Overview
Part 1 of the "Officer Down" storyline. As James Gordon contemplates his many years on the police force, a sinister threat looms nearby. The unsuspecting Gordon leaves a bar and is shot in the back, with Catwoman watching After a violent attack, things in Gotham never will be the same again.
Spoilers
It's James Gordon's birthday, and the major crimes unit takes him out for drinks to celebrate, though he promises to see his daughter Barbara afterwards (she's baked him a cake). They give him gifts, some more appropriate than others, and then he hands them each something too: a handcuff key. Partly because such things are always going missing and partly because they symbolise the authority of the police. He explains this to the cops as Batman goes about his normal business.
The greatest power the police have is the power of arrest, the right to remove a person's liberty. Gordon says that he realised this for the first time when he arrested a man in front of the criminal's wife and children, who were in tears at the thought. Detective Allen remembers a lieutenant in Metropolis who always used to point out the other side of this particular coin: that every murder victim is also someone's father, mother, sibling or child. Gordon then has to leave, as he's late for meeting Barbara. Out in the alley, he meets Catwoman and tells her she's under arrest. But before he can do anything, some shots ring out. He fires instinctively, grazing Catwoman's thigh, but has been seriously injured himself, shot three times in the back by a lone gunperson.
Officer Down continues in Robin #86
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