Arrest No 6 - Night Patrol

Etienne's 'Night Patrol'is possibly one of the best known 'Erotic Arrest' stories, a classic. The first picture in the series (below) was one of my earliest experiences of gay erotic art. The image of the handsome young man allowing two cops to undress him made a tremendous impact on me, helping to inspire my own art.

The night patrol catch an unfortunate youth with his pants down. 

Etienne did other stories where the cops catch an amorous, heterosexual couple in a steamed-up car and, having scared off the girl, proceed to take advantage of the young man left behind. I believe this may be the storyline here too, although the pictures that follow suggest that the lad is sitting in the police car here, not his own vehicle. So it could equally a choir boy caught speeding to church practice and transferred to the cop's car to be booked.  Etienne captures the magic moment where the victim, faced with his exploits being made public (a considerable deterrent in the '60's) and a fine he can't afford, surrenders to the cops' blackmail.

Already, they are unwrapping their Christmas gift!

This is the best drawing in the series, Etienne has lovingly crafted an irresistable object of desire in this pretty young man with a wealth of sexy detail, from his floppy hair down to his sports shoes. The cops look a little bit comical, leaning in through the windows, but they are clearly powerful and mean - and certainly not ugly! Their maturity and authority is an important ingredient in what follows.

 2

 The cops waste no time in starting to exact their 'payment' from the bewildered young man, whose head is pulled out of the car to provide service. In this picture Etienne emulates Tom of Finland in disguising an impossible arrangement of objects, in this case the car door, which in the real world would completely block the space between the cop and the young man. In Etienne's universe it magically retracts into the background to allow the action to proceed. It's a quirk that doesn't really matter, the point of the picture is the nice sense of reluctance and revulsion on the part of the youth as he is forced to taste cop dick.

 3

The reluctant young man's head is unceremoniously rammed into the police officer's crotch. The cops thigh's engulf the poor boy's face - this is real deep throat. You can almost hear his muffled squeal of protest! He's probably unaware that his legs are invitingly splayed open, a sign of things to come.

In pictures 4&5 both cops have climbed inside the car and continue to force-feed their young victim who is extremely aroused by this rough treatment. Note that he has mysteriously got both legs in his jeans now after starting out with only one. 

Pictures 2-4 are drawn in Etienne's, pen and ink, 'Stephen' style. The detailing of the car interior here is suddenly very geometric and precise.

In this curious picture, it's hard to tell if the front seat cop is punching, fisting or perhaps just spanking his victim, who looks close to tears - or perhaps it's the sight of the second cop unzipping in the back seat that dismays him so! The young man's exposed buttocks look delicious and the cop pulls him in closer, creating a memorable pose that is both intimate and threatening. For fellow geeks, note how the crossing legs create another 'impossible' conjunction of objects.

The young man is dragged from the car and made to service both cops together. His upper torso looks as tasty and inviting here as it did in the first picture. Golden showers might well be the order of the day here, but there is a good deal in this series which is left to the viewer's imagination. I find the youth's dick sprouting from a nest of pubes, but partly hidden, a very erotic device too, although the clumsy twist in the lower body has led some internet purists to crop it off entirely (along with the signature regrettably). 

 The second cop takes his turn at close quarters while his pal moisturises his tool and uses the toe of his boot to prepare the point of entry. The rigid arching of the boy's body suggests he's still struggling to escape. The sudden appearance of the moon is an atmospheric but incongruous detail in this entirely unromantic scenario. I guess it signals the passing of time, night marching on as the ordeal continues.

The young man is well and truly shafted over the bonnet of the police car and you can see that he's not exactly taking it in his stride.Not Etienne's best drawing, but you can see where he's going with the wide open legs which suggest a total subjugation of the long suffering receiver. The helpless, passive pose harks back to picture 3 in a satisfying symmetry (which was probably not intentional). It's a real shame though, that the lad's temporarily lost his youthful, innocent appearance for this important moment.

 I have placed this picture after no 7 where the cop appears to be 'lubing-up'. Rear penetration is usually the 'coup de grace' in a story such as this - but cop no 2 at the back looks fully dressed here so it's possible this image belongs earlier, say at no 6 where it would mark the point of breaking the victim, despoiling his manhood and leading into a concluding series of humiliating degradations.

 The ultimate indignity for a straight boy? Perhaps, but this young man clearly isn't totally turned off by it. In fact he's been aroused all the way through the action, which is necessary for the sake of propriety, to show that he's enjoying 'the game' really. Usually in fetish stories, once sex gets under way all sense of coercion evaporates - as in the Keith 'punk' story for example (see Arrest No 4). But, in this tale, the victim's facial expressions do not show any enjoyment and this is the only picture where he is not being physically forced to submit. Even in this scene, the cop's knowing smile and backward thrust give a flavour of casual, malicious dominance. The young man's upward tilted head is surely the epitome of grovelling submission. 

He's certainly earned the cancellation of his ticket! 

Night Patrol is something of a flawed masterpiece, the quality of drawing fluctuates between extremes, even within the same picture but there are elements in most of the pictures which are pure, visual, erotic genius - even if they are imperfectly realised. There are continuity issues with clothing and positioning of the characters, but in a sense this is not a story, but a series of snapshots, impressions of events in a protracted process of torment, a wearing down of the unfortunate, undeserving victim. So picture sequence is perhaps not crucial to our enjoyment.

It pleases me that the characters remain partially clothed throughout, it helps to retain their identity and enhances their sexiness - just look at picture 9!. In addition Etienne's facial characterisations are impressive, there are 3 distinct looks here and while you can imagine meeting these cops in your local dungeon, doing similar, nasty things, you know the young man would never be seen there. He doesn't belong in such a place and he doesn't belong in this situation either which makes it all the more humiliating and unpleasant for him - but not for us!.

Astonishingly, handcuffs do not feature anywhere in this little epic, the victim is controlled entirely by the cop's authority and assertiveness. The unremitting sense of control and dominance throughout 'Night Patrol' makes it a uniquely daring take on the well used 'cop abuse' theme.