Alan Stringer

History

Alan was raised in a single parent household with his father. He was told his mother wasn’t interested in raising a child, so his father took up the responsibility on his own. He’s never truly asked questions about mom. From a young age, his father was his role model, and he would do whatever dad asked. Moments of childhood and teenage rebellion were few and far between. That also meant he took on much of his father’s mannerisms as he grew older, including some of the particular behaviors he exhibited. Alan came to be known as a “daddy’s boy” for most of high school days.

He had a fairly normal childhood, going to school, participating in extracurricular activities, and spending time with his dad. Ever since he first knew what a job was, he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a police officer just like him. Unlike other kids, he was committed to his childhood dream job. He took initiative in high school to prepare early for police academy, hoping to work with or under his father. Dad never had the heart to tell him that he was planning on retiring early. By the time that Alan joined the Pococo Police Department, he was saddened to learn his father was hanging up his badge. Regardless, his passion for being a police officer carried him forward through the years.

Today, Alan’s instilled himself as a reliable, hard-working cop and one of the captain’s favorites. He has a mildly bad reputation for being a stickler to the rules and for being unafraid to enforce them or to report rule-breaking to the captain. Some call him a goody-two-shoes but he takes solace in the captain’s affirmations that he does a good job. He visits his father often, occasionally discussing details about work.

Appearance

Alan has an overall youthful appearance, much to his frustration. It makes others think he’s younger than he really is. He’s slightly below average height, standing at 5'7", and he is rather scrawny. His fair skin complements the pale shade of blonde of his hair, which he keeps cut short and cleanly combed, and his greyish-amber eyes. He has a perpetual baby face, exacerbated by a lack of facial hair. Before he became more well-known in the precinct, he was frequently mistaken for a rookie well after he had stopped being one.

Some people might describe Alan’s style as ‘basic’. At the station, he dresses in typical work attire: button up shirt, tie, trousers, shoes, etc. Of note is that he opts for suspenders in place of belts, as they’re a more comfortable fit for him. His colors are usually neutral, nothing too bright or too dark, with many hues of blues, yellows, and purples. Outside of work, his fashion is mostly the same, only toned down to more casual wear than business wear. Many times, his coworkers think he’s still on the clock when they run into him when he’s “dressed down”.

Personality

Alan is generally amicable. He is enthusiastic about talking to others, especially when it comes explaining or teaching something. The reverse is also true; he enjoys being taught and learning new things, so long as it’s not done derisively or in a condescending manner. Reprimands are something he takes to heart, doubling their lessons by scolding himself for messing up in the first place. He’s a perfectionist. On top of that, Alan is a huge proponent for organization. Day planners, online calendars, to-do lists and more, he loves them all and uses them extensively. There’s such a reliance on them that when things go awry, he can end up feeling scattered and fidgety, plummeting his efficiency until he can get things back on track. Despite that, he is one of the most valued officers on the force and his work is recognized appropriately.

He occasionally gets combative with other police officers when it comes to rules-related issues. Alan follows procedure to the letter and he tries to ensure the other officers he works with (or happens to oversee) do so as well. This is primarily what earned him the “goody-two-shoes” title, as he can be overbearing at times. Several coworkers poke fun at him behind his back and occasionally to his face. Alan is able to take these jokes in stride because he always has the captain’s approval for his law-abiding behavior.

Outside of work, Alan doesn’t have many hobbies. His job is his life, and he is ready to devote every bit of his time and energy to it. It’s only on his superiors’ orders that he actually uses his vacation days and other time off. When not on the clock, he still doesn’t truly escape from work. Much of his time spent planning and scheduling centers around his shifts and how much time he expects to devote to working on cases, and when he visits his father work inevitably comes up as a topic of conversation. When he’s truly exhausted all of his “productive” activities, he winds down watching TV and movies. It’s almost exclusively police procedurals where he critiques the behavior of the officers depicted.

Miscellaneous

• He can’t hold his liquor at all, he’ll get tipsy after one drink
• He copes with his jitteriness by drinking coffee (it doesn’t help)
• He prefers coffee with a generous amount of creamer and sweetener
• He hasn’t dated before and he’s a virgin
• He’s allergic to cats