Jimmy's happy days soon arrived; Chief James had agreed to Cage's request. Jimmy, as a full-time support staff member, would be stationed at the police station and not participate in patrol duties.
There was no objection to this appointment within the department. Jimmy's exploits were no longer confined to rumors within the station; even the LRPD and State Police had heard whispers. Everyone was in Little Rock, and it was normal for news to travel among them since they ran into each other often.
However, not everyone knew Jimmy; what they knew was a nickname, "Butcher." As for this nickname spread by ADA Kaya, Jimmy had already given up resisting it. It was just like what Cage had said to him during their initial foray into shooting fish; for them, this nickname was not a bad thing.
With his transition to full-time support, Jimmy completely let loose. Equipped with a walkie-talkie, he would daze off in the police station, reading newspapers and books. On one hand, he got to learn more about various matters, and on the other, it was a form of self-improvement. He didn't have a high level of education – he was a high school student in his previous life, and in this one, a high school graduate. No matter how you looked at it, his education level was a bit low.
While he had some time, he also tried to contact community college to see if there were opportunities for further education.
Perhaps Chief James saw him idling away and lent a helping hand; eventually, he secured a night school spot for Jimmy. He would attend classes twice a week, and upon accruing enough credits, he could apply for graduation.
Jimmy felt it was strange – what exactly did Chief James see in him to be so good to him? He was certain that he was not James's illegitimate son; judging from his physical appearance and features, he was of pure Chinese descent, not of mixed race.
Jimmy was quite thick-skinned; he set aside things he couldn't figure out, knowing that one day everything would become clear.
The dispatch center notified him to respond to a call urgently. Someone had fired a gun in a residential building, the bullet piercing through the wall and hitting the neighbor's kitchen.
This was an LRPD case, but because it involved a shootout, the officers on the scene had requested backup. The dispatch center, for reasons unknown, deployed a small SWAT team, and also notified Jimmy's call sign.
When Jimmy arrived at the scene, he noticed the other officers were, well, safety first. There were 3 LRPD police cars on the scene, meaning at least 6 people, even though he did not see that many – probably upstairs or behind the building.
A SWAT armored vehicle had also arrived. However, all the police officers and SWAT team members were hiding around the corner of the building, with 2 officers stationed at the staircase leading to the second floor – that was the extent of the scene.
"Hey, bro, who's in charge here?" Jimmy casually stopped an officer. The officer was taken aback; everyone here was wearing black LRPD uniforms or bullet-proof vests from the SWAT team, and suddenly a county policeman appeared.
"That man, Sergeant Ted Holman."
"Thanks." Jimmy walked over to Sergeant Ted. "Sergeant Ted Holman? I'm Jimmy Yang from the Plaskey County Police Department. The dispatch center just notified me to come and provide support."
"Holy ****! This is a city case; why would they call you county guys for support?" Sergeant Ted was initially perplexed but didn't dwell on the question; the dispatch center's records could be checked later, not a major issue.
"Someone in apartment 202 upstairs reported the person in 203 shooting multiple times within their room, one of which pierced the wall and hit their kitchen. The individual in 203 has yet to come out, and the upstairs officers are currently communicating."
"OK, so what do you need me to do?"
"Just wait here for now. We'll handle it first."
Jimmy returned to the corner he had come from, standing with the SWAT team. Now was the City Police's time to act; they needed to communicate and persuade the suspect to surrender his weapon and come out. If anything unexpected happened, they would deal with it accordingly.
After a few minutes, Jimmy heard two gunshots. The officers around the stairwell corner quickly retreated.
The suspect had fired two shots at the door. The staircase officers thought the shots were aimed at them and took several steps back.
"Shield." The upstairs officers obtained a bullet-proof shield passed up by their colleagues below. A three-officer team formed a line and approached apartment 203; the front officer held the shield in his left hand and a pistol in his right, leading the way. The person in the middle carried a pistol, while the last officer was equipped with an M16 rifle.
As the shield passed the door of apartment 202, the middle officer knocked, asking the person inside to come out and proceed downstairs with the cover of the shield. They continued forward, reaching the side of room 203 and calling out to the person inside.
This was Jimmy's first time seeing the City Police conduct such an operation; he watched as if it were a movie. Although it took time, the constant calling out with no response from inside the room was quite boring.
"We need a battering ram!" The upstairs officers called down, and then two more officers came up, one with both hands on the battering ram and the other holding a shield in one hand. They moved past the initial three officers to the other side of 203, and at a command, the door was busted open in two strikes.
The three-officer team still in a single-file line reached the entrance, with the shield-bearer first checking the situation inside before they all entered.
"Bang, bang, bang," several shots were fired. Judging by the sound, it was clear the person inside had also shot at the officers.
"Clear!" Following the shout from the officers upstairs, the others began to ascend as well.
For Jimmy, this support mission consisted of nothing but watching a play unfold; he didn't do a thing. He found Sergeant Ted, bid farewell, and drove back to the police station.
Once back at the station, Jimmy immediately picked up the phone to contact the dispatch center; he needed to clarify what had just happened.
After communicating with them, Jimmy felt somewhat speechless.
The county and city police shared the same 911 dispatch center. Jimmy's role in the dispatch system had shifted from a Patrol Officer to member of the Support Team, but they had forgotten to mark him as a county Support Team member, causing the City Police to be notified of him alongside SWAT when calling for support.
Thankfully, it wasn't a big issue, something that could be simply adjusted. Jimmy sighed in relief. Compared to the relative calm of the county police, the City Police deal with idiots causing trouble every day. If he were really to be integrated into the City Police's support routine, he would never get a break; SWAT had several teams that could take turns, but he was just one man.
A minor mix-up, dealt with no problem – Jimmy continued his monotonous wait.
It was already August, and the hearing Chief James had attended for the police light update was long over. Zhuoyue Lighting had received their first order and was optimizing the design before mounting the lights on the vehicles.
For Jimmy, this was a minor matter, yet it was his first business deal after receiving authorization. The initial agreement included a small authorization fee and a sales commission for the lights. Once Zhuoyue Lighting's police light series hit its stride, he expected the quarterly settlement wouldn't be insignificant; his days were getting better.