Monday, Roll Call, Precinct One
"Profaci, Francine, Wolfowitz, bank robbery in the Rainforest District. Follow-on with the DA's office. Fangmire, Delgato…" Chief Bogo went through the assignments for the day. Nick sat through the cape buffalo's droning voice.
"…And finally, Hopps, Wilde and Fuchs – Hopps, you continue as Fuch's training officer, and the three of you will be supporting a special sort of 'ride along' this week," Bogo finished. "Details – my office. The rest, dismissed!"
Chief Bogo's Office
The three trooped into the Chief's office; Nick carefully kept his expression neutral. "Details, Chief Bogo?" he asked.
"Wilde, you will be driving a team of two 'ride alongs' – one will be with you in the forward section, the cameraman…"
"Cameraman! Just what…"
"Shut your mouth, Wilde! The cameraman will be in the back seat. Hopps, you and Fuchs will be in the second car, along with one of the 'ride alongs' in the front section – he'll have a small camera with him. There will be a third van, driven by technical crew with more camera and sound equipment."
"Excuse me, Chief," Hopps asked, "but just who are these 'ride alongs'? And why do they need cameras?"
"Because they're from Cops, Hopps," Bogo said.
"The TV show?" Fuchs asked.
"Yes, the TV show. And we don't have a choice – this comes from the Mayor's office," Bogo said.
"Is the mayor going to kiss us, at least?" Wilde asked.
"Excuse me?" Bogo replied.
"Because if we're going to get screwed, we at least want to be kissed!" Wilde snarled.
Second Floor Hallway, Precinct 1
"You do realize, Wilde, that your last comment to the Chief was rather insubordinate?" Fuchs asked as the trio walked to the Precinct garage.
"If you think that was insubordinate, Fuchs, you don't want to here what I thought about saying about this assignment to Chief Buffalobutt," Wilde replied.
"Now, Nick, you shouldn't call him that," Judy said.
Nick took a deep breath, in through the nose and out through the mouth. Then he took another, calming breath. "If that's the worst that I call him by the time this day is over…"
"Buck up, Wilde, it won't be that bad. It couldn't be!" Fuchs interrupted.
"Famous last words. I hope you're right, Bigbrush, but…"
"What. Did. You. Call. Me?" Fuchs said, stopping short and stomping one foot.
Hopps reached up and patted Fuchs on the shoulder. "Don't let it get to you, Fuchs. The tod opens his mouth, inserts his foot, then chews vigorously."
"And I suppose that he's going to 'repeat the macro' at every opportunity?" Fuchs asked, looking only at the diminutive lapine lieutenant.
"He has some redeeming features, though. His big mouth isn't one of them, I'd be first to admit…"
"I do happen to be here, ladies – you need not speak about me using the third person…"
"Then do your job, Nick," Hopps said, "and we'll treat you like you're here for real."
Fuchs giggled, "soldier, shut up and soldier…"
"And thank you, Bigbrush," Nick said, bowing deeply, "for that truly uplifting motivational comment."
Fuchs sighed, looked up at the ceiling, and silently counted to five. "I suppose you'd be upset if I stuffed him, face down, into a trash can, L-T?"
"Make it a recycle bin, and I'll overlook it…" Hopps said and, arm in arm, resumed walking to the police garage.
Nick shrugged and sighed. It was clearly going to be one of those days. "Mondays, I really hate Mondays," he muttered, as he followed the two females.
Monday, Motorized Patrol, Foxtown
Nick tried to keep an eye on the street as well as periodically turning to face the camera and the "ride along" TV personality as they stopped at the traffic light. "ZPD has been trying, of late, to increase it's presence in this area…" he said, carefully breathing through his mouth so as to not inhale the stink of the goat riding shotgun.
"Colloquially called 'Foxtown', is it not, for the … less than reputable mammals that have taken up residence in this area?"
"If you're asking, 'are there lots of foxes in this area', the answer is, 'yes, there are'. But they are employed in a wide variety of positions within Zootopia." He paused as the traffic sped up as the traffic light changed. He pointed with his muzzle as they passed a less decrepit building, "one of the ADAs – that's Assistant District Attorney – lives in that building. ADA Carolson – she's been working second seat on major cases for over a year, now."
"But the bulk of the residence here – how do they react to one of their own, another 'voop' – policing…"
Wilde suppressed a snarl. "That's a term – the 'v' word – that a wise officer doesn't use in this area. It's an emotionally loaded highly pejorative term. We have foxes of several species in this area – the rents are more affordable, and yes, the housing is a bit … run down … on the outside. But if you look inside in the apartments, you'll see that we keep our own accomodations in better shape than the absentee landlords keep the exterior surfaces."
"But you didn't answer our question – how do they react to a fellow … fox … policing them? Have you had any problems that larger … non-vulpine … officers have avoided here?"
Nick shook his head. "I live in this neighborhood – the other residents have given me fewer troubles than they've given several other officers. I'm … 'one of their own'. And with the inclusion of Officer Edda Fuchs to the team in Precinct 1, matters are more settled now than they've been in quite some time."
"So you think that the Mammal Inclusion Initiative has been a valuable adjunct to the normal recruitment procedures of the ZPD?"
"Do I think that the MII has been a positive factor? Yes, I do. It's not the only positive factor – the 'bottom line' for the ZPD is, simply put, 'is the city safer for the average citizen' because of the MII, or any other initiative. And I think the answer is yes – and I believe that the …"
The radio came alive, interrupting the fox's comment, "King Five and King Six, 10-17 at 1510 130th Street, Apartment 511. Repeat: 10-17 reported at 1510 130th Street, Apartment 511, Handle Code 2."
Nick reached over, and grabbed the radio mike. "King Five, 10-4, en route," he called out, and spun the SUV around, clearing traffic with occasional taps of the siren or lights. "10-17 is a domestic violence report, and you are not going to be following us in – DV cases can go violent at the drop of a hat," he said to the ride along. King Six – with Hopps and Fuchs, spun around and followed.
In Front of 1510 130th Street
Wilde reported arrival to dispatch, and exited the ZPD SUV. He grinned a toothy grin at the interviewer, and studiously avoided opening the "passenger" door, so as to keep the cameraman locked in in the back of his cruiser. "Please stay out here on the street – Officer Fuchs, Lieutenant Hopps, and I will be going in to the building, and we will deal with the situation there."
"But the public has a right to see…"
"That's what our body cameras are for, sir," Nick interrupted the interviewer. Fuchs and Hopps joined him and Hopps lead the way into the apartment building.
In the stairwell…
"Apartment 511 is leased out to a Grey fox couple," Hopps said, as she took the steps two at a time. "This is the third DV call in the last four weeks."
"Great – they'll likely outweigh me by a good twenty percent," Nick muttered.
"Why haven't we wrapstrapped the tod?" Fuchs called out, from her position as "tail end Charlie" going up the stairs.
"The tod is the one getting beaten up – and he's not been willing to press charges," Hopps called back.
"Why can't we arrest the vixen, then? Even if the tod won't press charges, isn't it obvious?" Fuchs asked.
"Save your breath, Bigbrush," Nick responded. "Just follow Fluffbun's lead on this one."
"Speaking of brushes, Wilde, if you don't stop sticking it in my face, I'm going to bite it," Fuchs replied.
"If I lift it, you get an unwanted peek, Bigbrush," Nick replied. "And if you break it, you own it…"
"Stop the chatter, you two!" Hopps called back at the two foxes. "Sweet cheese and crackers, keep your minds on business!"
"Hey, Fluff butt, you know you love it…" Nick said.
"If you have breath for chatter, you aren't going up the steps fast enough," Hopps said, and began taking the steps four at a time. Wilde, and then Fuchs, picked up their pace to keep up with the rabbit.
At Apartment 511
Hopps reached the door first; she could hear the screaming of the two foxes within even through the heavy door. "This is the police, please open the door!" she called out, as she pounded on the door with her fist. Wilde and Fuchs took up positions to either side of the lapine lieutenant.
The sounds of an argument could be heard, even through the apartment door. Hopps waited for a fast five count, then pounded on the door again with her open palm. "Zootopia Police, open the door, now!" she shouted. She paused again, then stepped back and jumped at the door, kicking hard with both feet. The door shook, but held, as the lapine doe bounced back and onto her feet. "ZPD, open the door or we're going to come through it!" she yelled, and then repeated her leap and kick maneuver; this time, the lock splintered and the door swung wide.
Wilde and Fuchs stepped over their lieutenant; the two arguing foxes seemed not to notice that their door had just been kicked in, so intent were they upon screaming and striking at each other.
"This brush was good enough for you when we were married, I am not going to get an implant to 'bush it out'," the vixen was shrieking, as she waved her tail in front of her tod's muzzle.
"You can't be bothered with 'bushing it out' because you don't care about…" the tod screamed in reply, stopping only when the vixen lashed out at him and tore into his throat ruff with extended claws.
"Hold it, both of you!" Fuchs called out, and tried to interpose herself between the fighting couple, facing the tod, her back to the vixen.
"NO!" Hopps and Wilde shouted together.
The tod ducked, his hands to his throat, blood beginning to seep out between his fingers; the vixen with a mindless shriek, jumped on Fuchs' back and began clawing at the officer's face.
Two tranquilizer guns fired as one and the "citizen" (now reclassified as "perp" let out a small "queep" sound, and collapsed as the fast acting anesthetic took effect.
"Wilde – call this in – we need a bus, and we need to take these two in," Hopps said.
"Charges?" Nick asked, "other than the obvious?"
"Assaulting a police officer, assault and battery on the vixen, disturbing the peace for now on the tod. And get a bus!"
"Acknowledged – bus for two. I don't like the look of that throat wound on the tod."
Hopps sighed, and wrapstrapped the vixen's paws behind her back, while Wilde did the same for the tod.
Back Down in the Street, After the dust has settled
"Did you have to arrest both parties?" the goat asked, once Wilde was back in the patrol car.
"Procedure – we have everything on our body cameras. The vixen clearly assaulted officer Fuchs, as well as the tod who we assume is her husband. They were both clearly disturbing the peace, but who started the fight, and who escalated it? We're going to let the two of them explain themselves after we've dealt with the obvious injuries."
"Why aren't you taking them in your patrol car, Officer Wilde?"
"Both individuals needed medical attention – Hopps and I both fired trank darts into the vixen, and she needed attention for possible overdose. The tod was bleeding from a throat wound – that could have been fatal. Keep them alive, stabilized, and stitched up as soon as possible. Afterwards, we can deal with criminal charges."
"Won't the DA's office just let this drop? It was just a 'VVVNMI', after all, was it not?"
Nick took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. 'Voop-versus-voop-no-mammal-involved' is a slang expression that is not commonly used in the ZPD. It inolves an emotionally loaded pejorative, 'voop', and for your information, every mammal counts in Zootopia. Prey, predator, even foxes – we all need to obey and must be protected by the law. All must be protected, or none of us is protected."
"Do you actually believe that, Officer Wilde? Or is it just that you're a voop yourself?" the goat asked.
"I became a LEO – a law enforcement officer – because I thought I could do some good. And to show everyone – predator and prey alike – that foxes could be 'good guys' too. Judge us by our actions, by our behaviors, not by our appearances."
Wilde's and Hopps' Office, Precinct One, End of Shift
Nick leaned back and stretched. He massaged his neck, trying to work the knots out of his muscles as Hopps "read the riot act" to Officer Fuchs.
"You never get between a couple in a DV situation," Hopps said. "You can't tell what they'll do – other than it will end up getting you hurt." She shook her head, more in sadness than in anger. "How many stitches did it take for that cut on your muzzle, by the way?"
"Eight," Fuchs' mumbled. "And I get the point – I won't pull that dumb move again."
"Good – you're learning, then. We don't need to have another car convention[1], Fuchs. And I really don't want to hold one for you."
"Don't be too hard on the rookie, Carrots," Nick said. "I think she's gotten the point. Now she'll have a set of scars to match yours – just another member of the team."
"You have scars? Did you make the same mistake I just did, Lieutenant?" Fuchs asked.
"No, Edda – I just didn't know when to quit. A long time ago, when I got into a bit of a fight with an older fox."
"And?"
Hopps brushed the fur on her cheek back to show the scars. "He decided to 'mark' me – and don't worry, I don't hold it against all foxes. I've forgiven Gideon – he apologized – and I've made just a few vulpine friends since."
"Like your partner?" Fuchs asked.
"I'd like to think so, and I'd like to think that even though I'm your training officer, that we'll become friends too."
[1] Slang expression for a police funeral.