fandomhigh | Criminal Justice, Class 19

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criminal justice

Criminal Justice, Class 19

[OOC: Quiz on Thursday. As always, you'll have until next Tuesday to do it if something comes up this week, but I'd like to get all of them in by Saturday. Today's topic was kindly provided by

can_be_more a few weeks ago. I just didn't have a chance to use it until now. And I'm putting out an open call: if you have any movies/TV shows you'd like to see adapted for this class, send me an e-mail and let me know your idea. Most of the best classes have actually come from me running with something someone else mentioned. Class Info Post that is in desperate need of an update.]

*Tick is sitting behind his desk. He may look slightly distracted. This may be because of the sheet of paper on his desk. At the very least, he seems to be concerned about something. Lockheed is on his normal shelf. He looks slightly embarrassed about something.*

Hello, class! A couple orders of business to take care of before today's discussion. First, Rory has posted the grades for your projects on the wall. You all did very well and took great advantage of the extra credit opportunities that were provided to you! That was definitely the proof that I was hoping for that you're all getting something out of this class! You took a problem, looked at it logically, made notes on the logic, and then you gave the whole thing a spin that was all you! If you have a problem that typical solutions won't take care of, then you have to look for an atypical solution. You did just that, even if your solution wasn't successful. The important thing is that you expanded your minds! Well done, chums!

Second, remember, there will be a quiz on Thursday. Three questions, all short essay. After that, we're looking at one more lap around the track before we get to our Final Exam in a few weeks!

Okay, so today's class is back to the Real World. I've read some troublesome ~~film reviews~~ reports from the 1980s about a certain class from a big city's police academy. *The Tick stood up and passed out copies of these reports to the class before returning to his desk.* Apparently, this city was in desperate need of new police officers, so they drastically lowered the requirements for joining the police force.

Some of the most prominent members of the class resulting from this included a con man, a man with the superhuman ability to parrot just about any noise, an unusually tall and strong florist, a small, generally quiet woman with some drastic anger management issues, and a gun enthusiast who was perhaps a bit too enthusiastic. This class of cadets was led by a lieutenant who displayed nothing but open disregard for all of them.

The important thing is that this group had managed to pool their forces to save their city several times - as well as, for some reason, Moscow once - but it seems to me that there are other ways of bolstering a police force during times of need besides lowering your criteria for officers and hoping for the best. Don't get me wrong, these people sound like a good group, but I suspect that they'd be better suited to non-official law enforcement, like superheroing. They're definitely colorful enough for that!

So, class, the discussion topic for today is how would you strengthen a police force that is in need of officers to this degree? And if you think the method used in the case you just learned about is appropriate, by all means, defend it!

This week's Extra Credit is to bring in something whimsical for the classroom. I have recently come to the conclusion that we need more whimsy in here, and I'd like you to help out with that. *With that, Tick pulled a green cocktail umbrella out of his desk and placed it in the pencil holder on his desk.*

Okay, class! Get discussing!

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"~~There's no such thing as too enthusiastic.~~ I think at that point I would hire out other people to police the streets," Aeryn says. "Not so much for mercenary work, but these people don't seem serious about their work, and that's not going to help anything."

"So you're suggesting hiring people who are more serious than these cadets, but appealing to their desire for money instead of their hunger for Justice? That is one reasonable solution, but of course, you have to be careful just in case somebody else offers them more money."

"No, the desire for money would make it a mercenary situation. I mean bringing people in who actually care about the work and want to do something to help," she clarifies. ~~"I'm not a mercenary, zomg."~~

"Okay, so in lieu of a police force, you would use concerned citizens to help out? Not unlike Marty's Safe Walk volunteers, really. Is that more what you're suggesting?"

"More or less. There would probably have to be some form of payment involved, but volunteers would definitely help. Just make sure they're qualified and they'll probably do the job better."

"Of course! Very good solution, Aeryn!"

Jaye starts plotting her whimsy.

"It's just like in the book by ~~that possible guy~~, where he says ~~stuff that proves my point~~."

"Bringing previous discussion into it? Well done, Jaye! Excellent point!"

Jaye wins for the day.

Noting that Jaye hadn't seen her project grade (http://www.livejournal.com/community/fandomhigh/358828.html?thread=17155500#t17155500) yet, Tick leaned in and said, "By the way, your project was good, but you would have gotten a better grade if you hadn't been so eager to kill the Road Runner."

Jaye sighs. "But he would have gotten what he deserved, Mr. The Tick sir! The rasserfrackingroaojsfjahfdjhfsdgkdf."

"The rules still said that you weren't supposed to make an attempt on his life, though."

"Oh."

Pause.

"Really?"

Blink.

"My bad."

"That's okay. Your grades are more than high enough to make up for this recent bloodlust." Tick grinned widely.

"Easy solution: Put more Krispy Kreme doughnut shops in high crime areas. All the cops will be right where the action is, no need to hire additional police officers."

"Yeah, but will they actually leave the doughnut shop when something happens?"

"Attracting the current officers to the places where they're most needed? Excellent idea!"

Archie sits in the back of the class, not saying anything, just listening to the discussion and trying to get himself back into the flow of things.

He is, however, trying to come up with something very whimsical.

When Tick found a moment to do so, he walked over to Archie and smiled. "Glad to see you back in class, chum! About the essay I mentioned... If you could write a short essay about how views of Justice have changed from your time to now, I'll count you as all caught up! It only has to be a couple pages, but if you write more, I'll give you some extra credit!"

[OOC: You don't have to actually write it unless you REALLY want to. Just a "turned it in" will work for me.]

Rory shuffles in, looking haggard and looking uncharacteristically untidy (but wearing her utility belt), and tapes the grades next to the door:

time_agent:

aka_vala:

oatmanspatient &

janet_fraiser:

cameronmitchell:

fates_jaye:

can_be_more:

emo_padawan:

Tick noticed that he had messed up the grades slightly and put a next to Jaye's grade.

Then he saw Rory's appearance. Having been in his classroom since early this morning, he hadn't heard any news. "Are you okay, Rory?" he asked.

Rory glanced up at him in confusion. "Didn't you hear the press release, sir?"

"No, actually. I've been in here all morning. I really should get a radio for the classroom..."

Lockheed turned to the conversation, listening intently.

Rory shook her head, chewing on her lower lip.

"Sheriff Lamb says Angelus did it. Killed Kitty, I mean," she added, with a quick look of concern in Lockheed's direction.

Lockheed just stared off into the distance. It seemed as though he was deliberately avoiding anyone's gaze.

"Oh," Tick said simply. He had no idea how to react to this news. "Has he been arrested?"

"Lamb says he fled the island," Rory replied sadly. "I don't think he did it, sir. The sheriff...well, I interviewed him, for the paper, and he's...well, he's not a competent man."

"Really?" Tick didn't know Angelus outside of the way he fought the zombies, so he had no method of judging for himself. And even if he could judge, there was a way things had to be done... Fleeing didn't inspire much confidence in Tick.

"If you're right, Rory, I have faith that you'll be proven so."

Lockheed stole a glance at Rory. He was... unsure.

Rory nodded. "I just...I can't believe he would do this. He was so upset when he found out about Kitty. And Lamb's been wrong a lot before. Ver- the person who helped him with this has made some pretty major mistakes with accusations before."

She shrugged, looking over at Lockheed. "They'll find who really did it, and Angelus can come back. I don't blame him for leaving. I mean, there'd be lynch mobs after him if he'd stayed."

Tick's antennae twitched at Rory's near-miss with the name. If she almost said what he thought she almost said, then he might actually have something to work with to form his own opinion. But this wasn't the time for that.

"He should still be here, though. He would be safe with the police. He should work within the system. I do hope you're right about Angelus, though. He did seem like a good lad the one time I met him."

"He is," Rory says sincerely. "He's a good friend, and he's been there for me when I really needed him. And he would never do this. He cared about Kitty."

She sighed, and shook her head sadly. "I just really hope they get this sorted out so he can come back. If I figure out a way to contact him wherever he is, I'll try to get him to come back."

"Thank you, Rory."

Tick almost didn't want to say what he said next, but he wouldn't be able to deal with himself if he didn't. "Trusting you and assuming that he is innocent, he might be scared. If you do contact him and he's scared, he might make a mistake while trying to protect himself. Please, be careful of any mistakes. Just... be careful," Tick said with a voice full of concern.

Rory offered a lopsided smile. "Thanks, sir. I'll be on my guard, in any case. I mean, even if Angelus is innocent...that means someone else did kill Kitty. And that person probably won't like me trying to clear Angelus's name. So...I'm going to be careful."

"Good," Tick said, slightly relieved. "You can take the rest of class off if you'd like. You look like you could use a little time to yourself."

"Thank you, sir," Rory said, visibly sagging with gratitude. "I'm going to try to do some research to prove his innocence, if I can. And maybe get a nap in, since I'm kind of tired. This whole thing is exhausting."

"Get some rest, Rory," Tick said, carefully neglecting the rest of it.

He had some suspicions. Not enough to do more than give Rory a very general warning. If he went farther than that, he might alienate her. He couldn't deal with that right now on top of everything else.

A tiny, familiar, wooden voice inside Tick's head said, I'll be back soon.

Aeryn blinks. "Keen plus plus?"

"You really earned it, Aeryn!"

Jedi, as a group, weren't known for their whimsy, so Anakin scrunched up his forehead as he tried to come up with something suitable for class.

Shaking his head, he turned to the task at hand. He had decided that the man who made the sounds was the most annoying being he had encountered after Jar-Jar.

"Additional recruiting could be valuable," he began, "but perhaps there also needs to be an examination of the organization itself. Maybe the leadership is making any potential employees decide on a different avenue to persue their love of Justice." He shrugged. "If I had met the guy with the sound effects, I'm pretty sure I would've explored a different place to work rather than deal with that all day long."

"Once the organization is more settled, recruiting and retaining officers who aren't quite as...eccentric...might be easier."

"Very good analysis, Anakin! when the leaders are willing to go through such methods, it may be an indication that the leadership isn't up to snuff!"

"They are a mountain. The recruits and officers make up the base of the mountain, but if the leaders at the top topple in an Avalanche of Unworthiness, the mountain in uninhabitable to all! Good call, chum!"

*has a clever idea* (Sorry, no clever ideas.)

*Discusses clever ideas* [That's perfectly okay. Showing up and mentioning discussing is good enough for me. Actual discussion is just a great bonus that I usually get.]

Cameron tries to use as many spoon metaphors in his explanation as he can.

[OOC: Don't worry about it. I'm happy as long as you throw something out there, even if it is something like that. Actually, I almost prefer this, because then I get to make up the dialogue in my head.]

[It involves kittens, a waterslide, Ride of the Valkyries, and a very fat man. I'll never be able to think of Cam the same way again.]

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Criminal Justice, Class 19

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