The New Centurions

by Joseph Wambaugh

“Do you think blacks are the same as whites?” asked Roy to Gus, who was still watching the sunset. “Yes,” said Gus absently. “I learned it five years ago from my first partner who was the best policeman I ever knew. Kilvinsky used to say that most people are like plankton that can’t fight the currents but only drift with the waves and tides, and some are like benthos which can do it but have to crawl along the slimy ocean floor to do it. And then others are like nekton which can actually fight the currents but don’t have to crawl on the bottom to do it but it’s so hard on the nekton that they must be very strong. I guess he figured the best of us were like the nekton. Anyway, he always said that in the big dark sea, the shape or shade of the poor suffering little things didn’t matter at all.”