Character Analysis
At various points in the book, police show up at Nora's house to follow up on stalkers, invasions, and attacks—you know, all the normal stuff a teen girl usually faces. Coldwater must not have a very big police force, because it's always the same two who show up: Detective Holstijic, who is "short and thick-waisted with salt-and-pepper hair," and Detective Basso, who is "tall and lean with hair almost as dark as Patch's, but cropped above his ears. […] In a strange way, he vaguely resembled Patch. Mediterranean complexion, symmetrical face, eyes with an edge" (14.63). Nothing is done with that comparison between Patch and Basso, as we honestly can't decide if it's meant to make us feel safer around Patch or more leery of the detective.
The detectives make three appearances: They respond when Nora calls them after someone trashes her room; they stop by her house to ask questions following Marcie Millar's attack; and they come by to ask questions about the fire set during Dabria's attack.
The detectives are variously skeptical, accusatory, sarcastic, hostile, and less-than-helpful in resolving situations. So while they are authority figures, they're pretty useless, which shifts the power to control and resolve problems away from traditional figures (like adults and cops), and instead locates that power with the teen characters at the heart of the novel. The detectives' relative uselessness demonstrates that no one is going to swoop in and magically fix the struggles Nora faces (except maybe Patch), and instead she must learn to do that on her own.