Tales of a Cop - Part 3

Corruption

He never wanted to be in the Police. It just happened. One day he was doing his studies like many other of his mates and the next he was being drafted. It was so quick that he never got a chance to protest. And even then he knew for sure that none of his protests would mean a thing. It would be like beating a wall and he did not want to get his hands all bloody.

After his recruit training he was sectioned into the Patrols. His duties ranged from manning the reception desk, answering the 119 phones, and some times going out in the jeeps to patrol the streets of Male’. He did his job even though he did not like it that much. He would show up at work on time, day in, day out. He was never sick and he never complained.

The Villis around Male’ were also part of his duties. Before he had gone to Girifushi he had been station in two of these for two months at a time. After his training the Villis were inducted into the Patrols’ duties so he would sometimes have to man the reception at one of those places.

He remembers one night when he was alone on duty, some of his colleagues had captured two boys allegedly breaking into a car. They were brought to the Villi instead of being taken to the Headquarters. That was all right. Sometimes it was easier to get a confession in a smaller place. One boy was taken inside while the other one stayed outside with him and another colleague. This colleague kept trying to make the boy confess even going so far as to threaten him with his walkie-talkie. The battery in this walkie-talkie was really heavy and if hit hard enough would leave a sizeable bruise. The colleague did not hit the boy that hard.

Another day two guys were brought in to another Villi. They had been caught smoking pot and had thrown away their stuff when they saw the cops. The cops tried to make them tell where they had thrown away the stuff. He saw one of his colleagues aim a kick at the groin area of one of the guys. He cried out and started screaming. The colleague put his hands on the guy’s mouth and told him to stop screaming before he hurt him further.

So many instances like this kept happening over the course of the years he remained in the Police. He did not like what was happening but he did not know what to do. In an island later on he was faced with a man who had helped his wife murder their unborn child… allegedly. He remembers nudging the man with his feet to make him feel uncomfortable. His superior put a stop to this and he was glad that he did. He was not sure how much far he might have gone that time. His superior had undergone special interrogative tactics abroad and frowned upon the use of force. He would much rather use his wits to get confessions.

When he was transferred to Administration, he was really glad. No more having to deal with people where he might have been tempted to use his fists. He was ecstatic when he finally left the Police altogether. He had escaped being corrupted… at least fully…