Police officer Chen Shu

Chapter 81 Legal System Brigade
"Jingle Bell!"

The crisp sound of a cell phone suddenly rang out.

Chen Shu squinted, reached for his phone on the bedside table, and pressed the power button.

The phone went silent, but the constant "whooshing" sound in his head continued unabated.

Two hours of sleep is not enough.

He was still sleepy.

"Humph!"

With a determined effort, Chen Shu sat up straight, wiped his eyes a few times with his forearm, took a few breaths, and finally got up and put on his police uniform.

He glanced up at Zhu Chaoran, who was lying on his side snoring loudly on the upper bunk, picked up his phone from the bedside table, tidied his appearance in front of the large full-length mirror in the dormitory, and then tiptoed out of the dormitory.

When I went outside, I noticed that the warm sunlight was streaming through the window at the end of the corridor, covering the entire floor.

"It's a good day."

Full of confidence, Chen Shu walked briskly towards his office.

He went to the second-floor office of the crime brute force, where two thick brown kraft paper bags labeled "XXX suspected of operating a casino" were already lying quietly on his desk.

This was Wang Chongming placing the organized case file on Chen Shu's desk before Chen Shu went to the branch office for approval.

Looking at the two thick case files, it felt like I had just finished writing a two-part book.

Chen Shu picked up the heavy case file and hurriedly rushed to the Zhengming District Public Security Bureau.

When it comes to case approval, every second counts, because the fear is that you might miss the branch office duty leader who will be signing the final document when you finish the process.

At that point, you'll only be able to sit outside the leader's office and wait anxiously, or follow the leader around like a whirlwind.

General Office of the Legal Affairs Brigade, Zhengming District Public Security Bureau.

With a smile on his face, Chen Shu held a case file bag in his left hand and handed out a transparent bag with his right. He said to an old policeman sitting in a chair who was not smiling, "Teacher Li, I worked on the case all night last night and came in a hurry this morning, but I still went to 'Dongzhou Restaurant' to bring you your favorite breakfast."

Generally speaking, police officers handling cases address officers in the Legal Affairs Brigade by their surname followed by "teacher," regardless of their age.

Firstly, the police officers in the Legal Affairs Brigade all possess extensive experience in handling cases; secondly, the function of their positions is to approve and guide the police officers handling related cases; and most importantly, the third point is that they have absolute leadership authority, namely, the right to sign off.

When the police officers who reviewed the cases presented them to the branch bureau leaders for signature, the leaders wouldn't even glance at them. They would simply flip to the folded page in the case file, sign their names, and not bother asking a single question.

If they fail to review a case or there is no review process, well, forget about getting a signature, the police officers handling the case can't even get into the superior's office.

The middle-aged man, whom Chen Shu addressed as Teacher Li, couldn't keep his composure and burst out laughing: "It's true that I love the meat buns from 'Dongzhou Restaurant,' but why do I see that there are only a few fried dough sticks left in this bag?"

Chen Shuwen remained unfazed: "I was worried you'd get tired of eating their meat buns all the time, so I specially prepared a different flavor for you today."

Teacher Li swallowed hard. Although he had eaten breakfast at the branch office that morning, as Chen Shu had said, he was still craving the meat buns from the restaurant.

He pointed at Chen Shu's mouth and deliberately put on a stern face, saying, "You'd better wipe the grease off your mouth before we start the case." Chen Shu calmly pulled a few tissues from Teacher Li's desk and vigorously wiped his mouth clean, then carefully placed the case file bag on the table in front of Teacher Li.

Teacher Li pulled the case file out of the bag, picked up a pen from the side, and began to review it word by word.

The professionalism and conscientiousness of the police officers in the Legal Affairs Brigade are beyond doubt, because after the case is reviewed, they also have to sign their names and assume their share of responsibility as well as the responsibility of the branch leaders when they sign.

Police bureau-level leaders are usually very busy and cannot possibly review a case in detail or discuss it item by item with the police officers handling the case.

However, the final approval of the case requires their signature.

So in the end, it all comes down to the Legal Affairs Brigade. If it passes, it passes; the branch bureau leader signs off. If it fails, it fails! You don't even need to see the branch bureau leader.

The Legal Affairs Brigade handles quite a few cases that are turned back.

Chen Shu sat up straight and wiped the fine sweat from his forehead.

He focused his attention intently, his eyes and thoughts following the tip of Teacher Li's pen, which was pressed against the case file, ready to answer any questions Teacher Li was asking while reviewing the case.

After nearly two hours of back-and-forth battle between the legal team and Teacher Li, Chen Shu emerged unscathed.

One of the unspoken rules of the Legal Affairs Brigade is that at least one case must be returned to the police every day. The officers handling the cases below all chuckled and speculated that the pre-trial section of the Legal Affairs Brigade had no KPIs, and "returning cases" was the only way for them to demonstrate their work to their superiors.

Actually, these are just jokes people make over tea. While the teachers in the legal affairs team are supposedly vetting cases for their superiors, they are also essentially vetting cases for the police officers handling the cases.

Sometimes, those directly involved are blinded by their own perspective, and small details that the investigating police officers may overlook can lead to serious mistakes. This is where the importance of the legal officers who also have to sign the case files becomes apparent.

For the police, these are all cases, lines of text and data in case files. But for the parties involved, including victims or suspects, these can be major events that affect their entire lives.

It cannot be taken lightly or carelessly.

Absolutely, meticulously.

Because the gambling case involved a large number of people and criminal detention, the nearly two-hour legal review was actually expedited by Teacher Li, who had previously expedited the process because there had never been any mistakes in the cases submitted by Chen Shu.

Furthermore, Wang Chongming was the lead police officer in this case, so he should be the one to submit the case for review. After all, the lead officer has a deeper understanding of the case and a better idea of ​​how to proceed with it than others.

Teacher Li has already been very considerate of the Zhongshan Police Station. He knows all the officers handling cases there, as he frequently reviews their cases. However, in this particular case, apart from Wang Chongming and Chen Shu, he didn't see the signatures of any of the other officers.

He knew what was going on. This case involved so many people, yet only these two people were handling it. There were bound to be logical inconsistencies or minor errors, but it wasn't necessarily something to be brought up and ignored right now.

As Chen Shu was leaving, Teacher Li, who was sitting inside the house, mentioned it briefly.

"Chen Shu, have Wang Chongming go through the case file again before releasing the person, and make up for what needs to be added and what needs to be changed."

"Okay, I got it. Thanks, Teacher Li!"

As he left, he apologized to the colleagues from the neighboring office who had been waiting in line for a long time outside. The colleague smiled helplessly and reluctantly sent his case inside.

(End of this chapter)