Chapter 475: Chapter 317: Dialogue with the Commissioner
Time passes day by day, the New Year’s hustle and bustle gradually fades, everyone ends their vacation and returns to their jobs, starting life as usual.
New year, new beginnings, everywhere you see new changes, and the New Moon City Public Security Bureau’s annual blockbuster program "Dialogue with the Commissioner" will be broadcast on schedule as in past years.
"Dialogue with the Commissioner" is a program with high public discussion, where the police chief will randomly connect with viewers from New Moon City during the live broadcast and answer various questions, focusing on the livelihood issues exposed.
The program has been running for more than thirty years since its inception, and the bewildered children who first watched "Dialogue with the Commissioner" have now become middle-aged men.
Every year on the day when operations start, the attention of "Dialogue with the Commissioner" tops the online ranking, not inferior to the New Year’s Eve gala show.
Imagine, being able to connect live with the high-up police chief, how exciting is that?
So every year when the program starts, countless viewers flock backstage to register, hoping to snag a chance to appear.
The "Dialogue with the Commissioner" live broadcast room is currently being orderly set up by the staff.
A staff member approached Sikinkov respectfully saying, "Commissioner, the equipment is undergoing final adjustments, please wait a moment."
Sikinkov took office last mid-year, and this is his first time participating in the "Dialogue with the Commissioner" program.
He obviously comes with quite a background.
Last year, during the hostage situation at Xinghai Cinema, he boldly identified and employed the then rookie Captain Edge, Su Mo, not only overcoming the crisis but also discovering a new star for New Moon City.
Shortly thereafter, he showcased his true character at a press conference, publicly disclosing the Raven Hunting Operation, successfully taking down then Raven Nest leader Hong Quansheng, earning the Special Hero Medal.
During the later Nemesis virus incident, City Council President Amir, fearing to burn himself, stayed far away, and still, this Public Security Bureau commissioner stepped up to solve the case, capturing the scorpion Benjamin.
Such dazzling deeds in just six months made this episode of "Dialogue with the Commissioner" explode in popularity, even before airing, the backstage audience count surpassed the peak of any past sessions.
Finally, all equipment was fully adjusted, a staff member asked in a low voice: "Commissioner, are you ready? If yes, we will start the broadcast."
Sikinkov nodded.
The backstage equipment officially started, the live broadcast began.
Sikinkov, wearing his commissioner’s uniform, sat upright in front of the camera, his majestic appearance appearing in countless people’s phones, tablets, and every household’s television and outdoor screens.
The host, sitting next to Sikinkov, enthusiastically said the opening words: "Happy New Year, New Moon City! It’s time for our annual program ’Dialogue with the Commissioner’!"
"Our esteemed police commissioner, Mr. Sikinkov, has joined us in the live studio, he will be directly interacting with our viewers as the guest of this episode!"
"Send a text message [I Want to Connect Live with the Commissioner] to the number at the bottom of the screen to enter the candidate pool, you’ll have the chance to interact live with the commissioner!"
As soon as the host finished speaking, backstage data rolled in like a torrent, with over a million people entering the candidate pool within seconds.
However, many people do not know that the so-called "candidate pool" actually involves hidden rules.
In the early days of the program’s launch, the Public Security Bureau was quite confident, no favoritism, no scripted scenarios, all connection sessions were randomly selected, ensuring authenticity, aiming to make the program meaningful.
The result was unexpected incidents.
Some immediately unleashed torrents of profanity.
Some deliberately stripped naked for a stunt show.
Some took the opportunity to live stream and sell goods, all fake merchandise.
Once, the program connected to an underprivileged citizen who recounted unfair experiences in the live stream and even named a City Council leader, scaring the program team into cutting in an advertisement on the spot.
With early years’ live broadcast mishaps serving as lessons, the program team wised up afterward.
To hell with authenticity.
Directly find the right stooges, arrange the script, showcasing all kinds of wonderful deeds throughout.
Just finish it with positive energy.
Very soon, the first "lucky viewer" appeared.
A brown-haired man, he looked into the screen with wide eyes, showing a surprised smile: "Hey! Commissioner!"
Sikinkov responded with polite smile: "Hello."
The brown-haired man was lying on a hospital bed at this moment, smiling and saying: "Commissioner, it’s great to see you. You may not recognize me, I am a sheriff from the Lakefront Business District Branch, currently on sick leave."
Sikinkov pretended to ask with concern: "Oh! What happened, are you alright?"
The brown-haired man sighed in distress: "On New Year’s Eve, my squad and I encountered a gang of robbers while on duty, I accidentally got shot protecting pedestrians."
Sikinkov thought: Nonsense, keep it up, there wasn’t a single report to the bureau on New Year’s Eve, you got shot in a dream, huh?
Following the pre-arranged script, Sikinkov solemnly saluted the camera: "Brother, it’s because of law enforcers like you standing their ground that everyone had a safe new year, I truly respect you."
The brown-haired man continued to speak empty words about how it’s his duty, and he’s willing to endlessly burn for New Moon City, highlighting the hardships and dedication of frontline sheriffs, until the connection time ended and he disconnected.
The second round of connection, the "lucky viewer" was a construction worker, who was selected, shouting excitedly, gathering his fellow workers around to squeeze into the shot.
These workers, covered in dust and their faces smeared with mud, had unmasked hearty smiles, greeting Sikinkov: "Commissioner! Happy New Year!"
Sikinkov thought: This makeup artist deserves an extra chicken leg in the lunch box today.
He responded with an insincere smile: "Hey, workers, happy new year, nice to see you, how’s the festive period been?"
The worker grinned showing white teeth, lamenting: "Happy, extremely happy, previously there were always bullies causing trouble at our site, but this year there’s none, the inner city’s security is getting better and better!"
Sikinkov thought: If I recall correctly, last year, New Moon City’s overall crime rate rose by 4% compared to previous years, with homicides, robberies, and other serious cases rising by 16% year-on-year.
The workers kept repeating platitudes like thanking the Public Security Bureau, thanking the City Council, until the live connection ended.
The first two live connections involved law enforcers and grassroots workers.
The third connection was even more significant, it turned out to be a border immigrant wearing a "dog tag".
Of course, this was deliberately arranged by the program team.
When mentioning the Public Security Bureau, you can’t avoid the affairs between sheriffs and border people.
"Dialogue with the Commissioner" is an official program, naturally preserving the image of the Public Security Bureau, the best way is arranging a friendly interaction between a border immigrant and a sheriff.
Whether you believe it or not, anyway, the City Council leaders are very pleased watching.
