By Robmacz
‘Well,’ Billy said, ‘it all started soon after I became a cop. I was on patrol one evening and I pulled this guy over. It was a standard DUI, the guy was just slightly over the limit. As I started to read him his rights he started to plead with me not to take him in, that he needed his car to see his daughter who was sick in the hospital and his ex-wife didn’t want him there. It was a real sob story, but I felt sorry for the guy. Then he offered me $200. I don’t know what came over me, but I was overdrawn at the bank and I had to pay off a loan that my brother took out with a loan shark. I was finding it hard just to make ends meet. I took the money and told him to be on his way. It was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.
‘A few days later I get some mail, which contained a photo of me accepting the cash. It told me I should be parked on the corner of a street someplace, I can’t quite remember where. Anyway a minute or so after I arrived this guy got in my car. He told me that if I didn’t want that photo to see the light of day, I was to provide certain information when requested. That it wouldn’t be regular, but every now and then. I agreed. What else could I do?