Recovery
Chapter 5
Journal of John Nolan
That sonofabitch Stanton blue-sheeted Jackson. That's not as serious as my reprimand, but coupled with Jackson's low exam results, it puts him on the edge of being kicked loose. And it was Stanton's former partner, who is also black, who stuck a knife in Jackson's back. Lucy and Bradford had a meeting with him. I don't know what happened except that he gave Stanton a heads-up afterward. Stanton trapped Jackson into disobeying an order by making it look like he was going to beat up a black kid. It was a stroke of evil brilliance that makes Stanton seem that much deadlier.
There is one thing that might save Jackson, the footage from his own cam. He went over it and had Lucy and me go over it too. Stanton ordered Jackson to stand guard on a backpack that was under a grate. At that point, two things were possible with the chain of custody of the bag. Someone could have lifted the grate and removed it, or it could have been secure where it was. If the kid claims he never touched it, all it would take to refute his story is checking for prints and or D.N.A. He was also on Jackson's cam stealing it. Also, there is no sign that anyone else was in that alley. No way did Jackson endanger the validity of the arrest. Stanton's order was ridiculous, clearly meant to screw Jackson.
The other thing is that Stanton claimed to have lost his cam, so Jackson would think he was going to beat on the kid. Then Stanton magically found it again. That's all on Jackson's cam too. How believable is an experienced T.O. losing his cam? And shouldn't there be a penalty for that, too? Yes, Jackson disobeyed a direct order, but he had reason to believe a suspect was in jeopardy and that there was no real harm in doing so. It's clear that Grey is investigating. He'll have to understand what happened. What he can do about it is another question. Somehow, Stanton will have to be pushed into revealing himself either on camera or in full sight of multiple witnesses. Better yet, both.
As far as I know, at this point, there's nothing I can do to help with that. But if I get the chance, I'll be there. I'm an old white guy from the Midwest. Stanton might even see me as being on his side. If he makes that mistake, he won't make it twice. Lucy thinks she can get Emmett involved. Stanton's never met him and has no idea he's Lucy's boyfriend – or a firefighter, for that matter. I don't know what she has in mind, but I'm on board if she needs me.
"You know what you're going to do?" Lucy asks as she meets up with Emmett in the parking lot of the Mid-Wilshire Division.
"Yeah, I know. I talk to that jerk Stanton at the desk and ask him to come out to see the damage to my mother's car. We're lucky it was just sitting around like that. She hasn't driven it since she was hit."
"Now that you have it, maybe you can get it fixed for her," Lucy suggests. "We know Stanton's going to be polite at the desk because he's aware he's on camera. But if you get him mad enough, he'll probably follow you out. You go ahead and record whatever happens, but Bradford will be out there recording it too. And we'll also have Harper and Nolan on their phones. If they can, they'll be coming in as extra backup, but either way, they'll be in on this. That's too many witnesses for Stanton to argue against."
"I'm not sure you know guys like Stanton as well as you think you do, Lucy," Emmett offers. "I've been dealing with them my entire life, even in the fire department. They can be subtle. They make snide comments, but they don't use racial or ethnic slurs. They invade your space and do anything they can to provoke a reaction. Then they strike. Stanton's been polishing his act ever since he's been a cop, maybe longer. He won't fool easily."
"You're not backing out, are you, Emmett?" Lucy demands.
"No way," he assures her. "But Stanton nailed Jackson without breaking a sweat. You need to understand this isn't going to be easy for me, you, or any of the other cops in on your plan."
"I do understand," Lucy insists. "We need to do this."
"You were right about this place needing reorganizing, Luna," Tamar remarks, surveying the community policing center. "If I kept records like this for my multi-church pushes, we'd never get anything going. For one thing, we'll need binders to keep track of current projects. You can't pass around a stack of files or put them out for people to take pictures of the sections they need."
"Binders, got that," Luna acknowledges. "What else?"
"A workable way of keeping track of duties," Tamar adds. "Lists with cross-outs and last-minute additions like you have now won't do it. It has to be an easily visible display like a whiteboard, preferably with color-coded markers."
"Markers like that would disappear in about two seconds around here," Luna notes.
"You have a point," Tamar considers. "Forget the color coding for now, but whenever anyone makes a change, they need to mark it with the time and date, so people know when it happened. And you'll need contact lists for anyone who volunteers for anything or has any responsibilities. They should be on a computer, or at least in the cloud, and on paper. We'll also need a media resource list so we can get the word out. And of course, we'll need social media presence and a website. But you'll also need to get the local merchants involved in reaching out to people who aren't online."
"That's one hell of a list," Luna notes.
"That's only the start of a list," Tamar returns. "But it will get this place embedded in the consciousness of the community. Then you can get some real work done. Now, who's this officer Nolan you've been telling me about?"
"The L.A.P.D.'s oldest rookie. He's been putting his life experience to work down here already," Luna explains. "He made sure the kids have a safe place to play again and pulled the other cops and the neighborhood in to help keep it that way. He got another cop to start a band and made sure the tutoring program is running. Nolan says he wants to start a community garden too, but I don't think he's made much progress with that yet. As far as I know, he hasn't got any land lined up to do it on. The meth cooks use some of the vacant lots as dumps. Chemical companies put plants in the area, too. Without a tox survey, there's no way to tell what's leached into the ground. Food crops could end up poisoning the neighborhood."
"Tox surveys are expensive, and I'll bet the city isn't about to pay," Tamar guesses.
"Got it in one," Luna confirms.
Tamar nods thoughtfully. "There are ways to get around that. I've done it before, having churches partner with universities that could integrate a survey into coursework or grants. But it will be a long term project.
"If we're going to create an oasis in a food desert, we could start by gleaning. We convince gardeners and farmers to donate whatever they can't eat or sell. That could be a long-term project, too, especially where farmers are concerned. But enlisting local gardeners could go a lot faster. A lot of them have more tomatoes and zucchini than they can use. And if they have trees like apricots, they may want someone to pick the fruit before it drops and attracts every fly for blocks. I've lined up church groups to do that before, and there's no reason we couldn't do it here. Then a garden could take as long as it takes. So, introduce me to Nolan and whoever else you think can help, and let's get this show on the road."
"I'll have to sweet talk my husband into giving Nolan more time down here, but I'll see what I can do," Luna promises.
