Officers David Gutter and “Viper” Bearlow’s first day on the job started the day after the Hathian Police Department bombing and riot had taken place. As rookie cops, they have started upon their highly demanding and challenging career as officers of the law at a time when relationships between the police and citizens of Hathian are at an all time low and strained to say the least. Bad blood exists on both sides, but these officers knew they would be facing an enormous task in trying to work to “protect and serve” the citizens of Hathian while trying to establish relationships built on trust and co-operation with Hathian’s citizens, many of whom have issues with the HPD, some legit, some not. These officers may just change the opinions of even the most cynical citizen when they consider the HPD, with new blood and fresh faces being a possible solution to improving the image of the HPD. In an attempt to get to know the officers of the HPD and get their stories across, the Hathian Observer found out what makes these new arrivals so effective on the streets:
Observer: With the jobs of police being so demanding and dangerous, what motivated you both to join the HPD and what qualifications or background do either of you possess that helps you stand out from the rest?
D. Gutter: “I use to live in New York and studied at St Johns Unv. When I attended there I took Criminal justice and graduated. I knew I wanted to serve the community-you know, “to protect and serve”- so I decided to move out here to start a fresh new life, away from everything. My father was my motivation and inspiartion really, he used to be a police officer.Well he died on 9/11 as he was serving The NYPD. Since than I decided to join the PD to serve in his honor. I use to take boxing lessons while I was at college- before I decided to become a cop, I wanted to box for money..it was just to much to go for, especially dealing with hits after hits and hits..”
V. Bearlow: “I attended Minnesota State University where I got my Master’s in physical heath and conditioning. It was supposed to be a four year run but… I was a four time NCAA champion wrestler, and was offered to continue on a Masters degree if I wished. I ended up with 5 championships over the course of six years. After that I went into body building, mostly because I wasn’t cut out for a normal five to nine job. I did competitions for years, and even won two Mr Minnesota competitions and one MR usa… But as I got older, I decided to retire. I got into MMA real heavy like, trying my hand at that, I trained for 6 years and had some amature bouts, but it came to my attention they didnt have any 300+ weight classes in any of the professional organizations. , I joined to get the uniform and women, girl’s love a guy in uniform!”
Observer: You both have a visible presence on the streets, what interests you most about police work?
D.Gutter: “Well what interest me with the PD is basically being able to serve my community, taking the streets and wiping out all the criminals. It’s a hard job to be a police officer, but I love doing it and until I’mma’ rest 6 ft under, I will wear that badge high and proud.”
V. Bearlow: “I enjoy the position, I enjoy the job, I hate the running… I’ll be damned if you’ll see my big ass running around down chasing some guy hyped up on crack, just aint gonna happen.”
Observer: What challenges or personal obstacles do you face working in Hathian and why?
D. Gutter: “Hm, it’s crazy, I been with the PD only a few weeks and since I been on board, I seen nothing that negative towards the criminals on the street. Let start off with the bombing that occurred on the day of the protest, like really, was that call for?! We lost a Lieutenant, a woman who I never met and got a chance to work with.Was it right to have people being blown up? I’ve been attacked already by a few criminals and if it wasn’t for my partner at the time of these attacks, I would probably be dead or badly injured right now, so I would like to thank Officer Viper for having my back at all times. These civilians thinks the PD is an issue, when really all we do is our job.” To Protect and Serve” -We Put our life on the line just to put criminals behind bars. I will do whatever it takes to put these criminals behind bars, although it’s rough out there, especially reporting to a call and being attack by someone who thinks they can take the cops down.”
V. Bearlow: “What obstacles? You mean, besides the missing police station? Well, my first day I had to arrest a kidnapper who had raped a woman and assulted the previouse arresting officer. My partner and I got this guy and had to lock him up in a U-haul truck because there’s a crater where the station used to be. So I think it’s all up hill from here, walking down the street and having little cowards yell things like “F-ing pigs wish you all would have died” when i’m trying to get some coffee? Obstacles are one thing, but for the new guys like David and I, we’re like the guys that got drafted to be sent to D-day.. for the first few days after the bombing, David and I were the only active officers- aside from the office staff- trying to keep our file systems together and it was our first days on the job.”
Observer: Which leads us onto the next question- what do you think it will take for relations to improve between the HPD and the citizens of Hathian?
V. Bearlow: “How can I improve the public relations with the police? Hopefully people will just do as they’re asked and follow the law so I dont have to do anything to improve relations. I react to what happens while I’m on the street. If some guy like yesterday, bites me, punches David upside the head, then head buts him in the groin I’m going to do what is needed to get that man in hand cuffs and off the street. Now that man was hyped up on coke and luckily he didnt get injured, but the public needs to realize is a simple fact. They’re not out there, these people are savages.. I mean really, what kind of a man head buts another man in the balls? Now how do the public view that? The only thing the public WANTS to see is me hitting a man and leaving out what the man did. I’m just using my own experiences as a reference. This image is something that the public see, only wanting to see what they want- rather then the actual event in it’s entirety. Yeah the force needs a face lift, since the building was blown up. When was the last time a police officer went into a house and detonated himself?”
D. Gutter: “All I know is this, we out there in the street and we officers are watching very closely. It’s time for people to see what it takes to protect the community from criminals. If only people would stop pointing fingers at the HPD-how about they point at themselves and ask themselves what can we do to make this city a better place??”
As we finish the interview, the officers hear over their radio of an assault taking place not too far away from the location of the interview and are back out on the streets. With new faces and new attitudes, the HPD might manage to change their bad image and relations amongst the citizen’s of Hathian but they can only succeed in doing so if the members of the community are willing to give new recruits – such as Officers Gutter and Bearlow – a chance to prove themselves, co-operation and trust being vital steps to building a successful and enduring dynamic between the HPD and citizens of Hathian.
