I’m watching season 1 of “The Wire” and last night I saw something I thought was weird. The unit gets a call that they’ve eyeballed Barksdale (the big drug dealer) at this big event playground basketball game. So the rest of the crew heads out from the office to try to follow him. I’ve got no problem with this up to a point, which brings me to my question:
Lt. Daniels (the leader of that unit or the case, I’m not sure which), is actually driving one of the follow cars. Would a police lieutenant (of Pierce’s caliber) actually be out driving a chase car? It seems to me that it would be more reasonable for him to be back running the office and coordinating from there. So, what’s the Straight Dope? Is it realistic for him to be out on the street or not?
I personally know one Lt. who acts as a Major’s chauffeur on a regular basis.
Additionally the Major Crimes Unit in The Wire is relatively small and in the first season consists of only detectives and the lieutenant as their supervisor/commanding officer with no noticeable Office In Charge. If something serious were to happen during the pursuit, police involved shooting, a shooting of any kind, car accident, it would look very bad if he were not present.
Not typically but sometimes. The smaller the unit, the more likely the Lieu would be needed to tail the perp. This is esp true if the other guys on the team had been made or just seen too often.
Very interesting. I think I might be giving Pierce too much credit because I watched Season 4 before I started at the beginning, so I know how his character arc is going.
Thanks for the replies. Any others would be welcome.
I recently left working with a Federal law enforcement agency (I was contracted and left for a better gig) that specifically deals in drug enforcement (that ought to narrow it down to, ummm… one). We had a lot of state and local law enforcement guys (most of them really excellent at what they do, by the way - often better than the Feds) and several of them were lieutenants. They went out on the streets just like everyone else. In a setting like that, they serve as deputized Federal agents (with the same arrest privileges as Special Agents, and even Federal badges that specify that they are Task Force Officers, or TFOs, instead of S/As). The TFO program was (and is) vital in that it provides local knowledge, access to informants, and often the balls of a street cop who’s been through some things most Feds haven’t.