‘We need to behave better than this,’ her owner said, feeding Popeye several little pieces of lung treats. ‘I’ll be back real soon.’
Hammer set the burglar alarm and went out to her unmarked midnight-blue Crown Victoria. She drove down East Grace, passing the back of St. John’s Church and turning on 25th where Tobacco Row was now upscale apartments and Pohlig Bros still manufactured ‘paper boxes of every design.’ A graffiti artist had spray-painted ‘Meat is Murder’ and ‘Eat corn’ and ‘Anita Hill started it’ on an abandoned tobacco warehouse, and rusting fire escapes and dead vines held on to old brick shells. One could get a bargain on used tires at Cowboy Tire, and Strickland Foundry and Machine Company had refused to quit.
On the other side of Broad Street, past the coliseum, was the police department where Hammer now spent her days in an ugly precast building with a blue mosaic trim missing many of its tiles. The Richmond Police Department was dim and too small, with windowless corridors, asbestos and the stale smell of dirty people and dirty deeds.
She said good morning to cops she passed, and out of fear they returned her greeting. Hammer understood the trauma of change. She understood a distrust of any influence that came from the outside, especially if its sanction was federal. Resentment and hostility were nothing new, but never had she experienced it quite like this.
At precisely seven o’clock, she walked into the conference room. It was crowded with some thirty unenthusiastic commanders, captains, detectives and officers who followed her with stares. Computer mapping of the city projected onto a large screen showed statistics for murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and auto theft, or the big seven, during the most recent twenty-eight-day COMSTAT period and also year-to-date. Charts showed time frames and probability and days of the week when crimes occurred, and in what precincts and during what shifts.
Hammer took her seat at the head of the table between West and Brazil.
‘Another ATM,’ West said in a low voice in Hammer’s ear.
Hammer looked sharply at her.
‘We just got the call, are still at the scene.’
‘Damn,’ Hammer said as anger stirred. ‘I want the details ASAP.’
West got up and left the room. Hammer looked around the table.
‘Nice to see all of you here,’ she began. ‘We’ve got a lot to discuss this morning.’ She didn’t waste time as she looked around and smiled. ‘We’ll start with first precinct. Major Hanger? I know it’s early.’
‘Always is,’ Hanger grumbled. ‘But I know that’s how they do things in New York.’
He nodded at Officer Wally Fling, Hammer’s administrative assistant, who was new at working the computer-mapping software that everyone hated. Fling hit several keys and a pie chart filled the screen.
‘I don’t want the pie chart yet, Fling,’ Hanger said.
Fling hit several more keys and another pie chart popped up, this one for fourth precinct.
‘Sorry,’ Fling said as he nervously tried again. ‘I guess you want first precinct.’
‘That would be nice. And I don’t want pies.’
Hanger got one anyway, this time for second precinct. Flustered, Fling hit more keys and the department’s shield flashed on screen, with its motto, Courtesy, Professionalism and Respect, or CPR, which Hammer also had borrowed from NYPD.
Several people groaned and booed. Brazil gave Hammer an I’ve tried to warn you look.
‘Why can’t we have our own logo?’ asked Captain Cloud, who was a commander for the day and felt he had a right to speak.
‘Yeah,’ other disgruntled voices joined in.
‘It makes us look like second string.”
‘Maybe we can get their hand-me-down uniforms, too.”
‘That’s one of the things that’s griping us, Chief.’
Two more pie charts flashed by on the screen.
‘Officer Fling,’ Hammer said. ‘Put it back on the logo, please. Let’s talk about this.’
A pin map of handgun seizures filled the screen, little yellow revolvers pointed at the problem areas of the city.
‘Go, Fling!’
‘Check out COMSTAT for Dummies.’
‘Shit,’ Fling said when he somehow ended up back at the main menu.
‘Go back to your day job, Fling.’
He banged the enter key four times and an error message told him to stop it.