Chapter 2
"Abigail, is he in?" Asked an out-of-breath DCPI
"He is working at his desk. He has no planned meetings this morning; go straight in," Abigail said.
Garrett nodded his thanks and pulled open the door before abruptly stopping. " Abigail, call Sid and come in as well when he arrives. This one is possibly explosive," he asked without turning to face her.
Frank Reagan looked up as his DCPI entered his office. Knowing this unannounced visit could only mean trouble. Putting his pen down, he waited for this new headache. Sid and Abigail walked in and took their usual seats.
"I have just received a heads-up from an investigative reporter friend. An expose on the misuse of drugs in the ranks of the NYPD. He doesn't know specifics but does know that they have video and photographic evidence of serving officers using drugs. Some of the images he has seen show wraps of cocaine in an NYPD evidence bag. The reporter believes that not all seizures at crime scenes make it back into evidence." Garrett explained.
His inner circle knew about the scourge of the Blue Templar on the NYPD. It had cost the commissioner his son. They all hated dirty cops, but Frank Reagan despised them.
"How good is your source?" Abigail asked
"Beyond reproach, he is ex-NYPD. He worked out the 40th precinct down the Bronx for five years as a patrol officer before medically retiring. After he was injured in a collision, a drunk driver hit his RMP. He retrained as a journalist. He hates dirty cops. He wanted me to forewarn you, Frank. He was a good cop. Officer Terry Daniels pulled his jacket," Garrett defended his friend.
"Sid, check him out, please." Asked Frank as he pondered things.
"Boss, we tightened up our procedures after the Blue Templar. We have more checks in place now. Procedures at our evidence warehouses have been tightened. All seized drugs are stored independently in a purpose-built secure area. We have DEA technicians as independent auditors. They check all seized narcotics weekly and confirm they haven't been tampered with right up to their destruction in the incinerator." Sid explained
"I know, but I will not take the chance of a repeat that we have a few black sheep in our flock. The NYPD's reputation is still recovering from the fallout from the revelations of what the Blue Templar had achieved. Get me Chief Taylor at Internal Affairs." Frank asked
"Yes, Sir," Baker replied
"No, Baker, I want to see him forthwith."
"Sid, stay behind," Frank asked, dismissing everyone else.
BB
Captain McNichols looked up as her four sergeants entered her office.
"We have had some recent thefts from various locker rooms. After Sargeant Reagan implemented tighter controls on who can come past the desk sergeant last year, and they seem to know where the internal cameras are, it pains me to say our thief is a police officer. I asked Internal Affairs to install additional cameras around the house covertly. You four will monitor the cameras to catch me, our thief." She told her shocked sergeants
They all looked aghast; a thief in their house was a disaster. They all knew their platoons needed to be able to rely on each other out there. A thief, one of their own, could devastate morale and cause dissent amongst the rank and file. They had all heard the stories when they were rookies, how a thief was dealt with by their fellow officers. Granted, it was no longer acceptable to dish out kangaroo justice and deal with it in-house. That was now left to the CO.
"Yes, Ma'am" they answered.
"Dismissed, catch me our thief. No street justice." She reiterated, knowing she would needle one of her sergeants.
She was pleased that she had Sergeant Jameson Reagan in her house. He was an exceptional officer. She would do anything to keep him at the 29th, not because he was the commissioner's son. Captain McNichols knew being a Reagan held back the commissioner's two sons and daughter-in-law. She wouldn't tell either of her Reagans they were her two favourite officers, so she rode them the most. She particularly likes to mess with Sargeant Reagan.
BB
"You book in our prisoner, and I will log our evidence in," Eddie told her partner as she split off.
"Thanks, partner. Are you still buying lunch, puckey?" Smirked Officer Luis Badillo. He was enjoying needling his partner after she was sick at a bust after chasing down their current prisoner.
"Yeah, not going to let me forget about that little incident, are you?" Sighed Eddie
He laughed and walked away to book in their collar, "Not a chance, Reagan, I can dine out on your regurgitation for months. It was all captured on our body cameras. Your footage should be spectacular. You have a chunk of puke on your vest there, partner," he laughed.
"Damn it!" She snarled as she brushed away the partly digested carrot chunk
Walking away, she started grumbling to herself, knowing the footage from her incident would find its way around the 29th
"What have you got for me, Officer Reagan?"
"Three wraps of cocaine, field-tested at the scene. Countersigned by Officer Badillo," she answered.
Eddie watched as they logged in the cocaine and tested the white powder to confirm what each baggie contained. Jamie had told her all about who was responsible for Joe's death. She was shocked when she found out a fellow detective had killed him. She knew her father-in-law had instigated many new checks and controls to prevent a repeat of the wholesale abuse of confiscated drugs.
"Ok, Reagan, all logged in. I have emailed you the voucher number. That's an excellent puke stain you have on your vest." Laughed the property, Sargeant
"Funny, hilarious Sargeant," Snarked Eddie
"Are Reagans allowed to be…" Eddie's glare stopped him from continuing
After much thought and discussion, Eddie had started using her married name at work. Jamie was now a sergeant, so everything was clear. The NYPD now had Detective, Sargeant and Officer Reagan. Everyone knew she was the daughter-in-law of the police commissioner.
As she walked away, she checked her watch; Badillo would be at least another ten minutes.
"I've got time", she smiled.
BB
Sargeant Betty Watts watched the camera feed from the covert cameras that internal affairs had installed around the precinct.
"Oh my god!"
Covert camera feed
The door to the switchboard room opened, and the officer checked that they were alone. Removing a plastic baggie, they tipped the contents on the table and formed the white powder into two long, thin lines. They proceeded to snort using a small metal tube—both lines of white powder.
A smile appeared on their face, and a look of pure bliss appeared. Checking that they hadn't left any residual powder, they wiped their nose.
End footage
Sargeant Watts could not believe what she had just witnessed in her precinct.
"Ma'am, I need you to see this urgently," she told Captain McNichols.
Five minutes later, a speechless Captain McNichols watched the footage from the covert camera.
Her surprise had now morphed into anger after she had watched one of her officers snort what she suspected to be cocaine. The CO of the 29th didn't know what was worse: one of her officers snorted coke in her house, or she was in uniform carrying her service weapon.
"Find her, Now!" She barked angrily
BB
"Officer Edit Reagan, present your weapon for inspection," ordered Sargeant Watts
Eddie looked surprised, complied with the order, and handed over her service weapon.
"Hands behind your back, Officer Reagan," ordered Captain McNichols from behind her officer.
Eddie Reagan was too slow for her liking. She grabbed her officer's arms behind her back and handcuffed her. "I am detaining you while we search your locker and your person,"
The commotion had caused a small audience of officers to assemble, all shocked by the arrest of one of their own by their CO.
"Are you high, Officer Reagan?" Asked Sargeant Watts after looking into eddies eyes
"Duh," was the odd answer she received
Looking closely at her officer's face, she noticed her pupils were dilated.
"Take her to my office and keep her there. No one speaks to her but me. Do you understand, Sargeant Watts? I want a drug mouth swab taken." Ordered McNichols
How had she missed this? She asked herself.
"Eddie, what the hell, why is my wife cuffed?" Asked an angry husband on seeing his wife being led away in cuffs.
"Come with me, Sergeant Reagan. It would be best if you watched this." She told her sergeant, still not sure she believed what had happened
Jamie just nodded as he watched his wife led away in cuffs.