At this moment, Director Martin finally walked out from his office to the scene, with the instructor following behind him. The group of wealthy young men still sat there with great resentment.
Director Martin finally put on a smile as he approached and said, "Is there some kind of misunderstanding here?"
The lawyer said, "Director Martin, it's good that you're here. Please take a good look. My clients and so many others were brought in overnight last night. Look at their faces; they were definitely beaten. I hope you can give me an explanation. Arresting people and lovers' quarrels are two different matters. Your subordinate officers forcibly brought my clients here under some unknown charges and even used force. Police shouldn't act like this, right?"
Director Martin chuckled awkwardly a couple of times and then turned his gaze to me, and I said, "These people were engaged in a street fight. I tried to dissuade them, but they ignored my mediation and even insulted me in various ways. Most offensively, that Young Master Lopez spat at me. With such behavior, I would be justified in shooting him, so what's wrong with arresting and detaining them? That group disrupted my attempt to bring them in, blocking my way with utter arrogance. If I just let it go, who knows how much more rampant they will become next time. So I brought everyone in!"
Lawyer: "Officer Curry, is it? Every word you say seems to paint my clients in a negative light. Do you have evidence? I'm a lawyer, and in court, all I need is evidence."
The instructor saw these lawyers being aggressive and pulled me aside to quietly advise me, "Just admit a mistake. Director Martin and I will cover for you to get through this first. Adam't blow it up; this matter can be big or small, but it involves too many privileged individuals. You'll suffer for it."
I was speechless: "You want me to apologize? To these people?"
My words were overheard by Young Master Lopez and others in the cell, and Young Master Lopez sneered, "Apologizing is useless now. Let's proceed according to legal procedures."
Young Master Lopez's lawyer nodded and then seriously calculated, "Now, with my unjustified arrest causing personal damage to my client, there's that compensation; secondly, because he was wrongfully detained overnight, which not only harmed his reputation but needs restitution; also, the physical injuries and bruises on him will be direct evidence against me. If your precinct doesn't want to escalate the matter, an out-of-court settlement is possible. My client alone requires fifty thousand in compensation."
"Fifty thousand?" Director Martin and the instructor widened their eyes. How could the precinct have such a budget for compensations?
The lawyer nodded: "Yes, considering that 50,000 is still lenient as the police also have a hard time. This sum means nothing to him, and this compensation is the minimum."
Other lawyers nodded: "We agree with this plan. If your precinct doesn't want to escalate the matter, all our clients require 50,000 in compensation."
"All of them?" The instructor was taken aback. There are twelve people here, which means 600,000 in compensation?
"Where will this precinct get the money for compensation?" Director Martin chuckled bitterly.
Young Master Lopez and others knew the precinct couldn't afford such a settlement, but pressure had to be applied. Only under enormous pressure would they accept the second option.
"Of course, the precinct doesn't need to bear all the compensation. If the precinct doesn't want to pay, let me, who arrested us, be responsible."
All the officers in the precinct looked at me. If it really came to compensation claims, no one could afford it. It could only be left to the one involved to handle it.
Of course, Director Martin wasn't the type to simply shirk responsibility by firing someone on the spot. He walked over to me and quietly said, "You're new, so mistakes are inevitable. What the lawyer said is true; there's no evidence to prove their wrongdoing. Of course, police have grounds to bring people in for investigation and cooperation, but these people's backgrounds deserve special handling. Without evidence, they must be released immediately. You brought them back, they're injured, and they've been detained for a night. It's enough. Go and apologize; the precinct has no money to cover it."
He patted my shoulder, then walked over to Young Master Lopez and others with a slight smile, "Gentlemen, why don't we do this? I personally apologize to you all today. My subordinate is on his first day and doesn't understand many rules."
Young Master Lopez sarcastically said, "The newcomer won't remember the lesson. Is it really going to be forgotten just like that? People need to pay for their mistakes."
Director Martin's face awkwardly collected his smile, sighing, "But the precinct can't afford that much compensation."
Lawyer: "Then there's a simple solution, suspend him from the position to reduce trouble after the fact."
Young Master Lopez and others chuckled, "No need for Director Martin to intervene in this matter personally. A newcomer should be enlightened about taking responsibility for mistakes. We know the precinct normally has nothing much to compensate for, but I've been beaten and detained. The reputation wasn't good, to begin with, so if we settle this privately, it might be hard to explain it to the family."
Director Martin frowned.
I snorted, "Just let your lawyers come and retrieve you, stop whining. If you don't leave, do you believe I'll detain you for fifteen days?"
"Big talk, huh." Several lawyers snorted, "You think you can detain people as you wish, can you?"
Young Master Lopez pointed at me and spoke to Director Martin, "Did you hear that, Director Martin? This type of officer will only cause you endless trouble."
I: "If you're afraid of trouble, don't become a cop."
"Fine." Young Master Lopez gritted his teeth, "Since you don't plan to settle privately, I'll have the lawyer proceed according to procedure to sue your precinct. We won't leave until the higher authorities come to handle this matter. My lawyer will manage these matters. We twelve will stay here and not leave."
"You're not leaving?" I sneered, "Very well, then no one leaves until the fifteen-day detention is over!"
The lawyers shouted one after the other: "Officer Curry, your attitude is problematic. As a police officer, you should act according to the law. My clients were wrongfully detained without cause. If you detain them for one day, I'll sue you for a day. Can you bear the consequences if you detain them for fifteen days?"
"Who said these people were detained without cause?" I laughed coldly, walked to my desk, and took out a CD. "Come, take a look. This is the street fight footage I specially copied from the traffic bureau. I anticipated you would try to get it deleted. Sorry, last night after arresting them, I copied everything. Come, watch the footage of the scene, and listen to the audio I recorded at the scene."
I played the street fight video captured under the streetlights on the computer, along with the synchronized audio from my phone, which directly changed the complexion of all the lawyers.
The twelve young men in the cell wanted to know what was being watched. Seeing their lawyers' faces change slightly, they immediately felt uneasy.
"Do you want to escalate this? Fine, I'll present these in court. Anyone who tries to interfere with this will be considered an accomplice to obstructing justice." I sneered.
The faces of several lawyers turned liver-colored on the spot.
"This..." Young Master Lopez's lawyer approached me, quickly shifting from triumph to pleading, smiling obsequiously, "Officer Curry, I think we should settle this privately. How about 50,000 for your evidence?"