Officers Jones and Hernandez are well-respected police officers in the Brookside community. They have been recognized, both within the police department and by the community, for their outstanding service, While on patrol in downtown Brookside late one evening, Jones and Hernandez observe an individual sleeping on a park bench in the town square, which was not a violation of any law. The individual is Fred Ames, a homeless person known in the community for his trouble with alcohol and illicit substances. Ames has a twenty-year history of bad choices and bad luck, and most in Brookside "know his story."