Police officer Chen Shu

Chapter 217 Still Need to Solve the Case
Zhengming Branch, Deputy Director's Office
Director Zhang stood by the floor-to-ceiling window next to his desk, his hands behind his back.

In the small hall, liaison officer Xiao Li stood to one side, holding a report in his hand. Several mid-level cadres from the bureau sat on the sofa, silently watching him.

"Everyone!"

Director Zhang's sharp eyes swept over the seated officials, and he said in a deep voice, "This is the situation regarding the public opinion incident involving the police. What are your thoughts?"

As is customary, Director Wu of the Political Department spoke first: "Every time a police-related incident is exposed, the public always has the urge to know the truth as soon as possible. If we, as the authorities, cannot occupy the high ground of public opinion and explain the situation clearly to the public in a timely manner, then it is tantamount to creating space for rumors and gossip, and the public may be indiscriminate in their consumption. With this ebb and flow, the situation will only get worse."

"I agree with Director Wu's opinion, and I would like to add something."

All eyes turned to a middle-aged policeman wearing thick glasses.

He pondered for a moment: "The police report can be issued simultaneously, but we need to suppress the online momentum first. The most urgent task now is to contact several local media outlets and forums in Dongzhou and delete the posts that need to be deleted, and try to cool things down as much as possible."

Director Zhang nodded: "Wang Lin, this is a business that your internet monitoring department is familiar with, so I'll leave this matter to you."

Wang Da hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Director Zhang, is it full control or partial guidance?"

"Deleted them all."

"Yes."

At that moment, Director Zhang noticed an official sitting on the sofa, fidgeting and hesitant to speak.

Director Zhang looked at the other person and asked, "Zhang Yi, what are your thoughts?"

The cadre known as Zhang Yi sat up straight: "Director Zhang, actually, a few days ago someone reported to our complaint center about Chen Shu assaulting someone, and I also sent people to their office to investigate."

Director Zhang paused slightly, then said seriously, "Someone has already reported this to your inspection team? Please continue."

Zhang Yi nodded: "Yes. After our investigation, we found that the man who was beaten in the video was a robber caught in the act, and he did not have any minor injuries or more serious injuries. Therefore, we terminated the investigation into Chen Shu. We also provided feedback and explanation to the whistleblower."

"The other party is not satisfied?"

Zhang Yi continued, "It seems so at the moment. So I think this public opinion outburst was purposeful. If we forcibly shut down all media channels, the other side will have no outlet for their venting and will look for other avenues. After all, there are too many social media platforms now, and we can't control a significant portion of them."

“Explain your solution.”

Zhang Yi glanced awkwardly at a police officer in his fifties who was sitting in the corner listening attentively, and said, "I agree with Director Wu and Wang Da's initial approach: contact local media to control public opinion, and then issue a formal police report to stabilize public sentiment."

He paused, glanced at the corner again, swallowed hard, and said in a deep voice, "Then sacrifice the pawn to save the king."

After Zhang Yi presented his solution, a commotion immediately erupted in a corner of the office.

The previously tense office atmosphere was suddenly broken.

Zeng Hong, the instructor of Zhongshan Police Station, who had been sitting silently in the corner since the beginning of the meeting, could no longer care about avoiding suspicion and jumped up to yell, "Old Zhang, what car did you steal? Explain yourself!"

"I'm doing this for my company!"

"Bullshit! With this kind of approach, you'll immediately demoralize the men under you. From now on, you inspectors can handle all the cases!"

"Isn't this all your station's fault? Now you've dragged the whole bureau into this, and you still think you're right?" "Heh, have you ever arrested anyone? Do you even know how to arrest someone? You clueless old man, all you do is spout nonsense!"

Zeng Hong and Zhang Yi were arguing fiercely, both of them red in the face. Several people nearby joined in, offering their opinions and trying to calm them down, and the office was soon filled with a buzzing sound.

"Shut up, all of you!" Director Zhang slammed his hand on the desk.

The office fell silent immediately.

"Wang Lin, go and delete all the posts. Zhang Yi, go and prepare a police report saying that the bureau's inspection team has launched an investigation. Zeng Hong, go back and keep a close eye on everyone; make sure no more problems arise!"

"Ok."

"understood."

Director Zhang waved his hand to adjourn the meeting, walked behind his desk, sat down, lowered his head, pinched his brow, and sighed softly.

If such public opinion involving the police is not handled properly, it can easily become like an out-of-control flood, not only directly erasing the hard work and achievements of the bureau over the past year, but also potentially stripping a whole line of leading cadres within the system of their positions.

When the meeting ended, everyone except Zeng Hong left quickly, not wanting to offend Director Zhang at this time. In no time, only Director Zhang, Xiao Li, and Zeng Hong remained in the office.

Just as Zeng Hong was about to say something to Director Zhang, he was gently pulled back by Li, the liaison officer standing to the side.

Xiao Li looked directly into Zeng Hong's eyes, slowly shook his head, and said softly, "Instructor Zeng, let Director Zhang rest for a while. We can talk about it later."

Zeng Hong glanced at the dejected Director Zhang, sighed, and retreated dejectedly.

Xiao Li walked to the water dispenser, filled a glass with water, and placed it on Director Zhang's desk: "Director Zhang, should we call Chen Shu to the bureau for standby duty? In case of any situation, we can respond immediately."

"Okay, go ahead and do it."

Branch office, first floor lobby

Zeng Hong stood anxiously at the door waiting for Chen Shu.

Earlier, Xiao Li came out of Director Zhang's office and told Zeng Hong, who had been waiting outside the door, about notifying Chen Shu to come to the bureau.

Zeng Hong was worried that Chen Shu would be under pressure, so he went downstairs early to wait for him.

After a while, Zeng Hong saw Chen Shuzheng leisurely strolling towards them, carrying a bag of things.

He sighed, put on a stern face, and asked, "We're in a real crisis right now, why are you taking so long? What have you been doing?"

Chen Shu smiled and picked up the large red plastic bag in his hand: "I went next door and bought some fruit. I was thinking it's been a long time since I visited Master Li from the Legal Affairs Department, so I took this opportunity to buy some things and go visit him. Hehe, you see, the year-end law enforcement supervision is almost here."

Zeng Hong was both amused and exasperated. Then, recalling Zhang Yi's earlier statement about "sacrificing the pawn to save the king," he couldn't help but sigh, "Think carefully. Don't you know why we called you here? You're practically a celebrity in Dongzhou now! If this isn't handled properly, you might lose your newly promoted position!"

Chen Shu put down the bag, smiled, and said, "So what if I take it? It's no big deal. After I'm done, I still have to work on the case, don't I?"

(End of this chapter)