Readers, Daiyu Tang here reporting back after following HPD around town in their interactions with citizens on the 2nd December. I was present standing at the back of these events and I was lucky enough to witness first-hand how intelligence led policing can lead to appropriately managed interactions with no civilian injuries or extortion (as some claim every HPD encounter causes). I was also lucky enough to witness how what some might describe as ‘brashness’ (and others as foolishness) lead to a situation best described with that military acronym, ‘FUBAR’. Afterall, it’s not often that a senior HPD officer, unconnected with the initial incident, gets taken hostage, knife at her throat. Read on to find out more!
Gein Comes up Clean
As our headline image shows, the two HPD officers attended the Gein and from our vantage point we observed them ordering a search. Senior Officer Anastasia Bryukhanov, known for her recent police work with Alice Crow (read about it here and her Twitter here) and Corporal Hiroshi (known for dealing with a streaking mad funeral undertaker woman, read about it here) were the two officers I followed and it appeared from what I understood they were visiting local businesses to ensure there was no lawbreaking taking place and no contraband on persons in the premises. Now I’m not a lawyer, but I do remember something about unreasonable searches and seizures and that suspicion of a crime should probably be a precursor to getting someone searched. Never-the-less, one counter argument (not loved by many, but still kinda fair) is, don’t carry shit and you won’t get arrested…
In any case, the two officers appeared to find no items of interest and the servers in the Gein were allowed to continue their business. From my vantage point I also observed no physical violence, nor could I see any money or other items change hands, putting to bed at least for this case, accusations in this regard against HPD.
Hostage Taking at Vudu Spice
Now we turn to the next encounter. Our two officers headed towards the Vudu Spice store where Eva Hopper can often be seen to reside after resigning from deanship at Columtreal University (Her replacement, Carly Cox, a sometimes contributor to the Observer, is less kidney extraction than Eva, more cum extraction… CU is heading in a new, and some might say, likely filthy way…).
As I understood it the parameters were the same. 1) visit the business 2) check for lawbreaking and 3) deal with it if there was reasonable suspicion.
It didn’t go down that way.
It appeared that the officers had some kind of warrant out for Nato. Now, I don’t really know Nato other than he used to work at the Pawn Shop. I don’t even think he is connected there, but for whatever reason ‘Nika on hearing Nato was under arrest tried to tackle or otherwise interfere with Ana and that just provoked a shitshow as Eva then got involved and the unknown John Doe also attacked. Knives were drawn and the situation was pretty damn tense.
It was at this point that perhaps cool heads could have prevailed; whatever the rights and wrongs of arresting Nato, doing so when there are four potential hostiles, at least three with gang affiliation might not have been the wisest tactical idea. Senior Officer Anastasia is committed, that can be said, and brave… but tactically sound this might not have been. Made worse by the fact that Lt. Blackheart was standing near Shae in civilian clothes at the time and become a hostage.
Once a hostage had been taken, it got worse progressively and although there were demands from both sides to drop the weapons the other had, it seemed that neither would budge. I applaud the bravery of officers when they are truly confronted with depravity (Tori), but in this instance, it would possibly have made sense to retreat, although again, attacking officers trying to arrest just one person could also have been left well enough alone by Eva and the rest.
Things don’t have to go down like this in Hathian… break the cycle…
With a vested interest in not getting caught in the violence itself, but also an interest, if possible, to prevent injury to people, I watched as they went at it. By what was probably the ‘end’ of the encounter, the unknown male was shot and on the ground, Hiro was out cold with what looked like a broken arm, Nika and Nato had escaped and Ana was bleeding out on the ground… As to Vanora, Shae and Eva; injuries as well as far as I could see…
FUBAR.
The Aftermath
Today, 3rd December, I went for a drive around in the Observer’s van, first thinking to stop in at HGH and speak with Hiroshi or Ana if I could find them. I found neither there, but did find Ana discharged back to HPD, walking cane and all. Speaking to her and as luck would have it, two other officers outside HPD, I tried to understand what had happened and what the next step(s) might be. Our conversations helped me learn a bit more:
Daiyu: “Ana, I was hoping, before I go to the press to get a few comments from you about what happened yesterday? Firstly, a clean outcome at the Gein? Was that intelligence based? But then a bit of a situation at the Vudu shop… how’d that turn out and how are you?”
It was fair to say that perhaps there was some reluctance from the other officers present to allow comments to the press, but as there was perhaps some merit in it, for example publicising the APB now on Eva and Shae, Ana continued.
Ana: “The Operation was designed to search for illegal contraband and ensure the HPD’s enforced the law. We are still investigating the tragic incident in which two Officers were critically injured and one barely escaped with her life.”
Daiyu: “Are Eva and Shae criminals now then? There was that guy as well?”
“We risked our lives performing our duties and attacked by citizens who care little for the law. All they had to do was comply and it would have been painless, just like those you saw in the Gein, quick, simple and efficient. But since they decided to escalate the situation, they now have APB’s and arrest warrants waiting for them .. over a simple slap on the wrist… now we have two officer’s critically injured and one commanding officer almost losing her life, in a department that’s thin on the ground as it is…”
Ana
Daiyu: “So I guess… how would you clarify the outcome of what happened then?”
Ana: “The Operation was a 50/50 success. While the incident at Vudu was not as we planned, we managed to execute successful arrests in other locations during the operation, but the Vudu scene requires a deeper investigation, given the outcome. We are pursuing all those involved and will bring swift justice to those and anyone else who attempts to or does harm to a Police Officer in their line of duty.”
Well, we wish everyone a speedy recovery (Ana was with a cane to help her walking) and we implore HPD not to pursue the law unjustly (which was not observed in this case, but can often stick in the memory of citizens in their future interactions with the law), but we also implore civilians… let the cops arrest people without violence and everyone gets to go home; even the one arrested is likely to make bail, which is a better outcome than stabbing or being shot
