The further adventures of the Grim Reaper. This is a collection of short stories that share a theme. It is a few years after the finale of the original Grim Reaper book. I will post these vignettes mostly as a whole, so some posts might have one chapter, and some might have several. Only the finale will take longer.
The title comes from the first episode of Miami Vice, the groundbreaking police series from the ‘80s. At the end of the episode, Sonny Crockett, a Miami cop played by Don Johnson, asks Rico Tubbs, a NYC cop played by Philip Michael Thomas, “Hey Tubbs, you ever consider a career in southern law enforcement?”
Before I go further, I absolutely have to thank my two ‘police editors.’ These gentlemen, jjmcdonald and grynslvr2, are both current or former law enforcement professionals, both south of the Mason-Dixon line. They have provided the basis for some of the stories (but not all) and have helped with both accuracy and editing. They have worked with me on earlier stories and were indispensable here.
The first story is Block Party, which was suggested by jjmcdonald. Interestingly, this story was the only one my two editors had a disagreement on. grynslvr2 considered this a ‘Man Bites Dog’ story, rather unusual. Many gangsters, he reported did not treat their families nicely and were prone to beat and rob grandparents. I don’t have any personal expertise on this, but I found it interesting that jjmcdonald commented that the African-American and Hispanic communities seemed to be more prone to respect for matriarchal hierarchies than other communities. Regardless, it is based on a true story.
A big element in the first story is about warrants. On TV we hear all about warrants and getting them and using them, but about 90% of what you see on TV cop shows is bullshit. There are search warrants and arrest warrants, and they are not the same thing, and the rules are very specific for each type. Fuck it up and the bad guy walks, and you might just screw up the entire case against him. Warrants can be very complicated and need to be very precise. I have heard from a few other police professionals and magistrates confirming this. Even the tiniest typo or misspelling can invalidate the entire thing. Judges can be very particular about what they will and won’t allow. The actions of Officer Hanover could have easily landed him and the department in some very hot water.
In any case, I hope you enjoy it.