Who do you think he is?
Not:
Does that uniform look real?
What do you know?
The recruits had to separate facts from assumptions.
A man is wearing a formal uniform.
He claims a specific agency.
He possesses identification appearing to support the claim.
Verification information is available.
No threatening behavior is visible.
That was the lesson.
Then came the second question.
“What do you do next?”
Verify.
The correct answer was boring.
Most correct public-safety decisions are.
About a year after the incident, I stopped at Ridgeway Shopping Center again.
Not intentionally.
Maya needed poster board.
We were nearby.
I almost chose another store.
Then I realized I was allowing a parking lot to make decisions for me.
So I turned in.
Maya looked out the window.
“Is this where it happened?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
I pointed.
“Near those carts.”
She stared.
“Do you hate coming here?”
“I haven’t been back.”
“That means yes.”
I smiled.
“Maybe a little.”
We parked.
As we walked toward the store, an older man approached pushing an empty cart.
I recognized him immediately.
Walter Simmons.
He recognized me too.
“Commissioner.”
“Mr. Simmons.”
His eyebrows rose.
“You remember me?”
“You were the first person who told Officer Halpern to check the card.”
Walter smiled.
“I also had ice cream melting in my cart while I stood there.”
“That was a sacrifice.”
“It was vanilla. Nothing important.”
Maya laughed.
Walter looked at her.
“You must be the daughter.”
Maya stared at me.
“You told him about me?”
“No.”
Walter said:
“You were in the news too.”
Maya groaned.
“Everybody saw that.”
Walter leaned on his cart.
“I wanted to tell your dad something.”
She waited.
“He was very calm.”
Maya nodded seriously.
“He does that when he’s mad.”
I looked at her.
“Thank you.”
Walter laughed.
Then his face became serious.
“I didn’t know who you were that morning.”
“I know.”
“I hope you understand that.”
“I do.”
“I just knew he should’ve checked.”
“That was enough.”
Walter looked at Maya.
“Sometimes doing the right thing isn’t knowing everything.”
“It’s noticing when somebody refuses to find out.”
I remembered his statement to investigators.
He had said nearly the same thing then.
Maya nodded as if storing it somewhere.
We went inside.
Poster board aisle.
Blue.
Apparently blue was essential.
On the way out, we passed the jewelry store.
Maya stopped.
“That’s where you were going?”
“Yes.”