Black and Blue

Feet First into the Fire

         Detective John Polsk walked through the front door of the Minneapolis Police Department in downtown Minneapolis and upstairs to find his desk. After walking into the Homicide Unit wing of the building he found his desk nestled amidst several others. But unlike all of the other desks, his desk had no clutter on it and was devoid of files, coffee mugs and loose sheets of paper. All that was on it was a phone and a computer. The reason for the cleanliness of the desk was that it was his first day on the job. Only last week had he finished his training to be a Homicide Detective and this was his first day on the job. He had managed to arrive before everyone else had, including the Lieutenant in charge of Homicide. He set his shoulder-bag on his desk and sat down in the chair. John leaned back, testing the chair and decided that it wasn't the most comfortable chair in the world, but it would do. He then got up and started to look around the office, familiarizing himself with his new surroundings.
         It wasn't long before everyone else started to show up and begin their work for the day. As everyone came in John introduced himself to them as they came in and waited for the Lieutenant to come in so that he could figure out what it was he was supposed to do today. It wasn't too long until she came in. Police Lieutenant Catherine Parks was not exactly what John thought she would look like. Unlike a lot of women he met who worked as cops, most of them looked, well not like her he thought. Catherine came up to about his shoulder in height, had short sandy-blond hair, and delicate features with a slim, but toned body. Surprised by her looks he followed her towards her office and waited just outside the door for her to get settled in. She set her stuff down next to her desk and took a seat. After about a minute she looked up at John.
         "So, who are you standing there? Please come in, sit down and stop looking like some school boy waiting to see the principle." As he started to see why she was a cop he went into the office and sat down across from her.
         "Good Morning ma'am. I'm John Polsk, and I just got assigned to Homicide as one of your new detectives." He spoke as he extended a hand towards her. But as he did, he noticed a twitch in her eye that told him he had just made a mistake of some kind, but had no idea what it was that he did. But she hid it quickly as she shook his hand.
         "Good Morning Polsk. I'm glad that your here, we need all the help that we can get. With the increase of drug traffic into the Twin Cities, we've been having some real trouble with gangs and are getting more murders than we are used to, which is why you got promoted to us instead of your first choice." When John had first applied to be a detective, he had asked to work in Sex Crimes, but as Catherine said, the increase in the murder rate in the cities caused him to go to his second choice, Homicide. She continued, "I know that this is your first day on the job, but unfortunately we don't have the manpower or time to break in slowly, and we are going to have to throw you feet first into the fire."
         "I'm not worried ma'am. I enjoy a good challenge and I'll take whatever you give me to do." The twitch in her eye came back.
         "Before we go on, I'm going to tell you this once: Do not ever call me ma'am not Lieutenant. Ever. Those who work for me call me Cathy, and from here on out.that means you call me Cathy. Clear?" Now seeing why her eye twitched, he readily agreed to her request. After all, it wouldn't be wise to make his boss angry in the first day he thought. After he agreed she continued, "Now back to business. All of our experienced detectives have either retired this year or are tied up in some major cases involving some high ups in several gangs chain of command. But I've got a case for you, fortunately it appears to be a simple one of a robbery gone bad. You and another new detective, Keith Woodson, will be working together. Questions?" John sat and stared at her for a moment letting what she had just told him to sink in before he asked anything.
         "Just one, where can I get the information on the case, so that I know where to go?"
         "Call dispatch and they'll tell you where you need to go. Now get going." Quickly rising out of his chair he left the office, muttering a quick "Have a good day." as he went through the door. Going to his desk he took his seat and collected his thoughts. What Cathy had said was still ringing in his ears. His first case and he was going to have to work with another rookie. John had known while working on the street that crime had gone up considerably, but he didn't realize that it was this bad. He wondered, if Minneapolis had these problems, what kind of problems could the the real big cities like New York or Chicago be having right now? It's been a proven fact, time and time again that as the economy of a country starts to sink, crime goes up, no matter how nice or peaceful the city or country. Now that the American economy was in full swing of a recession that was caused by the housing market slump a couple of years earlier, crime across the country was up. Budget cuts in government spending wasn't helping police departments either. For a while police departments around the country were going to have their hands full fighting more crime with less officers, and Minneapolis was no exception.
         Drawing a deep breath, he called the dispatcher on duty and wrote down the address where the murders had taken place. Gathering his coat and his .45 pistol, he went to go find Keith Woodson. He soon found him walking towards his desk coming from Cathy's office.
         "Keith Woodson? Hi, I'm John Polsk." John said in greeting as he extended his hand to his new partner and took a moment to size him up. Keith was shorter than him, and a little bigger around the middle, but had a youthful and cheerful face. He was one of those types of people who was always in a good mood and had one of those smiles that could disarm and charm the most hardened of criminals. Taking his hand, John was surprised to feel a very firm grip, which he readily returned.
         "Good to meet you John. Well it looks as though we'll be working together on this case here."
         "True. But at least it appears to be a simple one that shouldn't take to long to finish. Hopefully."
         "I agree. Do you know where the place is?" John nodded his head in confirmation. "Great. Well then, lets get a car and get over there." With that the two young detectives gathered their belongings and made their way to the front door.