You fit the description of a suspect we're looking for. I need to see some ID right now. " Valerie didn't flinch. She knew exactly what game this was. "Officer, unless you have reasonable, articulable suspicion that I have committed, am committing, or am about to commit a crime, I am not legally obligated to identify myself to you under the state's stop and identify statutes. I am simply walking down the street. " Jenkins blinked, momentarily thrown off guard by her precise use of legal terminology, but his surprise quickly mutated into furious indignation.
He despised citizens who knew their rights, and he especially despised being challenged by someone he had already deemed beneath him. Listen to me very carefully. Jenkins stepped closer, his voice dropping to a menacing whisper. I am the law out here. When I tell you to hand over your ID, you hand it over.
Now give me your name and your driver's license or I'm taking you in for obstruction and resisting a lawful order. Rookie officer Walsh had stepped out of the cruiser by now and was standing a few paces back, shifting uncomfortably. Uh Jenkins, maybe we should just shut up, Walsh. Jenkins snapped, not breaking eye contact with Valerie. I will not provide my identification, Valerie said, her tone absolute iron.
You have no probable cause. You are conducting an unlawful stop based on blatant racial profiling and I suggest you step back and return to your vehicle before you make a mistake you cannot undo. The sheer authority in her voice should have been a massive red flag. A smart cop would have recognized that the woman standing before him carried herself with the untouchable confidence of someone who wielded real power. But Jenkins was not a smart cop.
He was a bully, blinded by his own ego and unchecked authority. All right, that's it. You're done. Jenkins snarled. He lunged forward, grabbing Valerie's right arm with bruising force.
Take your hands off me immediately, Valerie commanded, instinctively jerking her arm back from his violent grip. Stop resisting, Jenkins bellowed, a phrase he used purely for the benefit of his body camera, despite the fact that Valerie was merely standing her ground. Before Valerie could utter another word, Jenkins swept his heavy boot behind her legs and shoved her upper body forward. The world tilted violently. Valerie hit the concrete hard, her breath leaving her lungs in a sharp gasp as her cheek scraped against the rough pavement.
Pain flared in her shoulder, but the physical sting was completely eclipsed by a cold, calculating rage. Jenkins dropped his knee hard into the center of her back, pinning her to the ground. He yanked her arms behind her, the metal cuffs biting savagely into her wrists as he ratcheted them far tighter than necessary. "You people always have to do it the hard way. " Jenkins hissed under his breath, leaning close to her ear. "You think you can come into a nice neighborhood and talk back to me?
You're going to learn respect today. " Valerie didn't scream. She didn't cry out. She simply turned her head, her dark eyes locking onto the lens of Jenkins' body camera, etching the officer's name and badge number into her eidetic memory. Officer B. Jenkins, badge 4082.