Chapter 658 The Chief Is Here, Irrelevant People Go Away
Both men were wearing police uniforms. One was the Chief of Police, the boss of all L.A. police officers.
If Luke was close by, he would have to stand at attention and salute this bigshot. Why bother?
Two guys who were clearly students, however, approached him with bright eyes. “Student Kayle Bronx/Chad Copland, reporting for duty, sir!”
The Chief of Police was unhappy. “Scram, idiots.”
“Yes, sir!” The two guys saluted and slunk away, crestfallen.
Luke chuckled in amusement. He made the right decision to keep his distance!
One might think that the Chief of Police wouldn’t be so crude, but he had once been a regular police officer too.
The Chief of Police looked like he had just been forced to swallow sh*t; given his bad mood, it was only natural for him to curse at the two students.
The third and fourth candidates had appeared!
Those two students… well, they had better self-awareness.
Guys who followed orders were always needed, even if their fellows might not think very well of them.
A few minutes later, Luke entered Remick’s office.
Staring at the old man, Luke said helplessly, “Director Remick, are you trying to swindle me? There were only 233 students in the last batch, which is why I agreed to help screen them, but you didn’t tell me that you would be recruiting a second batch this year. Tell me the truth: How many more people are you recruiting?”
With a bitter smile, Remick waved his hand at the window. “All of them.”
Luke: “…Are you kidding me? How much is going to be spent on training? Will the department agree to that?”
“The department received a lot of donations recently and was already planning to recruit more officers.” Remick explained, “You know how terrible law and order has been in Los Angeles recently, right?”
Luke nodded.
There was no one else in Los Angeles who was clearer on this than Luke. Remick: “The mayor thus has given the commissioner a strict order to improve the situation, or the commissioner will have to beat it.”
Luke was amused. “But we won’t see results with this batch of students so soon, right? It seems that the commissioner might be sent packing in half a year.”
Remick: “The usual practice is that students won’t start their internships until after eight to twelve weeks of professional training, but they’ll start fieldwork this time after four weeks.”
Luke clicked his tongue. “So, creating a favorable situation since the situation doesn’t favor you?” Remick smiled bitterly. “That’s right. I have to ask for your help even though I know you’re busy.”
Looking at Luke’s face, Remick quickly said, “I’ll have your three tips included in the materials and issued to the rookies. You won’t have to personally teach them anymore.”
Luke nodded speechlessly. He truly wasn’t planning to shirk this responsibility this time. Why did this old man look so cautious?
Remick: “Luke, you have to give me a shortlist of the best students as soon as possible so that we can focus on training them.”
Pondering for a moment, Luke nodded. “Remick, I’ll give you a list as soon as I can, but I can’t guarantee that you’ll like the students on it.”
Remick readily agreed. “Okay.”
Luke wasn’t the only detective who had been sent here to help with the screening. Many other seasoned detectives had been deployed to cast a wide net.
In the end, after comparing the lists submitted by the detectives, no good seedling would be overlooked.
As they were speaking, another conversation was taking place in an office upstairs.
The Chief of Police was standing by the window and staring at the chaos on the training ground. He muttered, “Look at this trash. They think they can put on a police uniform after just doing one round of the police academy?” The other two men in the office, one standing and the other sitting, didn’t say anything.
The Chief of Police continued, “Do you know why I’m here, Principal Lassad?”
The white-haired old man asked tentatively, “To give a speech to the new students?” The Chief of Police laughed out loud. “No, Lassad. Look at those scum. They’ve turned the police academy into a dumpster that reeks of weed, drugs and body fluids. I won’t give a speech to this trash.”
Looking at Lassad’s face, the Chief of Police snorted. “Lowering the bar and recruiting new students on a large scale was Senator Thompson’s idea. She wants us to increase the size of the police force. So, we have to treat all students equally, regardless of gender or race, in order to create a more beautiful Los Angeles. What do you think?”
After a brief silence, Principal Lassad said, “That b*tch?”
Pleased, the Chief of Police nodded. “But she’s going to be the mayor soon. The commissioner specifically called me to say that we must accept these students. You know what to do
now?”
Principal Lassad frowned. “Do our best to teach them?”
The Chief of Police slapped his hands down on the table and looked down at Principal Lassad. “No, I want you to kick out as many of them as possible. Once these cancers enter the police department, LAPD will be doomed. I don’t want our officers to be referred to as dirty cops again, so they must not enter our force, understand?”
Lassad smiled broadly and quickly nodded. “Got it, sir.”
Satisfied, the Chief of Police nodded and put on his hat. “Keep it up. I have high hopes for
you.”
“Yes, sir!” The person standing on the side responded loudly.
The Chief of Police gave the man a light smile and waved at him to get out of his way. “As long as you understand, Instructor Harry.”
With that, the bigshot opened the door and left, and Instructor Harry followed him with an obsequious smile.
The fake smile on Principal Lassad’s face collapsed several seconds later. He quickly got up and closed the office door.
Walking over to the window, the old man looked at the crowd of new students down below. Those “scum,” according to the Chief of Police, were being organized into lines by the instructors.
The old man sneered.
He murmured softly, “You didn’t object to Senator Thompson and the commissioner when they gave the order, yet you came to me asking me to go against them. Do you take me for a fool? You don’t have enough backbone to be commissioner, young man.”
At that moment, the new students downstairs were being herded onto the training ground and divided into lines like chicken.
Remick picked up his uniform and hat and said, “Okay, time to give a speech to the new students. I have to be there.”
Luke shrugged. “Do I need to go?”
Remick rolled his eyes. “The students that got your lecture are already done with their training.” Luke chuckled.
The man was obviously implying that he should stay as far away as possible.
He took the hint and simply watched the crowd from a window.
He saw a white-haired old man standing before the students with a big smile. “I’m Principal Lassad. Welcome to the police academy.”