Police work is not just about solving the case. It’s about navigating the rigid system and complex political waters of law enforcement. Politics can be a full-time profession for some, a forced obligation or burden for others. Yet no matter what kind of cop you are, you’re still a cop who must follow the rules or suffer severe penalties. As the UN governs all law enforcement on Earth, the LAPD’s head of command is the UN appointed Police Commissioner. The person who truly runs the show is the Chief of Police, along with the Inspector General who independently oversees Internal Affairs. All three hold court on the upper-most floor of the LAPD HQ, which you can’t even access without approval from security protecting all points of entry 24/7.
The RDU remains an autonomously run division within the LAPD’s Office of Special Operations, which also compromises the Detective Bureau, the Counter-Terrorism Bureau, the Special Operations Bureau, and the Transit Services Bureau. Many RDU officers are direct reassignments from LAPD Special Ops units, along with recruits and select appointments from the academy, specialized divisions such as Administration and Information Technology, and outside UN agencies.
Commanding Officer in Charge of the RDU is Police Deputy Chief David Holden. Few envy his job. It’s him behind the podiums at press conferences, and his ass on the line when you screw up. Most of his day is spent answering to a circle of vultures forever stalking overhead: the Commissioner, the Governor, the District Attorney, the UN, the Inspector General, the press, even Wallace Corp and other special interests. He’s also embroiled in constant internal conflicts with the other LAPD divisions who envy the freedom and funding of the RDU.
Old Iron Lung is a legend from the old days, and Holden has been the one-man army keeping the RDU afloat for years. He’s also usually your Reporting Officer, receiving regular updates on any open investigations, though ROs may hail from other LAPD divisions or outside agencies depending on the case particulars. In truth, little has changed in the RDU since its foundation. Including the people. Being a cop has always been a family business, and there are RDU legacies and rivalries spanning for generations. There are old-timers like Holden, Gaff, and McCoy who used the first V-K machines and took down the last N-6s. Living embodiments of the trenchcoat-toting cultural icons burnt into public memory.
And yet a new era is dawning. From the cutting-edge Crime Lab to the new generation of hot shot recruits reared on Blade Runner fables and drunk on dreams of future grandeur, the face of the RDU grows fresher and fiercer by the day. And that was before Wallace’s N-9 Blade Runner fleet showed up. Even the Chief was broadsided by that masterful move on the Go board by Wallace, but while many at the RDU balked at first, the steep increase in conviction rates and retirements since bringing them on speaks for their prowess and determination. The LAPD may never wholly embrace their N-9 office mates, but quite a few have already come to acknowledge (even respect) this dogged new addition to the RDU repertoire.