He stopped asking broad questions.
Instead, he began creating a record.
“Officer, what is your name and badge number?”
“You don’t need that right now.”
“I’m asking for it.”
“It’s on my uniform.”
Malcolm looked.
The name strip read PRESCOTT.
The badge number was partially obscured by equipment.
“I can see your surname. I can’t see the number.”
Prescott ignored him.
Malcolm glanced at the camera.
“Your body camera is recording?”
Prescott’s eyes narrowed.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“Why?”
“So there’s no disagreement later about what either of us said.”
Prescott took one step closer.
“What exactly are you implying?”
“Nothing.”
“That sounded like a threat.”
“It was an observation.”
“You’re trying to intimidate me with the camera?”
Malcolm almost laughed at the inversion.
“No.”
Prescott’s radio crackled.
Routine dispatch traffic.
A vehicle stop.
An ambulance request.
Nothing involving Riverside Park.
Malcolm listened.
So did Prescott.
Neither commented.
Then Malcolm asked:
“Was this contact dispatched?”
Prescott’s expression changed again.
“I don’t need to answer your questions.”
“Okay.”
Malcolm said nothing else.
The silence lasted six seconds.
For Prescott, six seconds felt much longer.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Sitting.”
“Why did you suddenly stop talking?”
“You said you didn’t need to answer my questions.”
“That doesn’t mean you get to play games.”
“I’m not playing anything.”
Another person had stopped now.
An older man holding a leash while a brown spaniel sniffed around a tree.
Prescott glanced at him.
The officer’s frustration was becoming visible.
Malcolm saw the breathing pattern.
Jaw tension.
Shorter sentences.
Increasing volume.
A tendency to interpret neutral behavior as disrespect.
He had seen all of it before.
But Malcolm reminded himself of something equally important.
He was not evaluating Prescott.
He was experiencing him.
Those were different things.
A real psychological assessment required history, standardized testing where appropriate, collateral information, interviews, context, and procedural safeguards.
Malcolm could observe behavior.
He could report it.
He could not ethically turn eight stressful minutes in a park into a formal diagnosis.
That distinction would later protect both him and the investigation.
Prescott reached toward his radio again.
“I’m calling another unit.”
Malcolm nodded.
“You can.”
“You finally understand?”
“I understood the whole time.”
Prescott pressed the microphone.
“Unit 12-43, show me with a suspicious male in Riverside. Send me another car.”
Malcolm heard the wording.
Suspicious male.
No crime.
No behavior.
Just a label.
Dispatch replied:
“Copy. What’s the nature?”