Killing Frank Barnes

by Ruth DuCharme

  “Ok let’s get this line up out of the way.” Sgt. O’Connell read off the officer’s assignments for the shift.

  “Officer Rhodes. Two Lincoln One.”

  “Car one” Rhodes replied

  “Officer Ramos. Two Lincoln Two.”

  “Car two, Sarge.”

  “Officer Dorsey. Two Lincoln Three.”

  “Car seventy-three. Three is at the barn for maintenance,” replied Spiderman

  “Officer Camden. Two Lincoln Four.”

  “Car four,” he replied

  “Officer Smith. Two Lincoln Five. Beat Five.”

  “Car five.”

  “Officer Noble with Training Officer Dekker. Two Lincoln Six”

  “Car six,” said Dekker

  “Officer Summers. Two Lincoln seven.”

  “Car seven.”

  “Officer Patterson. Two Lincoln Eight.”

  “Car eight.”

  “Officer Jackson. Two Lincoln Nine”

  “Car ninety.”

  Sgt. O’Connell raised an eyebrow.

  “I gotta take that SUV Sarge. I’m tired of banging my knees on the steering wheel of that old Crown Vic.”

  “Ok, just bring it back spotless. You know how Officer Stein gets when someone drives it. I’m sick of hearing him whine about an empty gas tank in the mornings.”

  Jackson smiled slyly. “Of course, Sarge. You know me. I wouldn’t dream of irritating fine Officer Stein.”

  Sgt. O’Connell rolled his eyes and said, “Ok let’s hit it.”

  The room broke and all the officers got up and began making their way to the cars in the north parking lot. Lizzie stood as Dekker approached her. Lizzie had heard the name Dekker bandied about in the gossip at the academy. She hadn’t gotten many details but was left with the impression Dekker had been demoted because someone died under his watch. She wondered who her training officer would be and now she felt a little deflated to realize she had gotten the flunky. Lizzie just hoped this didn’t automatically make her a flunky as well.

  Chapter Thirteen

  As the room broke, Ofc. Dekker approached Lizzie and stuck out his hand, “Names Dekker”

  “Nice to meet you, Officer Dekker. Lizzie” she replied taking his hand and shaking it firmly.

  “Call me Dekker.”

  “No, sir, I couldn’t do that it would feel disrespectful.”

  “Fair enough. I’m not a big believer in babying my rookies so we are just going to jump right in, ok?”

  “Yes, sir”

  “Got all your stuff?”

  “Yes, sir, and I’ve already checked out our car and loaded it up.”

  “Did you check a shotgun out of the armory?”

  “Yes, sir” Lizzie replied as she grabbed her duty bag and followed Ofc. Dekker outside.

  They stopped at the trunk of the car and Ofc Dekker turned to face her, “The first thing I want you to do is take everything back out of the car, then let’s talk.”

  Lizzie was stunned. She reached in through the open passenger door. She retrieved the shotgun she had loaded only a half hour earlier. “Did I do something wrong?” Lizzies face burned with embarrassment.

  “Ofc. Noble, the first thing you need to do before you load a single thing into your car is to perform an inspection of that car.”

  Lizzie followed Dekker as he walked around the patrol vehicle. “You need to walk around the car and look for any damage. Those graveyard guys tend to bump into stuff in the dark so there may be dings that need reporting. You don’t want one of them saying it was all pretty before you drove it and then hold you responsible for their damage.”

  “Yes, sir.” Lizzie hadn’t even considered this

  “Next, you will inspect and search the interior. Look for weapons or drugs, especially in any areas that are hard to get to.”

  “Like where?”

  “Under the backseat, in the headrest of the front passenger side, in between the cage and the wall that separates the drivers area from the backseat, the seatbelt buckle, anywhere a three year old might be able to hide something. You have a kid right? Doesn’t your kid do stuff like that?”

  Clearly Ofc. Dekker knew a little about her as well. Lizzie laughed, “Yes. One time my son shoved a brussel sprout into the seatbelt cover and it rotted. Took me forever to figure out what the smell was. It reeked for weeks.”

  “Exactly. Sometimes, when officers make arrests, they don’t search the suspects well enough and the bad guy dumps their drugs or weapons in transit. They don’t get the charge if the officer doesn’t find it. All officers, including you, will check the car before each prisoner gets in and after each prisoner gets out of the car. You will also search each prisoner before you put him or her in the car as well as searching them once again when you get them out.”

  “Why search them when they get out if I already searched them when they got in?”

  “Let’s say you searched the car but failed to find a weapon stashed? All the bumps and potholes you’ve hit on the way back to the station may knock loose a gun stuck up under the seat. Now your prisoner has a weapon and can use it against you. Sounds far-fetched I know but it’s happened before. So we are going to be as detailed and careful as possible, ok? Your safety, and mine, is most important. Not only do I want you to go home in one piece at the end of your shift, I would like to as well. Do you understand?”

  “Got it. Safety first.”

  “Ok, load it back up. Stuff your gear bag in the trunk and give me the keys. Your riding shotgun for the first few shifts.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Dekker drove out of the parking lot and made a left onto Barnard street. After a brief pause at the red light he turned the car northbound onto 23rd street. Dekker remained silent and Lizzie didn’t dare fill the void. Nervous but excited, this was her first time in a real patrol car and she felt like she was seeing the world through a new set of eyes. Dekker continued through the next green light as Lizzie quietly looked out her window at the people busily trying to get home after work. She tried to take it all in but she couldn’t help feel a little overwhelmed by it all.

  Dekker broke the silence. “Did you see that?”

  “What?”

  “Did you notice anything at that last intersection?”

  “You mean the guy in the red car, bopping his head to the music?”

  “Why did that stand out to you?”

  “I’m not really sure why he caught my eye. He was awfully animated. He’s white and doesn’t seem to fit in the neighborhood.”

  “Because he’s white, he doesn’t fit in?”

  Lizzie’s face flushed with embarrassment. “Well, I guess not. I…uh…I wasn’t meaning to be racist it’s just that he was the one who stood out. Was that wrong?”

  “That red car, it’s stolen.” Dekker made a quick U-turn, and stepping hard on the gas, raced back to the area he had seen the car.

  They reached the intersection where Lizzie had seen the red car and its bouncy driver but it was nowhere in sight. Dekker made a westbound turn and then north again on the next block. He drove slower this time and on instinct Lizzie searched the landscape of traffic for the red car.

  “Over there!” Lizzie shouted, as she pointed to a red car parked on the side of the road.

  “Is that the car you saw?”

  “Yes! And there, there’s the guy who was driving it.” Lizzie could see the white male now hurrying up the sidewalk in an attempt to put distance between himself and the car.

  “Is that the driver?”

  “Yes! Yes that’s him! That’s him I recognize him”

  They pulled up next to the car and Dekker picked up the radio mic, “2L6, 11-95 on license plate One Sam Ocean Lincoln Five Four Six – 1SOL546.”

  Lizzie barely waited for Dekker to stop the car before she leaped out and ran up the sidewalk after the driver.

  The radio crackled in response “2L6 is it occupied?”

  Dekker cursed under his breath as he
jammed his foot down on the gas and raced up behind Lizzie. “No. The driver just parked it and we are on foot in the 600 block of 22nd street. Looks like he’s headed northbound on the east curb line.”

  Lizzie ran up the sidewalk towards the suspected car thief. “Stop! Police!”

  The man continued walking but not fast enough to get away and Lizzie was able to reach out and grab him. “I said stop!” she growled as she twisted the man’s hand behind his back and encased his wrists in handcuffs.

  He didn’t struggle. “I wasn’t doing nothing! What do you want? I didn’t do nothing!”

  Her heart raced from the adrenaline boost. Lizzie advised her prisoner, “You’re being detained under suspicion of driving a stolen vehicle.” As she finished double locking the handcuffs and checking to make sure they were tight enough, she heard a car approaching at a high rate of speed.

  Lizzie looked up to see Dekker bringing their patrol car to a quick halt in the middle of the street, forcing traffic to go around him. The cars overhead lights went on and Lizzie could see that Dekker did not look happy. A swath of red and blue lights wash over his approaching frame.

  When Dekker reached Lizzie he said, “Lets put him in the back of the car.”

  Lizzie walked the man to the back of her car and began to search him. “Do you have anything in your pockets that will poke me or stick me? Spread your legs. Wider. Wider!” she repeated as she kicked his ankles out. She searched all of the man’s pockets finding a set of keys, a wallet with nothing in it and a lighter.

  Dekker watched Lizzie in silence as she ran through the procedure. “Ok now go make sure you search the backseat before you put him in it.”

  “But I searched it before we left.”

  “Yes, I’m aware. Do it anyway.”

  Lizzie searched the backseat. Finding nothing, she helped the suspect into the caged back seat.

  Dekker keyed the radio mic again, “2L6 we are code four with one in custody. Start me another unit and a tow.”

  Officer Camden pulled up within seconds. He must have been close because the dispatcher barely had time to say “I copy” before Camden announced he was on scene.

  Camden pulled alongside Dekker and rolled his widow down. “Rook made an arrest out the gate, huh?”

  “Yeah she has a good eye. Can you do the tow sheet for us? We want to get back and book this guy and I don’t want her to have too much to do just yet.”

  “Sure no problem.” Camden looked at Lizzie, “You owe me rook.”

  “Yes, sir, thank you for helping” Lizzie said to the back of Camden’s car as he drove back to where the stolen car had been parked.

  “You don’t need to thank him for helping you,” said Dekker. “That’s his job. When a complicated call goes down, you have a lot of jobs to do. When another cop shows up you need to delegate tasks or we would be here all damn day. These guys expect it to happen. Trust me, if this was Camden’s call, he would give you all kinds of stuff to do. We work as a team and everyone has a part to play. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been here, you know you gotta do work.”

  Lizzie climbed into the passenger seat and Dekker took his place behind the wheel. “Now let’s talk about this guy. When we get to the station you can Mirandize him and we will go from there.”

  The prisoner leaned in close to the cage separating the front and back seats. “Hey man, I wasn’t doing nothing!”

  “My name is Officer Dekker not ‘man’.”

  “Well excuuuuuse me Officer so and so….I didn’t do nothing!”

  Dekker took a deep breath. “What’s your name?”

  “Michael S. Turner! That’s my name!”

  “Ok, Michael S. Turner. Do me a favor and shut up.”

  Dekker glanced at Lizzie from the corner of his eye “Once more, you saw him as the driver?”

  “Yes, I did.”

  “No you didn’t I wasn’t in no car, lady”

  Lizzie half turned in her seat to look at the man behind the screen “I saw you driving that car.”

  “Prove it, lady.”

  “Call her officer or ma’am, not lady. Let’s have some respect shall we?”

  Michael hissed through his teeth. “Pssh, whatever.” He sat back against the plastic seat with a thump.

  Dekker ignored Michael and said, “Lizzie, I need you to understand how important it is that you can say this guy is the one you saw driving that car. Possession is the key to a successful stolen vehicle prosecution and conviction.”

  “I understand.”

  “And don’t ever just jump out of the car like that again. You did good catching the guy but your still a rook and I’m responsible for you. You go nowhere without me unless I say so, ok?”

  Lizzie was disappointed. “Yes, sir.” She thought Dekker would praise her not scold her. She had gotten an arrest on her first shift and she was excited and proud.

  Dekker appeared deep in thought while Michael sat in the back humming to himself. Lizzie tried not to sulk as Dekker drove the four blocks back to the Hall of Justice.

  Chapter Fifteen

  They reached the station and Dekker pulled the car under the sally port overhang. Lizzie opened the back door and helped Michael out of the backseat. Dekker unlocked the intake door and held it open for her. Taking the elevator up to the jail, Lizzie escorted Michael by the arm to the front of a holding cell.

  A man in a light blue jailer uniform came from behind a large gray concrete counter and greeted them with a friendly grin. Snapping on a pair of fresh latex gloves, he smiled, “Hey Dekker.”

  “Hey Charles, how’s it hanging?”

  “Oh you know, always good in the hood for me,” he laughed. “What did you bring me?”

  “A little 10851 is all.”

  Michael pleaded with Charles, “Man, I keep telling them, I didn’t steal no car!”

  Dekker rolled his eyes in feigned exasperation. With a little shuffle step, Charles swung open the holding cell door and bowed with an exaggerated flourish. “Welcome to your room for the night!”

  Lizzie walked Michael into the cell and after searching him one last time she removed the handcuffs.

  Dekker joined Lizzie in the cell and told Michael to sit down on the wooden bench against the wall.

  “Take off your shoes,” Dekker commanded. “Turn them upside down and bang them together.”

  Lizzie watched as Dekker took the shoes from Michael. He inspected them inside and out. Dekker ran his hands along the tongue of both shoes and probed the soles.

  “Now take the laces out and put them in this bag.” Dekker took a plastic bag from Charles and held it out towards Michael. Michael did what Dekker told him to do.

  “Now your socks. Take them off and turn them inside out.” Dekker examined the smelly socks. “Ok, nothing in them. Good. You can put them back on and your shoes as well. Stand up. Turn your pockets inside out.”

  Dekker, satisfied that Michael wasn’t hiding any contraband handed the plastic bag to Lizzie. “Let’s take our friend Michael here, over to the fingerprint machine.”

  Lizzie watched in fascination as Charles scanned each of Michaels fingers into a computer. The scanner resembled a copy machine and made quick work of what used to be a laborious chore. Charles made quick work of the process and lead Lizzie, Dekker and the prisoner into a back hallway. Lined by three metal doors, the hallway was cold and drab.

  “In you go, sir,” Charles said as he motioned for Michael to enter. Charles took the plastic bag of Michael’s property from Lizzie and shut the cell door with a clang.

  “Hey! When can I get something to eat?” Michaels yelled.

  Lizzie and Dekker return to the front desk. Dekker handed Lizzie a stack of forms, “We need to fill these out. These are booking forms and property receipts for the items we removed from our prisoner.”

  Suddenly the elevator dinged and the door opened. A scrawny man in handcuffs flew through the opening and skid to a halt on the floor at Lizzie’s feet.


  “Hey man that’s not necessary,” the man whined as he looked back toward the elevator.

  Werner’s hulking frame strode out into the open. “Yeah and the dope wasn’t yours either right?”

  The man on the ground looked up and noticed Dekker. “Boss man! Hey boss, tell this guy to quit harassing me, man.”

  “Take it easy Werner,” Dekker said. Dekker helped the cuffed man to his feet.

  “Yeah, listen to the Sarge.”

  Werner smirked. “He ain’t the Sarge no more. Haven’t you heard?”

  “What? Why? What happened boss?”

  “He’s as crooked as you are. He’s probably your running buddy isn’t he? You two do dirt together don’t you?”

  “Screw you, man. I know you guys and if I had to pick out the crooked one it sure wouldn’t be the boss. Besides you’re the one who…”

  Werner’s fist flew out of nowhere and connected hard with the mans mouth.

  “Shut up! No one wants to hear your lies.”

  Lizzie jumped.

  Werner looked at her “Got something to say rook? He was resisting. Don’t you know verbal resistance is the precursor to physical resistance?”

  Before Lizzie could respond Dekker grabbed her by her arm and led her back to the elevator doors. “We’re done here. Let’s head out.”

  Lizzie wasn’t sure what to say or even if she should say anything at all. She certainly hadn’t expected to see the prisoner assaulted and she was fuming inside. She snuck a look at Dekker as the elevator doors opened to the sally port doorway.

  Dekker walked outside and opened the car door without one word. Lizzie silently slid into the passenger seat. As they drove back out into the city Lizzie could see Dekker was angry.

  Lizzie attempted to lighten the mood. “That was really cool how you knew that guy was driving a stolen car. I can’t wait until I’ve been here long enough to recognize stuff like that just by looking at it. You are really good at your job!”

  Dekker snorted in derision, “Yeah well get over it rookie. I worked vice. I know that guy. I also know he doesn’t have a driver license and is good for stolen cars. Special powers had nothing to do with it”