Teresa's Christmas Miracle Ch. 01

Bettina: "Now let's go to reporter Pat Stellum with two special guests. Pat!"

"That's right, Bettina!" said the corpulent reporter, standing on the University Campus with the Clock Tower in his background, and giving trenchcoats and Dick Tracy hats a bad name by wearing them in public. "I'm with highly esteemed Professor of Political Science Lionel Carmela, and we are fortunate to be joined by former Superior Court Judge Harry R. Nance."

As the camera panned out to show the filthy, odious Carmela in his black 'Hillary Clinton' socialist pantsuit and eye patch over his gouged-out left eye, and the haggard, hatred-filled face of Nance, wearing a dark suit and tie. Stellum said "Gentlemen, thank you for joining us today. Judge Nance, was Judge Watts and Chief Justice Johnson correct in their ruling?"

"Hell no!" exploded Harry Nance, his face reddening with fury. "Allowing a filthy Christian event on Government lands is an egregious violation of the Constitution! That filthy Christian event is illegal!"

Stellum: "But Judge, it's for a good cause, for the Croyle Foundation and the Cancer Children."

"To hell with those deplorables!" Nance yelled, his voice ragged with hatred. "The Constitution forbids filthy Christians from spewing their filth on Government property! And that's all that matters!"

Stellum said "Dr. Carmela, you joined Dr. Moore in supporting the Social Justice groups's valiant effort to shut down the concert. What do you think of the ruling, and of Dr. Moore's reasons for not having the Campus Police, State Patrol, and National Guard come in and shut it down by force?"

Carmela said "The ruling is offensive. When biased, far-right-wing judges twist the Constitution to support their abhorrent, racist policies, we have to take matters into our own hands. We must raise our voices in protest against being forced to endure 
Christian filth! And that is what we are going to do!"

Carmela: "As to Dr. Moore, he is indeed limited in what he can do, especially with the White Nationalist Governor using her Government position and power to force filthy Christian dogma down our throats. We may can't stop the concert this year, but I'll be working closely with Dr. Moore, Social Justice groups, and the best legal minds in the Nation to prevent this concert from being allowed ever again!"

"Thank you for your time, gentlemen." Stellum said. He then grinned at the camera as he said "Back to you, Bettina!"

As the feed returned to her, Bettina shouted "Thank you Pat! And our thanks to Dr. Carmela and Judge Nance for giving us a few moments of their time. In other news, the Police Union has filed a grievance against Commander Donald Troy and the Police Force, for ordering Lieutenant Mary Milton to report for duty on Friday, December 3rd, even though she is on maternity leave and will be until the New Year!"

Bettina: "The Union is demanding the TCPD enter into binding arbitration with the Federal Government to resolve this important dispute. And as usual, Commander Donald Troy has not responded to repeated requests for comment by KXTC Channel Two News..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Are you frickin' kidding me?" Lt. Commander Teresa Croyle said as she, Sheriff Griswold, Your Iron Crowbar, Chief Moynahan, Chief Deputy Cindy Ross, and Deputy Chief Tanya P. Muscone drank coffee and watched the Bettina Broadcast in the Chief's Conference Room. "Mary Milton was inducted into the Orange Order, and the Union is grieving it? Really?"

"Yep." growled Sheriff Griswold. "They filed it at the last minute on Friday, so we won't get the official notification until today. But the Press somehow already knows about it."

"She didn't even go on duty!" Teresa said with exasperation. "And she wasn't ordered to come into work. And in the past, Commander Troy made it clear to Captain Michaels and myself that Mary could not be asked to do work at home, much less come in, while she was on maternity leave, lest the Union complain." (Author's note: 'Scavenger Hunt', Ch. 02.)

"And she didn't do any work while she was here on Orange Order Day." said Cindy. "Unless showing off baby Marty is considered 'work' by the Police Union."

"Desperate for new members, the Union is." I said in my best Jedi Master Yoda voice. Then I got serious and said "But because we knew Mary had been elected into the Orange Order, I know she was 'invited' to be present for the reveal. And that may be what the Union is going to whine about."

I continued: "But it doesn't matter. Bettina gave away the real purpose and intent of the grievance... they demanded Federal arbitration. They're trying to create a reason for the TCPD to be required to submit to the current Federal regime, as a precursor to attempting to force a Consent Decree upon the TCPD."

"And the Press is doootifully helping the Yoon-yun with the effort." Chief Moynahan said.

"It's the other way around, Chief." I replied. "I suspect it's the Union helping the rabidly biased, dishonest, and corrupt Media, and that the Media is leading the Union by the nose on this... and that the Media is helping the corrupt Derrick B. Harland's corrupt DOJ, working hand-in-glove with them to destroy us. Anyhoo, the grievance should be easily beaten back, if they seriously pursue it at all."

"We still have to take the time and effort to deal with it, though." said Teresa. "And if it's not that, they'll find some other bullshit way to harass us. It's never-ending with those bastards."

"The Media, or the Federal Government?" Cindy asked.

"Yes!" said Sheriff Griswold and me simultaneously.

"Jinx on both of yoooo." drawled the Chief. "And speak-ing of 'never-ennnn-dingggg', what botherrrrs me is that threat Carmela made, to disrupt the Christmas Concert. So we're going to have to deploy Officers to stop the threats, and they can't just enjoy the concert?"

Tanya added "And how can that fat bastard just go on TV and make a terroristic threat like that? Can we swear out a warrant for his arrest? Or maybe I can get Jack to do it at the Federal level?"

"We can try." I said. "But Leftists can do that all they want, and they get away with it... as well as calling Judges and Justices biased and corrupt if their rulings don't go the Left's way. But if a Conservative said what Carmela said, he or she would be in prison and charged with insurrection against (air quotes) 'Our Democracy' before noon."

Me: "Having said that, if there are any disruptions at all, I will get a warrant and arrest Carmela for making those threats in the first place, and say he incited to riot."

Sheriff Griswold said "I personally think he said that and the Press ran with it to make us have to react, to force us to put Officers on duty and spend more of the taxpayers dollars than we normally would. But we can't take the chance. I'll get with the State Patrol, and coordinate additional security."

"At least the lawsuit was dismissed." Cindy said.

I replied: "But that's only because the Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court uncharacteristically got involved, and got involved very quickly. And he was called biased and corrupt by the Media for doing the right thing. Like you said, Teresa, with the Left it's neverending... never, ever ending..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

After my Angels and I watched the KFXU broadcast at 8:00am, we began the Angels Meeting.

"I have something new." Teresa said. "Lieutenants Parker and Washington want to swap teams. If you approve, Teddy would have Julia Rodriguez and Roark Coleman, and Theo will have Joan Laurer and Kerri Ambrose."

"Like Carole always asked when she was two.. whyyyyy?" I asked in reply.

Teresa said "They didn't give any real reasons to Captain Michaels when they asked her for permission, just some boilerplate that it would make for better teams. Claire said she'd run it by me and by you, then come back with an answer. It's not my call to make, but I'm good with it if you are."

"I'll call Teddy and Theo in after this meeting and ask them what it's about." I replied. "In the meantime, I have something to ask you about. As you know, before and after the coffee klatch I look at the various logs: the citations issued, 9-1-1 calls, the Police radio call-in logs, the Duty Desk logs. If something catches my eye, I might look further into it, such as bringing up digitally stored dashcam footage and Officer-cam footage."

Me: "On Saturday night, actually about 12:30 Sunday morning, a radio call came in about a car speeding on the Bypass, going 85 miles per hour in the 45mph zone where the Bypass merges into the Hammondsville Highway in the northwest corner of Town. Five minutes later a request to run a car tag was logged, and the tag came back to an SUV belonging to the University's Athletic Department. The Officer then called in that he had stopped the vehicle for speeding, was making a 'high risk' stop, and requested backup."

A high-risk stop was one where the driver of the suspect vehicle and any passengers would be ordered to exit the vehicle, and the Police would have guns drawn if not aimed at the suspects. Officers initiating the high risk stop were expected to wait in their vehicle for backup to arrive, and be prepared to give chase should the suspect vehicle suddenly take off and attempt to elude the Police.

I continued: "The Officer was Patrolman Ragnar Magnussen. He's a rookie, but he started with us last February, so he's been here almost a year. And he's done a good job, as far as I can tell. The next Officer to arrive at the scene was Patrolman Ron McElwane. He called in and said the high risk stop was canceled, and that the matter was handled."

Me: "Any time I see McElwane's name, it gets my hackles up. So I tried to look into it. Magnussen activated his Officer-cam and it was transmitting. But now I cannot find the video file. The citation, which was entered as a warning, was also pulled. And it's not part of the official duty log entries they put together to give to the Chief, Sheriff, me, and the Press. So I want you to begin checking on that. Tanya, I'm going to pull Myron Milton into it to help Teresa, so consider your lane strayed into."

Tanya and Teresa both nodded. Teresa asked "Is this something Internal Affairs should begin looking into, as well?"

I said "Let's find out what's going on, first. If you find something that merits their attention, by all means have I.A. brought into it. I would suggest that you first have Lieutenant Davis or Senior Sergeant McGhillie make inquiries for you. And I know you're busy with last-minute stuff for the Christmas Concert, so definitely delegate on this."

"Wilco, sir." Teresa said. "Let me go start that up now." I nodded and she got up and left the office.

Tanya said "Where does she find the time to do everything she does around here -and- put the Christmas Concert together?"

I said "Her direct boss allows her to go and do what she needs to do for the Concert during the Christmas season, as long as she keeps her direct boss informed of her whereabouts at all times. And thank God for the Christmas Concert! If it weren't for that, she'd be on Desk Duty for the Christmas season, and dwelling on bad memories."

"Those haven't gone completely away, you know." Cindy said.

I nodded. "But as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote, 'work is the best antidote to sorrow'." (Author's note: 'The Empty House') "And Teresa does a heckuva lot of work putting that Concert together."

Tanya said "And I'm worried about the Concert, especially in the future. Dr. Jerry Moore really doesn't give a flip about the Concert, which is one reason he's not pushing to unilaterally shut it down. However, his wife Celeste is virulently anti-Christian and anti-Christmas, and it's really her teaming up with Carmela on a lot of the radical political shit he's been spewing. I'm afraid she's going to force Dr. Moore to bring his full power as University President against the Concert, and stop it in the future, if not this year."

Now how does she know all that? I thought to myself. I put that into its own compartment of the mind for the moment.

"Let not your heart be troubled." I said in the form of a quotation. "There's a lot of stuff going on with that University... a lahhhht of stuff... but things will work themselves out. Okay, let me get to work on my Detectives's swapping teams..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Captain of Detectives Claire Micheals was invited into my office, and availed herself of my offer of coffee. As she sat down in the near-side hot chair, I said "So Lieutenants Parker and Washington want to swap teams. You good with that?"

"I have no objections." Claire said. "I told them I'd have to run it up the chain first, since you made the assignments. I asked Commander Croyle about it, and she had no objections, at least none she expressed to me."

I nodded, then said "Did they say why they wanted to do this? To swap teams?"

"No sir." Claire said. "I did ask, and they said the teams were working well together, Rodriguez with Roark and Laurer with Ambrose, but that swapping the leaders would lead to even better teams. And I agree in that Washington is more experienced and would be a better teaching influence on Ambrose in that regard. That's not a complaint about Parker, of course. Just my observation."

"Yeah, I can see that reasoning." I said diplomatically. "Okay, I'll likely approve it, and I'll definitely take action on it by COB today, if not by lunchtime. I'm going to egregiously stray into your lane and talk to Theo and Teddy first, though. Just them and me..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Lieutenants Teddy Parker and Theo Washington reported to my office with coffee mugs, as instructed. Theo's was full of coffee made in MCD, while Parker availed himself of coffee from the coffeepot in my office. Theo sat down in the far-side hot chair, and Teddy in the near-side hot chair.

I took my badge off my shirt and held it up as I said "Take 'em off and put 'em on the table, gentlemen. Speak frankly and openly, and nothing said during this conversation is ever to be spoken of outside this room. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir." they both said as they put their badges on my desk.

"What this is about, is swapping out your teams." I said. "I've heard the official reasons and the polite mouthings about why you want to do this, and I don't want to waste your time nor mine. What I need to know... are the real reasons you want to do this."

Teddy and Theo looked at each other a moment, then Theo nodded and started us off, saying "Sir, as you know, Joanne Warner and I were partners for a long time. Years. And we were, and still are, very good friends away from work. We and our spouses often go out to dinner together, or have dinner at each other's houses."

He then looked at Teddy, who took it up: "Sir, I generally get along with everyone in MCD. But I'm not nearly as close to Joanne as Theo is. I could say something humorous about this Ole Miss grad not liking arrogant Alabama fans, but I don't think you want to hear that right now, and in all seriousness I have a good relationship with Joanne."

Teddy Parker: "Julia Rodriguez and Roark Coleman are on Theo's team. I know Roark is not particularly well-liked, especially by Captain Michaels and Joanne. But Julia gets along with Roark very well, a lot better than anyone else in the room. And she came to me about what she believes is a problem."

Teddy: "She said that she thinks Joanne is working to get Roark out, either fired or out of MCD. Julia also said that she didn't feel she could go to her direct supervisor, that being Theo, because of his close relationship with Joanne. And Julia said she definitely could not go to Captain Michaels, and that going to you would be going over the Captain's head, which Julia was not comfortable with, and also knows it'll get her fucked over in the future, pardon my language, sir." I nodded.

Theo: "And Rodriguez is not totally wrong about some of it. Joanne has been trying to persuade me to find a way to jack up Roark so that she and Captain Michaels can get rid of him. And when I tell her Roark is doing his job, and pretty well, and that I'm not comfortable with doing anything to him that's not justified... well, it's putting a strain on my and Joanne's personal relationship."

I said "And you think swapping teams will solve these problems?"

Theo said "It won't make Joanne like Roark any better, but it'll get Joanne and Captain Michaels off my back. And if Joanne says anything to Teddy, he'll just say 'Kick-Six' or 'Hotty Toddy' or something equally inappropriate. And Janice Holloway is a Captain, and she can jack up Captain Michaels if Captain Michaels gives Teddy any shit."

"Oh, you don't need her for that." I said. "Just come to me. Speaking off the record, I am verrry good at the jacking-up-bad-Captains game. Only the Chief and Sheriff are better at it. Anyhoo, I appreciate you telling me this information, and again, let's make sure this conversation does not leave this room. I also agree with your solution; indeed, I should've done it that way in the first place, truth be told."

I put my badge back on my uniform shirt, and Teddy and Theo did likewise. I called Captain Michaels and told her to come to MCD, then said "Okay, let's go tell everyone the good news."

I led the way into MCD via the back hall doorway, and saw that all the Detectives and their leadership were at their desks, getting year-end paperwork done. When Claire came in through the side hall door, I said "Okay, everyone, listen up!"

Once I had all eyes on me, I said "We're making a small change in the teams. Rodriguez and Coleman, you are now part of Team Teddy; Parker is your Team Leader and supervisor. Ambrose and Laurer, you are now with Lieutenant Washington. If there are any objections, speak now or forever hold your peace."

There were no objections; indeed, everyone seemed happy with the announcement and the change, especially Roark Coleman... and somewhat to my surprise, I sensed Kerry Ambrose was happy about it, as well.

"Okay, anyone have any questions for me? About anything?"

Julia Rodriguez said "I do, sir. Are the rumors true that you're getting promoted?"

My voice connoted the surprise I felt as I said "Promoted to what? Did the Chief retire or something?"

Julia said "I phrased that badly, sir. There are rumors swirling that there is going to be a restructuring in the Public Safety Department, the Chiefs will get three stars, you'll have two stars, and so on."

I nodded and said "There arrrrre... discussions going on. Not really any promotions, but clarifications of what we have now, especially at the upper levels. And I think the Sheriff's Department itself will have the most (air quotes) 'restructuring', after the incidents at those Council meetings." (Author's note: 'No Show')

"Sir," said Captain Claire Michaels, "is it true that the drug testing is going to be consolidated within the Public Safety Department, instead of the Police Force, Fire Department, et cetera, doing their own?"

I said "That is also being discussed, as a cost-cutting move. But that won't fundamentally change anything. We will still pee the same way into the same size cups..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

2:30pm, Monday, December 20th. Lt. Commander Teresa Croyle came to my office. After she got some coffee and sat down, she said "As Alison McFarland's podcasts say, 'here's what we know'. I talked to Myron Milton, and we looked up the data on the incident."

Teresa: "Officer Ragnar Magnussen did turn on his Officer-cam when he initiated the pursuit of the speeding vehicle. The video still exists, but was put behind a seal. The radio conversations were recorded and are on file, but under seal. A citation, which was a warning, was issued... and was subsequently pulled, and put under seal."