Police officer Chen Shu

Chapter 228 Zhang Yang's Thoughts

4 PM, Zhongshan Police Station Conference Room

Chen Shu convened a mobilization meeting with the police officers of the security team.

Those attending the meeting included police officers Li Chaoyang, Wang Chongming, Liu Zhongwu, and Lao Ding from the public security team, as well as trainee police officer Xu Lei.

Chen Shu sat at the head of the conference table: "Tomorrow we will arrange an operation to crack down on gang crimes. Please refer to the materials below for specific case information, especially the personnel photo album, please take good notes. Next, I will explain the arrangements for this operation."

"The target of this crackdown was Lekou Technology Company located in Room B, 13th Floor, Building 1, Xingyun Commercial Building. According to the investigation, the company may be involved in predatory lending practices, and the company has no fewer than ten employees."

Cases classified as "loan sharking" may involve charges of fraud as the primary offense, but also extortion, affray, or illegal detention.

In investigating loan sharking cases that are reported by the public, a special situation often arises.

That is, the company involved did not engage in deception or violent debt collection, but its interest rates were too high. When borrowers did not want to repay the loan, they reported the case to the police under the pretext of predatory lending. In that case, it can only be considered usury.

The practice of lending money at exorbitant interest rates has only been classified as a criminal offense in the last two years due to predatory lending schemes; it was not criminalized earlier.

"The operation is tentatively scheduled for 2 PM tomorrow. I will lead the team, and the other participants will be Wang Chongming, Li Chaoyang, and Liu Zhongwu. Xu Lei will accompany Li Chaoyang and must not act alone. Wang Chongming will be responsible for contacting and arranging the plainclothes team members."

As he spoke, Chen Shu put down the meeting materials in his hand and said with a smile to Lao Ding, "Master Ding, I know you just finished your shift yesterday. But we're short-staffed right now, so we'll need you to cover for the shift tomorrow. After the case is closed, I'll give you two days off as compensation, is that alright?"

Old Ding smiled and waved his hand: "Chief Chen, you guys go about your business, I'll take care of the shifts at the station."

Chen Shu glanced around and asked, "Does anyone have a question?"

Wang Chongming raised his hand: "Director Chen, what is the maximum number of people to be considered?"

Unless the incident is sudden, the situation is urgent, and the lives and property of ordinary people are under great threat, the police have a complete plan for arresting criminal suspects, especially regarding the ratio of the two individuals.

Generally, this ratio is around 1:3. That is, if you want to arrest a criminal suspect, the number of police officers should not be less than three. However, in reality, due to a shortage of police resources, a ratio of 1:2 is more common.

Of course, prostitution and gambling are separate issues.

Chen Shu pondered for a moment: "Brother Wang, besides the officers on duty, just bring all your team members over. If that's still not enough, you can contact me privately, and I'll borrow some people from the video surveillance team. As for compensatory leave, it will all be arranged at the beginning of the month."

"Who has any more questions?"

"Okay, Li Chaoyang, stay. Meeting adjourned."

As the end of the workday approached, everyone rushed to pack up and go home. After the meeting, with the creaking sound of chairs being dragged along, less than half a minute later, only Chen Shu and Li Chaoyang remained in the meeting room.

Chen Shu gestured for Li Chaoyang to sit closer.

"Chaoyang, apart from the two of us who are relatively young, the rest of the security team members are all getting on in years. So, I'd like to assign you to lead Xu Lei in on-site reconnaissance for tomorrow's operation, is that alright?"

“No problem!” Li Chaoyang replied without hesitation.

“Investigation, investigation. Besides investigation, there’s also handling. I’ll have them take on more responsibility for handling the follow-up cases.” Li Chaoyang laughed and said, “Senior brother, it’s alright. We’ll just follow the old rules. It’s normal for young people to do more work. Everyone has gone through this process. If we’re really talking about it, you, as the leader, might have done the most.”

Chen Shu smiled with satisfaction.

Li Chaoyang continued, "I'm fine with this. But Xu Lei is still an intern, wouldn't it be a bit risky to let him play?"

Xu Lei was a trainee police officer assigned to the Zhengming District Branch by the Provincial Police Academy. Logically, his personnel should still belong to the Provincial Police Department, and he shouldn't be doing these potentially dangerous tasks. Normally, the station would assign them to the duty room to take statements from ordinary citizens reporting crimes, or to accompany regular police officers during interrogations.

Chen Shu nodded: "Theoretically, it would be best and safest to let Xu Lei stay at the station to give his statement. However, I think we should take them out to see the world when we have the chance. Firstly, it would be nice to change their work environment and get some fresh ideas. Secondly, we also came from internships, so we know what they're thinking right now."

"Well, Xu Lei is just a college student. When we go to investigate, the company staff might invite us upstairs to process the loan application, which would save us the trouble of breaking and turning."

Before Chen Shu could finish speaking, Li Chaoyang interrupted him with a chuckle.

In a single operation, besides the mission itself, Chen Shu had to consider the veteran officers on duty, the auxiliary police officers' compensatory leave, the age of other officers, and the psychological state of the trainee officers.
All this miscellaneous stuff!

Li Chaoyang covered his mouth with one hand and couldn't help but laugh, while gently tapping the table with the other: "Senior brother, being a person must be so tiring."

Late at night, in the conference room of Dongzhou TV Station.
A middle-aged woman, over forty years old but still radiant, sat at the head of the conference table, on which was a business card holder with the words "Director" in black on a red background. Her hands were placed flat on the table, and although her tone was calm, she exuded an air of official authority.

"Xiao Yang, are you sure you want to give up the currently popular 'Yang Says the News' and start a new legal program?"

The person sitting to the right of the middle-aged woman is Zhang Yang, the host of "Yang Says News".

She raised her hand to tuck her hair behind her ear and said, "Sister Li, my childhood dream has been to host a legal program that belongs to me and to the people. But dreams are often grand, while reality is harsh. After all these years, for various reasons, I still haven't gotten close to my dream."

Sister Li pondered for a moment and said, "Let's not talk about the program's ratings for now. You said you wanted to host a legal program, but as someone with a background in broadcasting and hosting, do you really understand the law? You're only slightly better than the average person at legal knowledge, so can you be sure you won't make a mistake when you try to host a legal program?"

Seeing Zhang Yang deep in thought, Sister Li paused for a moment, picked up the porcelain cup on the table, took a sip, and continued, "We are public media. In addition to facing millions of people in Dongzhou City, we are also being watched by a bunch of enterprises, institutions, and government units. If there is even the slightest problem with our 'statement,' the consequences will be unimaginable."

Zhang Yang's mind wandered for a moment. In the serious atmosphere of the discussion, she suddenly remembered the young police officer with the resolute face.

He's probably busy working overtime right now, planning tomorrow's arrest operation.

His response to the inspector's questions was so cool! Looking back now, it was all about his sense of responsibility and professionalism.

That sentence was very simple, just four words.

"I'm a police officer! Ah, no! I mean, as a journalist, I should have a social responsibility," Zhang Yang hurriedly explained.

"You don't have any connection with the police officers at that police station, do you?" Sister Li interrupted, squinting her eyes and scrutinizing her.

"No, no," Zhang Yang quickly shook his head.

Sister Li nodded, somewhat uneasy.

(End of this chapter)