New York Chief of Detectives Read Free Page B

the job done in a high profile case like this one. He had just the person in mind: Captain Bryan Flannery, who was the Commanding Officer of the Manhattan North Homicide Task Force.  With a Master’s Degree in business, he was an extremely well-educated, bright and street-savvy African American.  He was 6’3” and in top shape, with a businesslike attitude. He would take no crap from anyone.
    Pat brewed some fresh coffee, and tried to select as many of the task force members as he could.  His phone rang.
    “Pat O’Connor.”
    “Hello, Chief, it’s Angie.  I’m almost at One PP.  Do you need anything?”
    “No, just come to my office.”
    “Will do, ten minutes tops.”
    “See you then.” 
    Lieutenant Angela Wilson was the executive assistant to the Chief of Detectives. She had a law degree and even taught criminal justice classes at John Jay College. She was extremely efficient and understood maneuvering through the NYPD bureaucracy as well as anyone. She was an attractive petite blond, with a fiery New York disposition, who was married to a senior New York FBI Agent.  Sometimes that helped in the Detective Bureau, when you needed to cut through federal red tape.
    There was a knock on the door, and Pat said; “Come In.”
    It was Angie Wilson.
    “Afternoon, Chief. I know you said you didn’t need anything, but I brought you a steak and cheese anyway.”
    “Thanks, let me give you some money.”
    “Forget about it, I got it ‘on the arm.’  The guy knew I was on the job and wouldn’t let me pay. He’d heard on the news about Tony Rodriguez.”
    “You better hope ‘Harry the Hatchet’ doesn’t find out about this gratuity.”
    “Well, it does have cheese on it, and you know how a rat like old Harry loves cheese.”
    Angie sat down in front of Pat’s massive desk.
    “What do we need to work on, Chief?”
    “I’m forming a task force to work this case. We need to reach out and bring about ten guys in for this.  Captain Brian Flannery, from Manhattan North Homicide will be the commander.  I know that this didn’t occur in Manhattan, but he’s worked more on-the-job homicides than anyone else in the Detective Bureau.”
    “Is he in the loop yet?”
    “No, but I’ll bring him up to speed after we get the ball rolling on the others.”
    “Where do we start, boss?”  
    “We’ll have Mary McDonald and Mike Logan from the ‘One-Oh-Seven.’ They caught the original job in Queens.  I want Karla Adams and Wilbur Stone from the US Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force. Between the two of them, they know more about cell phones and phone records than Ma Bell. Also, we’ll need a computer geek like Dennis Phillips at Cyber Crimes, and call the Real Time Crime Center to see if we can get Polly Greenburg. I want Sergeant George McBain from CSU because he’ll be the most familiar with the evidence and the crime scene, and he’s just about the most thorough guy over at CSU.  When I talk to Bryan Flannery, I’ll have him bring one more detective from the homicide task force and we need a couple of detectives fluent in Spanish. That part of Queens is heavy-duty Hispanic. Cut orders in my name placing them on the Rodriguez task force. I’ll have Flannery get you three more names ASAP.”
    “Okay, Chief, anything else?”
    “Have them report at 0800 hours tomorrow morning to our office at One PP in the Major Crimes Conference Room.” 
    “I’ve got it.”
    “Thanks, Angie.”
    As Angie left Pat’s office, he dialed Bryan Flannery’s cell number. Bryan answered on the first ring.
    “Manhattan North Homicide Task Force, Captain Flannery.”
    “Hello, Bryan, this is Pat O’Connor.”
    “Yes sir, Chief, what can I do for you?”
    “I’m pulling you into my office temporarily to run the Rodriguez investigation. It’ll be a ten-man task force. I’ve already picked seven. I need you to pick a couple of guys that speak Spanish and bring one good solid homicide detective with