follow department procedure to restrain the arrestee, which means I have to put cuffs on you, so I can take
you to the station in safety. And after I book you, then of course you’ll be allowed to call your lawyer, or in this case,
your mommy.”
The boy put his hands behind him but suddenly stiffened his legs, shoving his back against the seat. Reseta quickly grabbed
the boy’s lower lip, twisted, and pulled. The boy instantly came away from the seat, his eyes filling with tears.
“Last warnin’, kid. Don’t do anything like that again, you hear me? ’Cause if you think that hurt, that was nothin’. If you
understand me, just nod your head, don’t say nothin’, okay?”
The boy struggled to stop his tears. He nodded, his lower lip quivering.
Reseta put the cuffs on, then shut the back door, went to the front seat and got a nylon leg restraint out of his gear bag.
Then he went back, opened the rear door and said, “Alright, Joseph, do exactly what I say. Put your feet and knees together
and swing your legs out.”
“What’s that for?”
“Gonna say it once more. Pay attention. Put your feet and knees together and swing your legs out.”
“You gonna hit me with that? You can’t hit me, you ain’t allowed.”
“Oh believe me, Joseph, nothin’ I would love more than to give you the beatin’ you deserve, but what I’m tryin’ to do is restrain
your legs with this strap so, number one, you don’t hurt yourself or, number two, you don’t damage any part of this vehicle
on the way to the station. Now we gonna do this easy or hard—which?”
“Why you have to do that?”
“Because, my little son of a lawyer, City Council got tired of havin’ their vehicles in the shop because fellas like you get
to thinkin’ how much fun it is to kick the seats and the windows and the door handles, and things get broken and have to be
repaired, which takes the vehicle out of service. So the Safety Committee of City Council issued a policy directive that says
anytime a person’s in custody in police vehicles, officers shall, in addition to restraining their subjects hands, also restrain
their legs with the appropriate device, which the city bought for this purpose, and that’s what this strap is here. You satisfied
with that explanation, or would you like to read the policy directive yourself?”
What Reseta wouldn’t allow himself to say was that if he had to get in his briefcase to get that policy directive, when they
got back to the station he was also going to get his baton and whack his current arrestee across the shins so hard he wouldn’t
need to use a telephone to call his lawyer, she’d be able to hear him even if she worked in Pittsburgh.
“You know you ain’t allowed to hit me. My mother says you ain’t.”
Little prick’s a mind reader, Reseta thought. More likely, he’s taken this ride before.
Joseph Maguire continued to try to glare defiantly up at Reseta, but it wasn’t easy with tears on his cheeks and mucus bubbling
at his nose. After a moment he tried to rub his nose on his shoulder, then put his knees together and swung his legs out.
Reseta stood to the boy’s right, pushed against the boy’s right knee with his left hand and used his right hand to loop the
nylon strap over the boy’s Nikes and work it up his legs to above his knees, where he cinched the loop tight and told the
boy to swing his legs back in. Reseta then positioned the other end of the strap so the door could close on it, thus pinning
the boy’s thighs to the seat. As far as Reseta was concerned, these leg restraints were worth a hundred times the eleven bucks
apiece they cost the city.
“We better be goin’ to the station, you better not be takin’ me anyplace else,” the boy said when Reseta returned to the car
after checking with the EMTs and getting the victim’s name, age, address, home phone number, and his mother’s name.
“Must be true what they say
you to the station in safety. And after I book you, then of course you’ll be allowed to call your lawyer, or in this case,
your mommy.”
The boy put his hands behind him but suddenly stiffened his legs, shoving his back against the seat. Reseta quickly grabbed
the boy’s lower lip, twisted, and pulled. The boy instantly came away from the seat, his eyes filling with tears.
“Last warnin’, kid. Don’t do anything like that again, you hear me? ’Cause if you think that hurt, that was nothin’. If you
understand me, just nod your head, don’t say nothin’, okay?”
The boy struggled to stop his tears. He nodded, his lower lip quivering.
Reseta put the cuffs on, then shut the back door, went to the front seat and got a nylon leg restraint out of his gear bag.
Then he went back, opened the rear door and said, “Alright, Joseph, do exactly what I say. Put your feet and knees together
and swing your legs out.”
“What’s that for?”
“Gonna say it once more. Pay attention. Put your feet and knees together and swing your legs out.”
“You gonna hit me with that? You can’t hit me, you ain’t allowed.”
“Oh believe me, Joseph, nothin’ I would love more than to give you the beatin’ you deserve, but what I’m tryin’ to do is restrain
your legs with this strap so, number one, you don’t hurt yourself or, number two, you don’t damage any part of this vehicle
on the way to the station. Now we gonna do this easy or hard—which?”
“Why you have to do that?”
“Because, my little son of a lawyer, City Council got tired of havin’ their vehicles in the shop because fellas like you get
to thinkin’ how much fun it is to kick the seats and the windows and the door handles, and things get broken and have to be
repaired, which takes the vehicle out of service. So the Safety Committee of City Council issued a policy directive that says
anytime a person’s in custody in police vehicles, officers shall, in addition to restraining their subjects hands, also restrain
their legs with the appropriate device, which the city bought for this purpose, and that’s what this strap is here. You satisfied
with that explanation, or would you like to read the policy directive yourself?”
What Reseta wouldn’t allow himself to say was that if he had to get in his briefcase to get that policy directive, when they
got back to the station he was also going to get his baton and whack his current arrestee across the shins so hard he wouldn’t
need to use a telephone to call his lawyer, she’d be able to hear him even if she worked in Pittsburgh.
“You know you ain’t allowed to hit me. My mother says you ain’t.”
Little prick’s a mind reader, Reseta thought. More likely, he’s taken this ride before.
Joseph Maguire continued to try to glare defiantly up at Reseta, but it wasn’t easy with tears on his cheeks and mucus bubbling
at his nose. After a moment he tried to rub his nose on his shoulder, then put his knees together and swung his legs out.
Reseta stood to the boy’s right, pushed against the boy’s right knee with his left hand and used his right hand to loop the
nylon strap over the boy’s Nikes and work it up his legs to above his knees, where he cinched the loop tight and told the
boy to swing his legs back in. Reseta then positioned the other end of the strap so the door could close on it, thus pinning
the boy’s thighs to the seat. As far as Reseta was concerned, these leg restraints were worth a hundred times the eleven bucks
apiece they cost the city.
“We better be goin’ to the station, you better not be takin’ me anyplace else,” the boy said when Reseta returned to the car
after checking with the EMTs and getting the victim’s name, age, address, home phone number, and his mother’s name.
“Must be true what they say
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