As soon as Brady and I sat down, a door at the side of the stageopened and six people sauntered across the stage to take their seats. Four of the people were police administrators and two were civilians. I recognized the administrators from my department and the two civilians as a member of the Board of Supervisors and an appointee of the mayor’s.
This was my review board.
No one smiled or nodded hello as they took their seats. Having Jackson Brady next to me made this whole situation bearable. He wanted this over as quickly as I did. I suspected that he’d gotten less sleep than I had last night.
After a quick introduction and statements for the record, the deputy chief of Field Operations addressed me in a calm, professional tone. “Do you know why we’re gathered here, Sergeant Boxer?” He sounded like an FM radio announcer.
Even though I was exhausted, the question was a little confusing. They were the ones who’d called the meeting, not me. All I said was “Not exactly, sir.”
“All police shootings are reviewed by this board. We happened to be meeting today so we decided to talk to you immediately.”
I took a moment. I didn’t want to say anything rash. I said, “Not to be argumentative, sir, but this was not a police shooting. It was just a regular shooting. No police officers fired a shot.”
“But police were present, correct?”
“Yes, sir.”
“That’s close enough. We have some specific and serious questions about the entire incident in the Tenderloin last night.”
It wasn’t a question, so I didn’t say anything. There was an awkward silence. The committee looked at me and I looked at them.
“You invited a foreign national to come along on your investigation. Is that correct, Sergeant?” asked the commander of RiskManagement. Somehow she had an even smoother voice than the deputy chief of Field Operations. I was starting to wonder if the only thing you needed to climb the ladder in the SFPD was a really good voice.
This could be trouble.I kept my reply brief. “Yes, ma’am. That’s correct.”
“Who was unarmed. Correct?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I was caught off guard when Jackson Brady spoke up. “Do you think we should have armed him? Is that what you’re saying?”
It was hard for me to conceal the smile that wanted to spread across my face.
Brady’s question went unanswered. Now it was an administrator from the Investigations Bureau who asked me, “You’re assigned to Homicide, aren’t you, Sergeant Boxer?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Can you tell us why you were in an altercation with a low-level pimp in the Tenderloin while we have unsolved homicides across the city?”
This was too much for Brady. He stood up. “Cut that shit, Billy. Sergeant Boxer was there as part of an ongoing homicide investigation. She handled the incident last night perfectly. You know as well as I do that we can’t control other people’s actions. And there are a lot of handguns in the city.”
When everyone on the dais remained silent, I realized I was about to be cut loose. I wasn’t sure if I had any punishment coming my way.
Frankly, it was worth it to hear my boss beat up on administrators like this.
CHAPTER87
BEFORE LEAVING THEadministration building, I was informed that I was suspended with pay until further notice. It wasn’t a punishment. At least that’s what the review board had said.
This was standard procedure, but it didn’t mean I liked it. No cop does. But I was too exhausted to fight it or even care.
I went home and fell immediately into bed. Barely a half hour later, I got a call from the hospital. Alain Creasy was conscious and asking for me.
I was surprised how much better a nap in my own bed made me feel. After a shower and a change of clothes, I was able to walk into the hospital without looking like a zombie. It took only a few minutes to navigate my way back up to the private room where Alain Creasy was resting.
As I entered the bright room, I heard Alain speaking forcefully in French. He was on the phone, apparently arguing with someone. All I understood was “Oui, oui, mon chérie.” It clearly wasn’t a law enforcer he was speaking to.
I knocked on the door, and Alain soon put down the phone andshifted in the bed so he could see me better. Before I said anything, he nodded toward the phone and said, “I was trying to convince my daughter that I’m not seriously injured. I don’t want her to come all the way over here to the US. I’m not sure I was successful.”
