir,” Hart told him. “We can’t expect a plain-clothes officer to engage an armed robber with no back-up, if all he’s doing is taking the money. We might take some heat in the press, but we’d come out all right.”
“If the guy starts shooting, that’s a different story,” Saylor added. “No cop will stand by while that’s happening.”
Reott, nodding, mulled over Hart’s explanation for a few moments, then looked at all three and continued. “I think we’ll go with Alan’s plan. It’s sounds like a good one and it’s better than the wait-and-react we’ve been doing.”
“Thank you, sir.” Hart said.
“Choose your people and brief them carefully,” Reott instructed. “I’ll okay the overtime with the Chief.”
“And the media?” Hart asked.
Reott considered, “Let’s keep this quiet unless the word on the task force leaks out. Then we’ll invite them in and give them the inside scoop if they keep it quiet until we catch the guy. Make ’em an ally for once.”
Saylor and Hart both nodded. Reott felt a sense of accomplishment for his diplomatic effort.
The phone rang. Michaels, being the junior man, automatically answered it. He listened for a few seconds, then replaced the receiver.
“He just hit again,” the sergeant said. “Number sixteen. Time delay is only two minutes.”
Damn, Reott thought. This guy is making us all look like fools. “Okay, Gentleman,” he said. “We have a plan. Do whatever it takes to catch this guy. You have my full support.”
Interlude
Fall 1994
“I don’t really believe in counseling, doc. That’s all.”
“Why is that?” The doctor kept any hint of disapproval out of his voice.
The man shrugged. “I think that it is the refuge of the weak. A man should be able to deal with his own demons.”
“And a woman?”
“Same thing.”
The doctor paused, considering. Thirty minutes had passed in the session and although the officer had begun to open up, little had been accomplished. He always had the option of requiring further sessions, but he knew full well how the administrators at the Police Department would interpret that. Still, the officer’s mental health rated as his primary concern, not his law enforcement career.
“Every man is an island, then?” he asked the officer.
The officer nodded. “Who can you truly count on? I’ve been hung out to dry before.”
“Beginning when?” The doctor asked, think that perhaps a look at the officer’s childhood would reveal something noteworthy.
The officer didn’t bite. “Let’s just say I learned to fend for myself a long time ago and leave it at that, all right?”
The doctor didn’t push the matter, though clearly something existed there. He returned to the previous point. “In your profession, you are required to help a variety of different people, correct? Many of whom are undeserving or whose irresponsibility has caused the situation which you now must deal with. Am I right?”
The officer nodded. “Very accurate.”
“Okay,” the doctor continued. “So let’s say there is a woman. She is very young, gets married. Her husband is abusive, but she won’t or can’t leave him. Maybe she has caused the situation or maybe she hasn’t, but now she is stuck. He hits her. You come to the scene and arrest the husband for assault. She is now free to take action. She is no longer a prisoner of her own fear. There is a window of opportunity for her, and it is your action that empowered her. Is this accurate as well, officer?”
“Yes. Sometimes.”
“Was it wrong of you to help her?”