Furry? Or undercover cop?

[elfs]

One more thing about the young man with the tail that occurred to me. There was one other piece of data that I didn't think at the time was relevant but, upon thinking, may have been. He was holding a notebook, and embossed upon it was the phrase "Centralia Police Department."

It was an odd detail, but while it didn't seem to fit with the rest of package, it didn't not fit either, if that makes sense. I've known quite a lot of furries, and quite a few of them had odd tics and habits, and more than a few have a strange fascination with law enforcement, or guns, or both.

Then bldrnrpdx mentioned that maybe he was being hazed, or had lost a bet. I have another explanation. Centralia is a small town about 75 miles south of where I live, famous for Crazy Sam's billboard, a primitive way of getting your message across before the era of blogs. It's one of those towns you just pass through on your way between Seattle and Portland, lots of cows. I dismissed the notebook as another furry quirk.

But then it occurred to me: The state's biggest police academy, the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Center, is in my home town. It's a few bus stops south of where I (and this other fellow) got off the bus, but it's still within walking distance if you're healthy. And while he got off the bus walking toward the Starbucks, which is in the other direction from the police academy, I think that an alternative explanation is this: he was studying to be an undercover cop, and learning how to deal with standing out.

Thinking on it, it makes more sense. The tail was new, a bright and shiny and freshly bought raccoon's, as was the t-shirt. It couldn't have been laundered more than few times, it still had the essential blackness and strong print of a new purchase. The rest of his clothes were well-worn, and his chinfull of post-Miami Vice stubble was weak and patchy.

If he was an undercover cop, he failed this round. Hmm, wonder if I should go to some upcoming local furry cons and see if I spot him again.

Comments

[funos.livejournal.com]

Hm. I guess that *would* have been good training at not feeling like you're standing out.

[antonia-tiger.livejournal.com]

A valuable lesson, by the sound of it. Don't assume you'll never meet anyone who picks up on the symbols you're wearing.

And if he really is a furry cop: "Hi, cutie!"

[irismoonlight.livejournal.com]

Class assignment?

What an interesting combo. Short story!

cop infiltrating SciFi / furry con, coming up

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

http://www.coyotes.org/furrytales/controversy.html

Thought It Was A Coyote

[drewkitty.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. I have known academy cadets to be required to do a number of odd things, but unless furry is a lot more mainstream than I thought (or the CJ instructor is a really big CSI fan) I don't know how plausible this is.

Undercover cops are typically trying to blend in, and failing miserably. What do you call a pack of guys in their mid-30s with expensive sunglasses, slightly baggy clothes, who stand in a circle constantly watching each other's backs? Answer: a break from an in-service training class.

I think it's much more likely that he is 1) a police academy cadet (or would-be) and 2) a furry. So he may be twitchy about going around in public (on the way to a furmeet?) with a tail and being recognized, or having middle-something guys chat him up.

Strange fascination with law enforcement? Strange fascination with guns? If I had a penny for every time I've heard that, I'd be rich enough to get out of my current racket.

What about a strange fascination with anthropomorphic arts? Heinlein told a story in _Time Enough For Love_ about two naval officers of his acquaintance who liked to lock themselves in their staterooms alone and closely examine their collections at length. One had stamps, one had panties. To paraphrase, "Which one was crazy? Both? Neither?"

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

unless he's going undercover in a furry or scifi con, (as per a story of mine), this is not the way to be invisible in plain sight.

[codeamazon.livejournal.com]

Interesting hypothesis. One would think the training would be how to handle being an object of derision while undercover. If so, his cringing would probably have made sense to him -- he's supposed to feel like an untouchable. In fact, cringing away from someone who recognized him as tribe might even make sense -- he would likely not have the knowledge to carry on a conversation. Still, one presumes if he were really undercover it would be part of his job to make connections in whatever tribe he was impersonating. Maybe that's next semester. ;-)

I could see it.

[bldrnrpdx.livejournal.com]

Or, regardless of the explanation for the tail & t-shirt, he might just have crappy social skills. It occurs with furries, and it occurs with cop trainees. Just another thought.

[cadetstar.livejournal.com]

While not strictly undercover, it could have been an effective disguise.

Other than Elf, how many other people saw his eye color? Hair color? Other distinguishing features? Or do they just see the furry tail, the shirt and ignore the rest?

-Michael

[nyssasemephit.livejournal.com]

Honestly... what did the fellow look like again? Because Miru moved here from centrellia and works downtown. He is kinda... socially awkward. Maybe you ran into that kid, lol

[ionotter.livejournal.com]

Hmmmmmmm.

One of my friends in Seattle had a run-in with the police, recently. Basic domestic drama, someone panicked and called the police. But once the cops got there and found out everyone in the house was a furry, things got VERY different.

Everyone was rounded up and sat in the middle of the house while the cops tossed the place. They searched the entire building, confiscating firearms, demanding to know everyone's furry name and ordering them to give them passwords to the computers.

At that point, my friend ordered the cops out of the house, but they wouldn't leave until they'd searched the house, scattered all the sex toys and generally made everyone feel like shit.

Two days later, they come back and tell my friend that he and his housemates are going to be treated like a "gang house" and that they're under suspicion of being a "pedophile gang".

At first, I thought this was a bunch of stupid cops that got freaked out by the "furry" mixed with "teh ghey", and behaved badly. I figured they tried to cover it up by threatening my friend and his housemates with pedophilia charges.

But now my friend has a lawyer involved, and the police department is being very odd. They're "performing an investigation" into the "incident", and will be letting my friend's lawyer know something later.

Now THIS comes along, and a few more dots are being connected.

I don't wanna sound paranoid, but this is starting to get a bit scary.

[doodlesthegreat.livejournal.com]

I don't think anyone has thought about it, but after Frank Gembeck's sentencing it is possible that the police are looking into furry as a possible haven for pedos.