After implementing the Hamsterdam plan for five weeks, Colvin delivers a cumulative 14% reduction in the felony rate, unheard of in the Western's history. Colvin is forced to take his vacation time immediately after revealing his experiment to Rawls and Burrell. Royce considers trying to spin Hamsterdam as an enforcement strategy because of its success in lowering the crime rate. However, in the meantime, Herc leaks information about Hamsterdam to the press after rejecting Carver's request to help him move a homicide victim off the free zone premises. After realizing that public opinion is sharply against the free zones, and that there are broader political ramifications, Royce recants and decides to end the Hamsterdam experiment. Burrell and Rawls force Colvin into becoming a scapegoat by threatening to persecute his officers. He is demoted to lieutenant and thus gets a lowered pension. Burrell also contacts Johns Hopkins University and convinces them to withdraw a job offer for their campus security force.