Nolan's Journal Chapter 19
"Well, it happened. The shrinks decided that Tim's rookie, Gary Graves, couldn't function as an LAPD officer. If he can get therapy that helps him overcome what's been diagnosed as severe PTSD, then he can reapply. As things stand, he'll have to find another line of work. He is actually looking into being a lifeguard. LA pays them higher than any city in the country and he can contribute a lot to the safety and security of water lovers. I wish him luck.
"Grey wasn't about to waste any time building up the force at Mid-Wilshire, so Tim's already got a new rookie, Lena Salvi. She's got some catching up to do, but she seems to be very quick. Lena and Stella were friends at the academy, so they may be able to help each other out. It's nice to see some camaraderie like Lucy, Jackson, and I had as rookies. Lena's only been out on the street with Tim twice so far, but according to what I heard her telling Stella, he pulled the same kind of crap on her that he pulled on Lucy. I doubt it worked out the way Tim expected. Lena tuned into the grapevine around here very fast and found out about the Tim tests. When he asked her, she knew exactly where she was. She was also aware that Tim understands Spanish just fine. If he wants to trip Lena up, he'll have to get some new material.
"Personally, I have a problem with Tim's mindset about teaching the rookies. I think I understand the theory in the military about breaking a person down before building them up again into a soldier mode. That's what Tim experienced, and he still seems to believe that it worked. I don't think there is only one cop mode, at least not in LA.
"I've studied the history of the LAPD. It's gone through some major changes. Back in the late '80s, it was almost all white and predominately male. There were cultural norms that resulted in the whole Rodney King debacle. Those had to change. Still, what happened to Jackson with that bigoted jerk Doug Stanton, and that the asshole is still a cop, shows there's still a long way to go.
"Now, the LAPD's almost half Hispanic or Latino. It's a little over 30% white, a little under 10% black, and nearly 8% Asian. About 18% of the force is female. So, the white boys club had to go and the old culture with it. I think we're still working on the new one. I believe that supporting each other from the start is the best way to get there. After getting past his ageist freakout over me, I think Grey also believes it. I hope so.
"Lucy's tricks for helping Stella study are still working, but she actually wore out her trampoline. She'd been using one with metal springs. Under her enthusiastic pounding, they kept breaking and weren't cheap or easy to replace. She got another one that works with bungee cords. They break, too, but not as often, and the replacements are cheaper. Springs or bungee cords, it doesn't matter. Stella's learning the material. She's also come up with some interesting ideas of her own.
"As a kid growing up, she worked very hard to learn the habits of the animals she hunted. That meant she needed much less time or expensive ammunition to bring home a meal. She figures we can do the same with some of the characters we run into on patrol. Many of the unhoused people are mentally ill, but they do follow patterns about what they do, where they forage, and where they sleep. By keeping an eye on those patterns, we can keep them from getting accosted and intervene if they get into serious trouble. It would be better if they could get the real professional help they need. Still, Stella's plan is definitely better than waiting for a crisis. If it works out, maybe we can spread it around."
"Harper got CeCe on board to set a trap for Oscar. Despite the LAPD's tight budget, the powers that be managed to allocate enough funds to set CeCe up as the lure in a well-equipped cage. For some reason, the LA area seems big on slab foundations. You won't find many basement rooms or basements, for that matter. All the stuff most people used to shove downstairs back East gets put into storage units, which can be a real drain on the household budget. Anyway, without basements, there aren't many basement rooms. Harper managed to find one anyway, not far from Oscar's favorite restaurant. She and Lopez tricked it out with some pretty strange stuff. I didn't recognize the names of half of it. My brother Pete's girlfriend Chastity knew what all of it was and helped Harper get her hands on it. CeCe is settled in there now.
"Supposedly, the word went out about CeCe's offerings on a dark web site where Oscar's daughter told us he got leads to fulfilling his twisted fantasies. A couple of undercover detectives Harper knows from Vice dropped in at some of the city's kinkier establishments and spread the word that CeCe is open for business. If anyone other than Oscar shows up to take advantage of her services, they will be informed that she's unavailable. According to Harper, CeCe is very apt at enforcing her choice not to engage.
"On a note of more mainstream human behavior, now that Jason is back in prison, Bailey and I are talking about adoption again. Celina directed us to the agency that her brother used. He and his wife adopted a baby, something apparently more difficult than adopting an older child. The social worker there practically turned handsprings when we told her that we not only would settle for but actively prefer a kid well out of diapers. We filled out all the paperwork, and we'll have to go through the investigation required to qualify as adoptive parents. That could take a while, but the agency will expedite it as much as possible.
"Fortunately, Bailey and I have some excellent references. Luna Grey put in a good word for us. So did Sergeant Grey and Bailey's captain. My experience raising Henry and being able to cope with his heart problems doesn't hurt either.
Bailey and I are both what some people might call preparation freaks, especially where getting ready to have a child in our lives is concerned. The child will need a room. We have a guest room, but Bailey suggested that we, meaning I, could build an addition to house a kid's room and maybe a family room or playroom. The lot is big enough to accommodate one. I checked. Building codes will allow it. I'll have to go through the whole permitting and inspection thing again, as I did when I renovated this place from a foreclosure disaster. But between that, my contracting work, and my work at the center, I've gotten to know the system and the inspectors pretty well. It won't be cheap, but Bailey got some money from selling her place. It wasn't that much once she paid off the mortgage, but if I do all the work myself or pull in some volunteers from the division or the firehouse, we should be able to swing it. I upgraded my computer's CAD/CAM software, and I've already started working on the plans. Besides this journal, it gives me something to do while Bailey's on duty. I hope that by the time I start the work, Oscar will be back in prison instead of camping out in the back of my mind.