Naomi slid a folder toward him.
He looked down.
His own signature appeared on three supervisory findings.
Harris did not touch the folder.
Naomi asked:
“You reviewed these?”
“Yes.”
“Why were they closed?”
“Insufficient evidence.”
“Three complaints with similar behavior.”
“Three different incidents.”
“Correct.”
Harris shifted.
“Director, hindsight makes patterns look cleaner.”
“That is true.”
He seemed relieved.
Naomi continued.
“It also doesn’t explain why none of the reviewers compared them.”
Harris’s relief disappeared.
“We had a complaint process.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
He stared.
Naomi waited.
Finally:
“We were short staffed.”
“Okay.”
“Mercer was productive.”
“What does productive mean?”
“Stops.”
“Arrests.”
“Drug seizures.”
“Traffic enforcement.”
Naomi nodded.
“So his output influenced tolerance for complaints.”
“I did not say that.”
“You didn’t need to.”
Harris exhaled.
“Look, Grant is aggressive.”
“Was aggressive.”
“But sometimes that’s what the job requires.”
Naomi’s voice remained controlled.
“Was I aggressive?”
“No.”
“Was I threatening?”
“No.”
“Did I flee?”
“No.”
“Did I conceal a weapon after being asked?”
“No.”
“Did I refuse identification?”
“No.”
“Did I refuse credentials?”
“No.”
She leaned forward.
“Then explain why aggression was necessary.”
Harris looked at the table.
“It wasn’t.”
There it was.
Naomi sat back.
“When did you know?”
“Know what?”
“That Mercer had a problem.”
Harris looked toward Elena.
Then back at Naomi.
“Years.”
Elena’s expression hardened.
Naomi asked:
“Why didn’t you act?”
Harris rubbed his forehead.
“He wasn’t always wrong.”
“I didn’t ask whether he was always wrong.”
“He made good arrests.”
“Not the question.”
“He backed people up.”
“Still not the question.”
Harris looked frustrated.
“What do you want from me?”
“The answer.”
He stared.
Finally:
“Because disciplining him meant fighting the union, command, staffing shortages, complaints from his squad, grievances.”
“And?”
“And I kept thinking the next conversation would fix it.”
Naomi nodded.
“That is an answer.”
Not a good answer.
But an honest one.
Harris continued.
“He was good in dangerous situations.”
Naomi almost smiled sadly.
That phrase again.
Organizations loved using competence in one area to excuse failure in another.
“He pulled a woman from a burning car.”
“I know.”
“He stopped an armed robbery off duty.”
“I read the commendation.”
“He’s not some monster.”
“I never said he was.”