To Protect and Serve by Pat Adeff

It’s part of the Chief’s new PR program for the department.”
                  Doug and Bill smiled and waved good-naturedly as they received hoots, hollers and wisecracks from the other officers in the room about pulling vacation duty.
                  The rest of the briefing was short and Doug and Bill were on their way to their units in no time with sacks of candy tucked under their arms.
     
                  After tossing the candy into the front seat, Bill rested his arms across the door of his black and white and looked over at Doug.
                  “Well?  Are you gonna ask her out?”
                  Doug debated for a couple of seconds and decided it would be easier to do that than suffer through several more days of nagging from Bill.
                  “Yes, I’ll ask her out.  There, are you happy?”
                  “Not yet.  Bring her by the house and let Patty have a look at her.”
                  “Huh-uh.  No way, Bill.  The both of you would scare her off for sure, what with all your questions and suggestions.  You’ll meet her when I’m ready for you to meet her.” 
                  Doug slid behind the wheel of his own unit and checked to ensure that everything was in order.  As usual, the unit’s computer was running in top condition.  Sparky, the man in charge of the department’s computers and electronic devices took extreme pride in the fact that his department’s equipment was hardly ever on the fritz.  The officers were thankful, too.  The last guy in charge of the computers had been sincere, but not very fast when it came to repairs.  Thank gawd he’d retired and they’d hired a kid right out of college.  Sparky was a computer nerd in the very best sense of the word.  Equipment that would not work for anyone else, purred at top speed and efficiency for Sparky.  Also the fact that he could produce a top-of-the-line flash-bang, made him even more popular with the SWAT team guys.  What was it about things that went “boom” that made guys happy?  Any age guys.
                  Doug pulled out of the parking lot after Bill did, and turned right onto Main Street from Struck.  At Katella he turned right again and headed out for Cambridge Elementary for his first stop of the afternoon.
                  Doug enjoyed working for the City of Orange.  He’d been on the force for the past twenty-six years and knew every section of the city, as well as a good majority of its populace.  Several years earlier he’d been promoted, but found that he wasn’t suited for sitting behind a desk.  He did his best work dealing daily with the citizens and business owners of the city.  After giving the desk job a year, he requested to be put back on a beat, and no one gave him a hard time for it.  He knew that it wasn’t the best career move, but he’d rather be happy with his work and settle for a few less dollars, than continue to be frustrated with the politics of the job.
                  His favorite part of the job was when he helped put together the bicycle safety classes for the local schools.
                  Which reminded him of last week.
                  He’d been assigned to run the safety class at a local private school.  Since it was such a small school, there’d only been himself and Mike, another office he liked working with.  Both he and Mike were good with kids and it made for a rewarding day for both of them.  And for Doug, more than just civic duty.
                  When he’d headed into the principal’s office to confirm where to set up the event, he ran into Nancy Adams as she came out of the office.
                  They’d stopped about two feet from each other, said “Hi” and then just stood there smiling at each other.
                  There was