W Lee Slaight is a pen name for a trial attorney with almost three decades of experience fighting the broken system of policing and advocating for reform. City To Fear was written in 2017 knowing the full story was never told nor given sufficient attention. Judges in the Courts routinely chose not to recognize discrimination and the real need for black justice, racial justice and black lives matter. Diversity in the workforce became a very slim excuse to pardon discriminatory wrongdoing while police departments broke discipline systems, methods of training and supervision by reason of corruption within the Chain of Command and a harsh systemic racism. Undue Command Influence existed throughout the ranks to cover-up conspiracy of wrongdoing, including police brutality and deadly law enforcement. Retaliation frequently existed for those police who reacted to reject the program. For those that were exposed, they were permitted to retire with full pensions and/or transition to other County or State employment and begin to stack more pension monies. Greed and cronyism was rampant.
Antiracism protests, rioting, looting, burning down the Cities, locally and on a national scale, was predictable. Media and pundits kept giving us momentary snapshots of the shootings and violence challenging Cities across the country. City To Fear was written as a tale of caution. Our leaders want to reject systemic racism and remark upon terrorism---Both notions are gaining a broader meaning by reason of the constant confrontation between the police and the public based on advancing fears and prejudice. Discrimination and retaliation are not going away until we comprehend what fuels its power base and more importantly, peddling of influence amidst the rank and file to aid and abet wrongdoing.
This is fiction or not; meant to send a strong message for the reconstruction of our law enforcement agencies. All characters and incidents have been created out of the writer’s imagination, including the City of BellePorte. The name translates as a beautiful gate meant to depict the gateway of opportunity offered to all its racial and ethnic groups. This is a remarkable City with the largest police workforce in the State. (No real individuals or environs identified so as to establish the focus and debate is universal). The terror within this City can happen anywhere.
Read the sequel, A Failed Judiciary.
