Could This Happen? Is It Realistic?

Question

One of my characters is a female police officer. She's a rookie; only been on the job for two years working in a small town without much action. She calls in a homicide--the first homicide she's worked--and she's the only witness to a fleeing suspect. But it was raining that night and the suspect was wearing a hoodie. She didn't see much of him.

Dispatch calls a detective to the area who's a bit of a jerk to her. Perturbed, she tells the Detective, "I'll know the suspect when I see him" though it's a lie. The only real clue is that the suspect most likely attends a particular high school. So she goes looking for him there.

The next day she goes down to the school and gets there early. She goes to the office, looks through the last school yearbook just as a kid comes in. She overhears this kid talking with the secretary. He's new. This is his first day at school. He only recently moved into the area. The only person he knows is his sister who already attends....so she talks to him. Asks him if he can keep an eye out for anyone who might seem dangerous.

Of course she doesn't realize that this kid is the suspect, because why would a new kid who just moved into the area kill someone he doesn't know?


Does this make sense. Would a police officer...a rookie under pressure from a superior...ask help from a civilian?

Wesley B · Accepted Answer

A civilian? Maybe.
An *underage* civilian she may be putting in harms way? No.

Especially not if the person fit the suspect's description in any way. (No way she's gonna say "well, he's the same height, build, weight, and age, but because he's new he couldn't have done it so I'll take him into my confidence." She'd be a TERRIBLE cop if she did and I wouldn't feel for her as a character if she made such an obviously flawed decision). 
Besides, in a town where nothing happens and something suddenly happens, the new people are almost always going to be the first suspected. If you hung out with a bunch of friends for a year and nothing happened and then the first time a new kid comes to hang out with you your iPod gets stolen, are you really going to think "they're new, couldn't have been them" or would you think "nothing like this has ever happened UNTIL that new kid showed up..."

Finesse · Answer

I don't think so, because him being new to town wouldn't absolve him of any suspicions whatsoever. In fact, her just overhearing his conversation would be a clue for me, I mean just the fact that it's included would mean that it's significant, and then if she interprets it as proof she can trust him, I would immediately suspect him because it seems like the proper place for a twist. My assumptions would be filled, wouldn't they, so that's not very good drama. But I do see what you're after, a cop who doesn't know better makes a desperate move that backfires--I liked it, the problem is I see right through it though. I'd have it so that this town the story takes place in has a troublesome neighbourhood, for lack of a better term, where there are gangs and a lot of really bad stuff. A kid from one of the gang families is trying to better himself and get into a school in the nice district to get out of the gang life. This kid is the cousin of some of the higher ups in the gang, so he's in a tough position, but he has his own reasons (the gang got his parents arrested/killed, leaving him to take care of his siblings?). The cop knows the gang is responsible for the killings. Perhaps she is at the school in the gang district for some other task, like one of those awareness things that they always do, when she overhears the kid arguing with the secretary about letting him transfer out, though she is telling him that he doesn't have the money for the other school. She gets the bright idea to solve the mystery on her own time by getting the kid to go undercover to root out the murderers with her at his back, with the promise of some sort of scholarship being awarded and good material for college applications and stuff. He accepts, thinking it'll be an easy way to earn the money he needs before the cut offs for the fall term, but little does he know that she's making him spy on his own family. That's how I'd set up cop and informant, although I'd switch the genders and put a bit of a love story in there too between them and tell it from the student's perspecitve.

Elaine M · Answer

They wouldn't say that, it's not how they're trained. If she could not give an ID she won't know him when she sees him again. Especially as high schools have way too many kids with the same body types.  And no, a cop won't ask that of a kid, police are 'removed' from the action, they do not ask civilians, much less underage kids, to do their job.  They can lose their job over it.

Anonymous · Answer

To make it a bit more realistic, maybe the officer sees another kid that she suspects and the new kid happens to be in the same class as him. Her having another suspect gives her more reason to assume the new kid is innocent and a reason to warn him to keep his eye out ( for his own safety as much as to help with the case ).

gagiman · Answer

Cops do this all the time, though its more of a general "if you see anyone suspicious call me", then hand them a card

They dont really ask normal citizens to investigate things more than that usually

Lisa · Answer

The joys of fiction is that it doesn't matter if it's not 'done' in reality. What matters is that it makes sense in your novel. I think that sort of thing would happen, especially in a fiction novel & it could lead onto a lot of sub plots.

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Could This Happen? Is It Realistic?

6 Answers