THE RUNNER SCREENPLAY by BRIAN R. LUNDIN (ebook reader wifi .txt) đź“–
- Author: BRIAN R. LUNDIN
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FADE-IN.
The 2nd District Police station located at 4800 South Wabash Avenue was one of the oldest police stations in the city and was called the Wabash station and was also the most corrupt district in the city. The main entrance was on 48th Street between Wabash Avenue and State Street. A high wire fence surrounded the building and at its rear was a fenced parking lot. Written in large black block letters and attached to the fence was a sign that read, “CHICAGO POLICE DEPARTMENT, PARKING PERMITTED ONLY FOR CHICAGO POLICE VEHICLES AND EMPLOYEES. UNAUTHORIZED VEHICLES WILL BE TOWED”
INT: WABASH DISTRICT POLICE STATION –DAY
The “Desk” was the heart of the station. Two or three uniform officers and a sergeant manned the desk. The desk officers routed phone calls, to the other units in the station. The Vice Room, Youth Officer Room was down the short, drab hall painted white and brown from the desk. An Interrogation Room contained a table and three hard-backed chairs, and restraints cemented into its pea green walls, all over the walls of the room; prisoners had scratched their street names or used black ink from fingerprints to write their names or gangs. The Roll Call Room was where the officers gathered, inspected and received their assignments when starting their tour of duty. The Watch Commander’s Office in the rear of the Roll Call Room was Spartan in appearance with the furnishing selected for functionality rather than style; it had a desk and file cabinets. The lockup was in the rear of the building and its door opened into the rear parking lot and purposely kept dark to intimidate the arrestees. Each cell was six by five feet, with a metal bed and a combination water fountain/toilet. The second floor contained lockers, the Commander’s and his Vice Coordinator offices. Down a long hallway was the 28th Municipal Circuit Courthouse, commonly known as Wabash Court. The district boundaries were 3100 south to 6100 south, its east boundary was Cottage Grove Avenue, and west was to Federal Street. Most of the residents of the police district were black and poor and it encompassed “Bronzeville.”
The 2nd Police District had one of the highest crime rates in the city and it played by its own rules, which often was in conflict with official Chicago Police Department Policy, DISTRICT COMMANDER ROGER HARNESS was an Irishman and did not try to control his men or hide his contempt for the black community and he was a hard bargainer, his “Fees,” for being allowed to operate in his district was doubled that of the other districts. Although he was not Italian he loved Italian food and he, his wife and three teenage boys were often treated to a lavish Italian dinner at some expensive Mob controlled restaurants and he sometimes, for a nice bonus, acted as a bodyguard for some of the “Outfit”caporegime for it was unheard of for anyone to gun down a police officer and especially a police captain. The toughest hoods had to stand still if a lowly police officer decided to slap him around. There was absolutely no percentage in killing cops because all of a sudden an arrestee would be killed attempting to escape or resisting arrest. In additions the commander had other concerns; his eighty-two year old mother had Alzheimer and the private nursing home was expensive, his two oldest sons were attending Notre Dame University and his youngest was in an expensive private school he needed money and lots of it furthermore, what was wrong with a little clean graft. The white police officers could do anything they wanted except shakedown policy men and the mobs operations that belonged to the commander. The mob controlled most of the bookies and whorehouses in the district and a few taverns where they hired black managers if any citizen complained about being beaten up, robbed by the prostitutes or their pimps or shook down by the white police officers, more than likely they would wind up in jail where they were sure to get a good beaten.
RICHARD HOLLIS fifty years old was a World War Two veteran and a twenty-five years police veteran. Hollis was a tough no-nonsense police officer. He was 6’2’’ tall and weighed a muscular 205 pounds, which he maintained with lifting weights and jogging two miles in the morning and two miles in the evening. He was light brown-skinned, with intelligent dark eyes and a deep voice. He wore his hair short and had movie star good looks, Hollis married his high school sweetheart Joan Honeywood in 1930 and they have one daughter, Zhafara.
BACKSTORY:
In 1941, Hollis father MARCUS had worked as a doorman at the Allegro Hotel for ten years. The Allegro Hotel was on the North side of the city and was the home of many mob members and influential people including politicians. One morning ALDERMAN ROY BONITO, his wife and their two children that lived in the hotel, was standing outside waiting for his car. Bonito and Marcus were talking when a speeding car suddenly jumped the sidewalk and headed towards Roy Bonito wife and children. Marcus saw the car first and pushed the children out of its way, however, the vehicle struck Marcus and broke both of his legs, but he had saved the children’s life. The alderman, rumored to have ties with organized crime was determined to do something for Marcus, but Marcus did not want anything for himself but requested that he help his son, Richard gets on the police department. Two weeks later, Richard received a letter from the city department of personnel informing him that he was to report to the police academy the following Monday. Richard was one of the first black hired by the police department and did not have to take any tests. Later that year, the United States Army drafted Richard and he served as a cook with the United States Army. Richard returned to the police department in 1945, after his discharge and was assigned as a patrolman in the 2nd District. During that time, the majority of the police officers assigned to the district were white and Irish and they totally misused the people whom they had sworn to serve and protect. They saw nothing wrong with making a little extra on the side because their pay was minimal. They would roll drunks, shake down traffic violators, demand money and sexual favors from the prostitutes who worked 43rd and 47th street, shakedown taverns and do anything else they wanted to do. But Richard was different he was a good and brave cop unlike some of his co-workers who hustle everything from shaking down taverns that had barmaids to ignoring garbage violations. He never ducked into a movie theater
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