US police: outlaws

Chapter 3: Prison Riot

Logan waved and left, while Sean, who had been silent to the side, rubbed his fingers together, looking preoccupied. After a dozen seconds, he finally couldn't help but voice his worries.

"Ethan, Henry has submitted his resignation."

Li Yisen stopped drinking water.

"Henry, is he one of the new recruits who joined at the same time as you?"

"Yes, he was one of the top students in the police academy. I can't believe he has to resign after only a few days."

"Should I resign?"

Lee Yisen recalled his early days at the prison, when dozens or even hundreds of new police officers had joined. In just six months, a quarter of them had been eliminated, including some who were friends he had known since police academy.

The most important thing is that a new recruit talks to you about a classmate who left, and that classmate was very outstanding. To a rookie police officer who knows a little psychology, this has more implications.

The most likely explanation is that he's trying to alleviate cognitive dissonance by emphasizing that "others have left too," thus proving that resignations are not uncommon and reducing self-doubt stemming from inner turmoil. Of course, it's also possible that he's overthinking things.

Li Yisen scratched his head speechlessly, inwardly complaining.

Please, being a newbie is such a hassle. When I was a newbie, I got beaten up by prisoners and didn't even confide in any seniors about my troubles.

Lee Esen finally sighed, "I guess I'm just unlucky."

"Not everyone can handle pressure. I know a friend who had excellent grades in police academy and could go straight to patrols without going to prison. But he was afraid of being held at gunpoint. During a shootout, he was so scared that he didn't dare to move and was eventually fired from the police station."

Sean pressed for an answer.

Do you think I'm suitable to be a police officer?

Li Yisen breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, this guy directly pointed out the problem, saving him the trouble of slowly guiding him.

"You've been doing quite well these past few days, haven't you? In my opinion, you're doing better than many of your seniors. If you're having any problems, you can talk to the instructor. That old guy is still trustworthy."

Li Yisen felt he had done his best and didn't want to trouble the younger generation with their problems, so he decided it was better to leave it to the other instructor.

Sean clenched his fists; it felt really good to be recognized.

"Am I really that good?"

"Mmm, very good."

"You're not lying to me?"

"no."

"real?"

"If you ask again, it's fake."

Sean chuckled twice and stopped asking questions, but just then, something unexpected happened.

Li Yisen then saw a hallucination in his mind: a commotion was taking place in an activity room, a policeman was being held at knifepoint by a prisoner, and several prisoners were making a ruckus around him. They even stole the policeman's keys and opened the doors to other cells, and soon many people appeared in the activity room.

Then the police were piled on a table and forced to lie face down, and the crazed criminal stabbed them several times in the buttocks.

Lee Ethan recognized the victim as Logan Brown, whom he had just encountered. Apparently, the inmates in their group had somehow obtained a crude knife and used it to subdue Logan.

Damn it, I told him not to slack off while on duty.

The only good news from the hallucination was that only a few prisoners were causing trouble. After all, prisoners in the ordinary ward didn't have long sentences to begin with, and if they joined in the riots, it would be no joke.

It would be different in a hardened criminal area. Those scumbags who serve sentences ranging from a dozen to several hundred years would not miss the opportunity to party.

Lee Ethan couldn't stand idly by while Logan was in trouble, but he also couldn't directly notify headquarters of the riot; he didn't want others to notice that something was wrong with him.

Li Yisen picked up the walkie-talkie and made a pre-coded call.

"Logan, I forgot to ask you a question earlier. Are you free now?"

"....."

"Did you hear me? Answer me if you do, you bastard."

The sound of walkie-talkies came from the empty activity room. Several prisoners who were partying looked at the walkie-talkies on the police officers' bodies, and one prisoner picked up the walkie-talkie and smashed it.

"Waaah"

A sharp sound rang out, and Li Yisen felt a stinging pain in his ears.

"There might be a problem with Logan. Sean, let's go check it out."

"Ah, oh."

The rookie cop instinctively followed his senior out of the break room, after all, his senior had just praised him, revealing that he was actually a better cop than Henry.

"I will not let you down."

Lee Ethan was unaware that his few words had boosted the rookie's morale by 10, and they headed to the armory where the prison guards' pistols were stored, instead of the area where Logan was.

What that old instructor said made a lot of sense: prison is not another place; you have to be careful when you encounter something amiss.

Li Yisen called out to the central control as he ran.

"Center, I am unable to reach Officer Logan Brown. There may be a problem with Team T391. Please check the surveillance footage to confirm the situation."

"receive."

Soon, the operator's tense voice came through, along with the sound of a prison alarm.

"A high-risk riot has occurred in group T391. A prison guard has been taken hostage and injured. The prison's internal riot control team has been notified, and nearby prison guards are requested to provide support."

"receive."

"receive."

All the prison guards started locking up the prisoners who were out for exercise, and anyone who dared to refuse was threatened or even subjected to violence.

This is not a Level 1 riot or a Level 2 disturbance, but a Level 3 high-risk riot involving the hostage-taking and harming of police officers. It is a major incident that may not occur once a year even in the Central Prison.

While the others were just getting started, Lee Ethan had already taken Sean to the armory to get equipment.

Los Angeles County law stipulates that even in a Level 4 riot where the situation is completely out of control, ordinary prison guards are not allowed to possess firearms and must return their handguns to the armory for centralized management. Only riot police and SWAT teams are allowed to possess firearms, in order to prevent prisoners from seizing firearms.

Of course, under normal circumstances, 97% of prison guards do not carry guns, even if it is not prohibited by law.

Li Yisen and his companion sorted out the equipment they had received.

"Riot shields, restraint forks, batons, stun batons, stun guns, cut-resistant gloves, first aid kits."

"Just a minute later," Sean, now fully armed, exclaimed in surprise.

"Senior, are we really going?"

Lee Esen wore a serious expression.

"Of course, Sean, don't you want to do something good?"

One sentence left Sean speechless. He wasn't some lazy bum, so the two of them rushed to the T391 activity room ahead of the other colleagues.

As Li Yisen ran, he talked to the rookie about the plan.

"The activity room door can't be opened from the inside. Logan doesn't have an access card; only the police outside can open it. So our main task is to guard the main door and wait for an opportunity to go in and rescue people. Don't be reckless."

"Yes, I understand."

Li Yisen didn't know if the rookie understood, but it wasn't anything important. In his opinion, this credit was practically free.

Once the riot police with rifles and other weapons arrive, unarmed prisoners will be ruthlessly suppressed, and the two of them can take the opportunity to make a name for themselves; it would be even better if they could save someone.

Unfortunately, ideals are often grand, but reality is harsh.

The door that came into view had been opened, and several prisoners came out.

"Damn it, that guy outside actually went in to rescue people all by himself."

Suddenly finding himself in danger infuriated Li Yisen. With no way to retreat under surveillance, he picked up the restraint fork and threw it at the fleeing prisoners not far away, knocking one of them to the ground. This was a metal fork.

The next second, he pulled out his baton and struck the prisoner who had just come out, the baton flashing like a phantom.

"Take it back."