The story that became the book you’re holding, or perhaps listening to, was first conceived in the summer of 2016 and written over the course of 2018. A lot has happened in that time, and a lot has changed.
Science fiction authors don’t really predict the future, but we sometimes wind up a lot closer to target than we expect. (I swear John Brunner’s THE SHOCKWAVE RIDER looks more prescient by the day, though.) Little did I know while writing this book that the world would experience a global pandemic, or that the US would see not only an honest-to-goodness attempted coup, but also massive protests triggered in part by the simple notion that the lives of black Americans should no longer be snuffed out by police. Both of the latter went hand-in-hand with widespread misconduct and outright brutality on the part of police; and in parts of the US, the police have played a role in exacerbating the COVID pandemic, not least by refusing in many cases to wear masks.
The summer of 2020 made the notion of having a sympathetic and mostly justice-oriented police official seem like another speculative element in my novel.
Perhaps the reality is that it’s impossible for any police force, no matter how instituted, to uphold the Peelian principles of “Policing by consent” over time. Maybe it’s possible that no human driven by an inner sense of justice can keep that fire lit after serving.
The Ileri Constabulary certainly isn’t depicted as a wholly virtuous institution. Toiwa, after all, has made her reputation as someone who comes to clean out the corrupt. Daniel Imoke is denied his due because there are lines he won’t cross. Can these people not only exist, but eventually rise, within such an institution?
I consider the MD State Police troopers I met at the first protest I attended at BWI in January 2017 who treated the crowd with respect, Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman who without a doubt helped prevent a massacre during the insurrection on January 6th, 2021, and I think “Maybe?” Perhaps with a lot hard work and a bit of luck, we may be able to restore the “serve” component of “To protect and serve.”
I look forward to telling the story of Toiwa and her crew wrestling with these problems.