Chapter 1244: Roaming Free, and Visitors

Dustin added, “Besides, now that we have monsters causing trouble, if Brad really becomes commissioner, he’ll have to come up with precautions against it.”

Luke was stumped. “Precautions?”

Could it be that this commissioner had military power which targeted the supernatural? This wasn’t something that an ordinary bigshot could have.

“First, stress what a tragedy this was over and over again. Sooner or later, people will come to the conclusion that it’s not that NYPD is incompetent, but that the opponent is too strong. Then, if this happens again in the future, do you think Brad will also take the blame? If the next commissioner steps up, the same thing happens, and he steps down, then what?” Dustin smiled.

After pausing for a moment, he continued, “The term for a commissioner is five years old. If the person in office is switched out twice within five years, then it’ll turn into a situation where anything goes. Brad just needs to instill this idea in the people of New York, so that he won’t get too much of the blame.”

Luke could only nod in understanding.

Dustin knew that Luke wasn’t interested in things like these, so he used the simplest way to describe the matter.

The actual situation was definitely much more complicated than he was making it out to be, but Luke just needed to know the key points.

This schoolkid explanation was specifically for Luke.

After all, Luke didn’t care about this matter. If Dustin didn’t explain it, this guy might just give an “oh” and leave it at that.

Thankfully, this guy was also very reliable. As long as Dustin said it once, he didn’t have to worry about Luke messing around in the future.

As for Detective John, he was younger than Dustin and had less than a fifth of Luke’s hair, but he refused to listen, and offended many people.

Thankfully, John had strong enough connections himself, and Dustin didn’t have to deal with all the pressure if someone else wanted to mess with him.

If it dragged on, there would naturally be bigshots in John’s debt who would mediate.

But Dustin still preferred subordinates like Luke and Selina.

They were good at fighting and cracking cases, weren’t greedy and didn’t mess around, and didn’t take advantage when he let them “roam free” for work.

Luke and Selina got home early at two in the afternoon.

There were currently a lot of minor incidents happening in New York, but Luke and Selina weren’t interested in taking care of them.

The reason they had been busy a few days ago was to avoid a chain reaction being triggered. Now that there was no rioting, these minor issues were left to the patrol officers.

However, the patrol officers’ emotions were in some turmoil. It was already a general consensus among them that they wanted a pay rise for the next two years.

The commissioner’s position was shaky, and it wasn’t just because of the supervillains and Luke and Selina’s deeds; the biggest conflict had to do with pay.

In the face of demands from frontline officers like patrol officers and detectives for a pay rise, the commissioner delayed doing anything. In any case, he didn’t officially engage in negotiations with the mayor.

The common understanding among the officers at the bottom was that the commissioner wanted to suck up to the mayor.

He nipped the issue in the bud before even bringing it up to the mayor.

Few people liked a boss who couldn’t fight for benefits for their subordinates. At the very least, the commissioner had a poor reputation among the patrol officers and detectives.

Conflict over pay and the recent spate of major cases had led to more bottom-level police officers retiring. This in turn affected the number of people who were willing to work as police officers.

The starting annual pay which NYPD gave new officers had dropped to 23,000, while an official constable’s salary was only about 35,000.

In New York, the “center of the world,” this was dirt-cheap.

It was also the reason why NYPD lowered the minimum age requirement for police applicants to 17.5 and the minimum academic qualification to a high school certificate.

Just like that, the number of police officers continued to drop, and there were more and more cases and disputes to deal with.

Looking at the situation, anyone with discerning eyes could tell that it was inevitable that the commissioner would step down. The only question was how much longer he could hold on for.

Luke calculated that whether or not a new mayor took office at the end of the year, the commissioner qualified as a scapegoat for everything.

Of course, the commissioner wasn’t stupid; an idiot wouldn’t be able to sit in that position.

It could be said that a person could gain a lot from even just one day in that position.

The commissioner might not have known in the beginning that the pay issue would put him in a passive position, but compared with a head-on clash with the mayor, which would see his immediate dismissal, he preferred to stay in this position a little longer.

Now, he reaped the benefits from every day that he remained in this position. In any case, he wouldn’t suffer any losses.

Only a real fool would regard American politicians as idiots.

A pay rise wasn’t a bad thing for Luke and Selina.

Small department heads like Dustin absolutely didn’t want their subordinates to be useless.

With bottom-level police officers becoming less efficient every day, these officers would inevitably become less capable.

After this matter was over and these people got back to work, their efficiency would definitely drop.

Thus, even if the officers at the bottom were slacking off, it was still mostly business as usual in the department.

Once the new director took office and solved the pay issue, getting a promotion and pay rise would depend on a person’s experience and work performance.

Those who slacked off would naturally fall behind, and those who worked quietly and steadily could move forward.

Luke and Selina weren’t looking to be promoted, but they were too efficient at what they did for that.

In order not to stick out, they could only slack off even more, and would get off work at two or three in the afternoon.

They didn’t dare tell this to Elsa and Elizabeth yet, or the two might come over and get roaring drunk again.

Of course, that was all.

These two women were the kind of people who had ambitions. Elsa would definitely be promoted in a year or two, and it wouldn’t be hard for Elizabeth to become a captain.

They were enjoying themselves, so Luke and Selina could only do their best not to chip away at their professional diligence with their own “sloth.”

In May, there was finally a little more sun in New York.

The main thing was that it didn’t rain as much. On average, it rained once every three days, which was already pretty good.

It was a rare sunny day, and Selina decided to sunbathe on the roof.

She took Gold Nugget with her.

Luke planned to take a shower before he went to his workshop.

Just as he arrived at the living room on the second floor, Little Snail informed him that two people were knocking on the door.

He could only come down from the second floor and open the door. He glanced at the man and woman, who were wearing badges.

The man was in his thirties. He had short, flaxen hair, a high nose and deep eyes, and a handsome face.

The woman was 25 or 26. She had curly black hair and pretty features.

Luke gave them his standard smile. “And you are?”

The young African-American woman gestured at the badge at her waist. “NYPD. We want to ask you some questions.”

Luke was still smiling. “No problem. How should I address you?”

The young African woman said, “Just call me Misty.”

The middle-aged man, who was half a step behind her, gave a non-committal smile. “I’m George.”