"She was in Oak Creek. She refused to ID herself. I was following standard protocol for a non-compliant suspect. " "Protocol? " Valerie whipped her head toward him, her dark eyes flashing with an intensity that made Jenkins physically recoil. "You demanded identification without reasonable articulable suspicion, a direct violation of Brown versus Texas. When I exercised my Fourth Amendment right to refuse your unlawful demand, you violently assaulted me, placed me in handcuffs, and falsified charges of resisting arrest.
Do not insult my intelligence by calling your prejudiced, aggressive thuggery protocol. " Jenkins opened his mouth to argue, but Captain Sterling spun on him. "Shut your mouth, Jenkins. Not another word. " Sterling turned back to Valerie, his hands clasped together in a pleading gesture. "Ms. Thompson, please, let's handle this internally.
I will personally suspend him pending a full review. I'll have the union rep down here in 10 minutes. We don't need to turn this into a media circus. " Valerie didn't move. She didn't accept the offer of the office. She stood exactly where Jenkins had dragged her, ensuring every officer in the room and every security camera overhead captured the reality of the situation.
"We are not handling anything internally, Captain Sterling. " Valerie stated, her tone echoing with finality. "I want the chief of police on the phone. I want the State Bureau of Investigation down here immediately to secure the body camera footage before anyone in your IT department accidentally loses it. And I want the head of my Public Integrity Unit, Sarah Higgins, dispatched to this precinct right now. " Sterling swallowed hard, realizing the catastrophic scale of the disaster. "Yes, ma'am.
Right away. " "Furthermore," Valerie continued, her gaze locking back onto Jenkins, who looked as though he was going to vomit. "Officer Jenkins is a flight risk and an immediate danger to the public. He has demonstrated a complete disregard for the law. Captain, I am instructing you to strip him of his badge and his service weapon. Now. " Jenkins gasped.
"You can't do that. I have union rights. I want my representative. " "You will get your representative, Bradley. " Valerie said coldly. "But right now, you are being disarmed. Captain. " Sterling didn't hesitate.
Survival instinct had completely overridden any loyalty he had to his patrolman. He marched over to Jenkins. "Give me your weapon, Jenkins, and your badge. " "Captain, you can't be serious. It's me. " Jenkins pleaded, his hands trembling as he hovered over his holster. "I've got 12 years on the force.
You're going to let this "Hand it over, or I will charge you with insubordination and forcefully disarm you. " Sterling hissed, his eyes wide with frantic urgency. With shaking hands, Jenkins unclipped his holster and handed over his Glock. He unpinned the silver shield from his chest, badge 4082, and dropped it into his captain's waiting palm. The metallic clink sounded like a death knell in the quiet room. From the back of the room, rookie officer Kevin Walsh watched the scene unfold with a mixture of terror and dawning realization.