Three Major Difficulties

Hearing that there were indeed "tricky matters" at the Police Station, Shiraishi immediately perked up.

Seeing Shiraishi's expression of "eager to hear more," Ebihara didn't play coy and directly explained, "The first matter... is the safety of the station's official vehicles!"

Ebihara's expression was very serious as he said this.

Upon hearing this, Shiraishi immediately paid attention.

The police cars had safety issues?

Could it be...

The Beika Police Station's police cars had bombs planted in them?

Hiss... As expected of Beika Town!

Shiraishi had been a police officer for six years, and his own car had had bombs planted in it twice. Fortunately, his [Insight] was high enough, he discovered them in time, and his [Spirit] was strong enough, his reaction was extremely fast, and he managed to save himself...

That's how he came out unscathed!

However, Shiraishi was still very surprised when he heard about this kind of thing!

When he himself had bombs planted in his car, what kind of cases were those?

Back when Shiraishi was transferred to the "Organized Crime Department," it was right when the "Tokyo Anti-Boryokudan Act" had just been introduced. At that time, the "Organized Crime Countermeasures Section" had only recently become the "Organized Crime Department," and the management of violent organizations had become even stricter. Odagiri Toshiro thought highly of Shiraishi and requested to have him transferred over...

It could be said that Shiraishi's main career had been to strike hard against these violent organizations!

Especially in the first two years, there were many conflicts, and these organizations basically had higher-level figures behind them. Shiraishi was also the more aggressive type, often forcing his targets into a corner...

"Could it be... one of the syndicates did this?" Shiraishi's expression turned grim.

Now that the "Anti-Boryokudan Act" had been in effect for several years, the major violent organizations had shrunk in size, and fewer young people were joining. Shiraishi had thought that in a few more years, the so-called violent organizations would only consist of old men poking each other's urine bags...

He never expected that in little Beika Town, there would still be such a tough group!

Hearing this, Shiraishi's spirits rose.

After all... he was a professional when it came to dealing with violent organizations!

However...

"A syndicate? No, no... it's our own problem," Ebihara immediately shook his head.

"Ah?" Shiraishi was stunned. Was there such disharmony within the Police Station?

"These kids nowadays... especially those troublesome guys in the Criminal Affairs Division, they're always careless when they drive! Fines and repair costs are secondary, but the main thing is... you're young, you know, it's the information age! When official vehicles get violations, the public will definitely take pictures and post them online...

"It's gotten to the point where I not only have to go to TV stations to record apology videos, but I also get reprimanded by the Area Chief Superintendent at the monthly Chief's meetings. My old face, you know... tsk." Ebihara said with some resentment.

Shiraishi: ...

So, the big problem you were talking about was just too many violations by the station's official vehicles?

Hmm, coincidentally, another patrol car hit someone this morning...

Shiraishi decided not to tell Ebihara this bad news for now.

"Well, that's truly unacceptable... I wonder about the other two matters..." Shiraishi's expression stiffened as he continued to ask.

This was completely unfamiliar territory for Shiraishi. After all, just a month ago, he was fighting over a hundred thugs by himself. Now, asking him to manage the violation rate of the station's official vehicles... was a bit beyond his scope!

He could only hope for the other two matters...

"And then... sigh, last month, a Police Dog Officer passed away," Ebihara said, his mood also becoming a bit somber.

"Ah? Was it... a line of duty death?" Shiraishi was taken aback. Although it was said "passed away," they were still referred to as "officer," clearly indicating someone on duty. It was just... the surname was strange? A single surname "Dog"?

But if an on-duty officer died in the line of duty and the case hadn't been solved yet, then this was indeed a significant issue!

"No, no, no, it was a natural death. After all, the lifespan of Police Dog Officers is generally much shorter than that of their counterparts..." Ebihara quickly explained.

Shiraishi: ???

"Oh, Chief Shiraishi might not know, but we habitually call Police Dogs 'Police Dog Officers'... hahaha, after all, they're quite picky fellows," Ebihara explained when he noticed Shiraishi's strange expression.

Shiraishi: ...

Indeed, Shiraishi was unfamiliar with this.

Although the "Metropolitan Police Department" also had a dedicated Police Dog Unit under the Security Bureau, Security Division 2, Shiraishi hadn't collaborated much with the Police Dog Unit!

In the Organized Crime Department, it was mainly the General Affairs Division that handled Narcotics Countermeasures, and they often needed assistance from the Police Dog Unit.

Departments like Organized Crime Unit 3, which were responsible for "direct confrontation," rarely needed police dogs. Especially in recent years, even if they occasionally needed to search for dangerous items... Shiraishi's nose was better than a police dog's!

"We originally had four police dogs at our station, all from the same family. The one who passed away last month was the father. Now the mother, daughter, and son are all quite down... cough Of course, this matter can be resolved with time, and it doesn't affect work right now." Ebihara stopped speaking dejectedly when he saw Shiraishi was speechless.

Well, even if it affected work, there was nothing Shiraishi could do about a Police Dog Officer being depressed due to the death of a family member!

He couldn't possibly go and sniff it himself, could he?

"The last matter... hmm..." Ebihara said, glancing at Murasaki.

Murasaki stood up with a look of guilt on his face, "It is my dereliction of duty!"

"Huh?" Shiraishi looked at Murasaki in confusion. He hoped the last matter wasn't that Vice Chief Murasaki was depressed due to hair loss or something similar.

"In recent years, Beika Police Station's performance in the Metropolitan Police Department's arrest competitions and shooting competitions has consistently been at the bottom among all police stations... Especially in the arrest techniques competition, even smaller police stations rank higher than us... It's my fault!" Murasaki felt deeply ashamed.

After all, Murasaki was in charge of physical fitness and martial arts training.

However, upon hearing this, Chief Shiraishi became even more confused—Murasaki seemed so well-suited for this role!

And a large police station with over five hundred people, yet they couldn't even compare to those small police stations with a few dozen people?

From a baseline perspective, Beika Police Station should have had an easier time selecting talented individuals, right?

"This matter can't really be blamed on Vice Chief Murasaki," Ebihara said, defending him.

Ebihara then explained, "I don't know what the situation is with the Organized Crime Department right now... But in our local police stations, officers are generally very rough when confronting criminals by force.

"Detectives rely on brute strength to get the job done, but these arrest competitions aren't about fighting in a ring; they're about the skillful use of arrest equipment. Shooting is the same. I can't even remember the last time we were authorized to use firearms. We simply don't get to use them in our daily work. Many detectives have only ever fired a gun at the shooting range...

"Performance in these areas really depends on training time. The more you train, the better your results. And since mobile unit members can't participate, it's not that Vice Chief Murasaki's training is flawed, but rather... our Beika Station is just too busy!

"Even though our jurisdiction has only 320,000 residents, making our police station's staffing seem excessive, and allocated to handle the high foot traffic, the truth is we don't have enough officers!

"Based on foot traffic, we should have one to two hundred more officers. But because there are so few residents in our jurisdiction, they never approve our expansion. This leads to our officers constantly working overtime, especially patrol officers and detectives...

"Although we schedule frontline officers for one grappling technique and equipment use skills training session each week, and also require shooting practice time, even if it encroaches on the officers' limited rest time, it's still difficult to ensure training efficiency. We can't expect them to undergo high-intensity training immediately after working a night shift, can we?"

Ebihara's expression was also helpless as he spoke—essentially, this was a problem caused by insufficient manpower!

The issue was that "adding personnel" was not something a police station could decide on its own...

"Does Chief Shiraishi have any thoughts on this?" Ebihara then asked Shiraishi.

After a moment of silence, Shiraishi said, "So... can the Chief himself participate in this competition?"

Ebihara: ...

"This primarily assesses the police station's training situation. The Chief participating might not be... " Ebihara chuckled awkwardly—there was no explicit rule against it, but it wouldn't look good for you to participate personally!

"Then I have no ideas," Shiraishi said, shrugging.