Cop on the Outs...
Tricky question regarding a cop on the outs with his fellow officers:
In my story, a once-good cop has fallen from grace with his family, himself and his precinct. After a series of traumas, his after-hours drinking and repressed violence get beyond his control. His family members start showing up to the emergency room with bruises and cuts. His wife suffers a suspicious broken arm. At work, he's keeping it together, but people are starting to talk. Our "hero" resists advice and psych counseling. Finally, when his seven-year-old daughter "winds up" with an equally-suspect broken wrist, everyone's patience with the officer ends. He is kicked out of the house and shunned within his precinct.
Meanwhile, a vast storm (think Katrina) ravages a nearby state. The local infrastructure is destroyed. Many officers desert the force there and the remaining cops are overwhelmed. The governor puts out calls for volunteer help, especially from law enforcement personnel. Our "hero" is given an off-the-record choice by his captain: enter counseling, quit the force, get fired, or "volunteer" to go south and redeem himself by aiding the shattered police department there.
Question: Is this plausible? I'm not sure it is. I don't know enough about law-enforcement procedures (formal and otherwise) to know. The out-of-control-cop part is authentic - I've seen it happen. Ditto the storm and the call for help. It's the unorthodox, unofficial "solution" to an "unofficial" problem that I'm uncertain about. Would such a thing be done?
Due to the sensitive nature of this topic (and that community), I don't feel comfortable posing this question to ask a cop. Does anyone here have ideas, suggestions, advice or other helpful input?
Thanks!