https://leelofland.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/New-Picture-311.jpg393336Lee Loflandhttps://leelofland.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/the-graveyard-shift-1.pngLee Lofland2012-04-30 08:11:082017-05-27 07:03:03Dead Bodies And Pink Deputies: Page 13 Of My Spiral Notebooks
After years of photographing the dead and the macabre, Coroner’s Investigator Paul Beecroft finds pleasure and comfort in capturing the images of the living, especially the happy little things in nature that people often overlook. And that joy can be found, well, all around us if you just take a moment stop and look. Here’s more of what caught Paul’s eye and imagination as he continued his trek through the countryside of New Zealand.
Note the Sparrows in this tree
…and the little Fantail in this one
Paul Beecroft has spent a good deal of his life in law enforcement, in England. He’s worked Foot Patrol, Area Car, Instant Response Car and also as a Police Motorcyclist. He currently serves as a coroner’s investigator and has traveled all over England, Wales, Scotland and even Germany to investigate crimes.
https://leelofland.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/565.jpg336448Lee Loflandhttps://leelofland.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/the-graveyard-shift-1.pngLee Lofland2012-04-28 09:09:492017-05-27 08:30:56A Death Investigator’s Photography: Not What You’d Expect
The Graveyard Shift offers our condolences to the family of this brave officer.
Deputy Sheriff Brian Hayden, 47
Choctaw County Oklahoma Sheriff’s Office
April 19, 2012 – Deputy Brian Hayden was killed in an automobile crash while responding to a shots-fired call involving another officer. He is survived by his wife and four children.
A Philadelphia cop taps social media for crime control
Using social media doesn’t just mean mundane status lines and community games. Joseph Murray, a Philadelphia-based detective, has devised a unique way to combine Twitter with his neighborhood watch. As a result, he’s made his area a safer place. Hopefully, his idea will go viral. Imagine all these Twitter-communities keeping watch.
Murray is a third-generation police officer and long-time Philadelphia resident. He joined the force when he was just 19. Six years later, he became a detective. He started his online networking efforts with community blogs when he became a member of the Southwest Division. He wanted potential victims to be aware of danger zones – especially those that were presently in progress. Twitter provided a great tool, for both brevity and speed.
Murray opened a Twitter account in 2009 and identified himself as a detective. He’s @TheFuzz9143 (his badge number). He signaled that he would be posting tweets about crime patterns, suspects, and public safety. He asked people to let him know if he could be of assistance. It was an invitation to be involved.
“Everyblock is reporting a stranger rape on the 200block of 47th Friday night,” one Tweeter writes. “Nothing in news. Is this true?”
“Not true,” TheFuzz9143 responds. “Can’t find anything in any computer system we have here.” Followers can see the response and retweet it. If he gets an update, he can send it out at once, and the update quickly spreads.
In another tweet, Murray related a “great job done by a few citizens who called police when they spotted a guy who committed a robbery a few nights ago. Arrest made. Phone returned.”
As of today, he has acquired around 1285 followers, many of whom live in his area. He’s known some followers as long as 5 years, from the earlier message boards.
“I started Twitter,” he says, “because the neighborhood message boards were becoming irrelevant. I wanted to use the popular medium. You have to adapt or you’ll be left behind.”
He’s aware of the limitations of a few cops driving around a neighborhood: they can be in only one place at any given time. Citizens who join the effort to keep their neighborhoods safe offer more eyes and ears. It’s also a way to build trust and cooperation. Even Philadelphia’s mayor has posted tweets on Murray’s feed.
On a daily basis, he tweets where and when crimes are occurring (“just had a gunpoint Robbery on 47th Street”), and responds to queries. For example, they arrested a guy in the process of a car-jacking who couldn’t figure out a stick shift. Murray even tweets to criminals not yet arrested, warning them they’ll be in custody soon.
Murray is a face to which people can relate, a protector who listens. He’ll even comment on mundane things like what he’s eating or the billboard ads he notices. When things are quiet, he offers safety tips or posts a photo he just took. If someone wants to send a tip confidentially, Murray provides his private email address.
To spread the word, reporters have written about Murray’s efforts to lift the veil that often blocks the police from the community they serve. One Philadelphia journalist contacted residents to get their reactions, finding individuals who keep Murray’s Twitter feed on their home pages or who feel like Murray is a friend. This is positive community policing in action. One neighborhood watch group routinely checks Murray’s tweets before they go out on patrol.
Recently, bureaucracy slowed things down, as officials realized that policies must be in place before officers reach out in this medium. “Per a new directive,” Murray tweeted in January, “all personnel wanting to use social media under their official title must get approval from the commissioner.”
The Philadelphia Police Department recognizes the service Murray provides and they’re currently training 12-15 officers to exploit social network opportunities for community relations. It’s important to have consistency. The department itself has a Twitter feed, @Phillypolice.
The concept is simple: train officers to use Twitter, publicize their “beat” locally, and invite followers to provide information about things they observe. Also, provide followers with safety tips and updates (where possible) about local crime. It’s a terrific way to tap the networking power of social media. It’s not a replacement for 911, but it does connect a lot of people. It also makes them feel safer and more involved.
Let’s hope more towns and cities pick up on it. As Murray states, “It’s win-win.”
Dr. Katherine Ramsland has master’s degrees in forensic and clinical psychology, a master’s in criminal justice, and a Ph.D. in philosophy. She has published nearly 1,000 articles and forty books, including The Forensic Psychology of Criminal Minds, The CSI Effect, Inside the Minds of Serial Killers, Inside the Minds of Healthcare Serial Killers, Inside the Minds of Mass Murderers, Inside the Minds of Sexual Predators, and The Human Predator: A Historical Chronology of Serial Murder and Forensic Investigation. She has been featured on numerous documentaries and such programs as 20/20, The Today Show, 48 Hours, Montel Williams, and Forensic Files, and she currently writes regular features for InSinc and The Forensic Examiner. She teaches forensic psychology and criminal justice as an associate professor at DeSales University in Pennsylvania and consults with death investigators and law enforcement worldwide on cases involving serial murder.
Libraries have acted as community cornerstones for millennia, and every April marks School Library Month, celebrating how they promote education and awareness in an open, nurturing space. What makes them such lasting institutions, though, isn’t the mere act of preserving books and promoting knowledge. Rather, it’s the almost uncanny ability to consistently adapt to the changing demands of the local populace and emerging technology alike. The library system probably won’t disappear anytime soon, but rather, see itself blossoming into something new and exciting in congruence with today’s myriad informational demands.
More technologyProbably the most obvious direction libraries will trend involves more seamless integration of technologies at a faster, more sophisticated pace than even now. With so many exciting new gadgets and concepts such as ebook readers, tablet PCs, open source, and more, they have plenty of resources on hand to meet community demands. Books, sadly, do not hold the same collective appeal as the shiny and new gadgets, but enterprising librarians know they can still bring literature to the masses by utilizing its lust for technology.
Sensory story timesAs awareness of the needs of autism spectrum and developmentally disabled children swells, more and more libraries are scheduling sensory story times making sure they get to enjoy literature in a manner most comfortable to them. Many libraries who have developed such programming recommend visual schedules so kids know what’s coming up next, carpet tiles or cushions for sitting, and hands-on activities. Even mainstream children can enjoy these events, so all members of the community benefit from creating a more inclusive space.
Better outreach to ESOL and ESL adults and childrenNew York’s public library system, in an effort to make sure as many patrons take advantage of their offerings as possible, has put forth the time, money, and energy to improve upon its ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) and ESL (English as a second language) programming. Increasing globalization means more multilingual cities, and because libraries stand as integral pillars of the community, they make for excellent introductions to what new neighbors might come to expect. And greater engagement means greater communication and closer relationships.
AutomationIf the automated system at the Joe and Rika Mansueto Library at University of Chicago catches on, readers might say, “Sayonara!” to stacks. Not only are almost all of its holdings available for online retrieval, visitors can also access them in person without having to navigate the often baffling academic library cataloging system. Instead, they input their desired read and a complicated system of machinery burrows 50 feet underground to fetch and deliver it. No browsing required. Because of the expense however, it will probably be quite a while before full automation catches on in libraries worldwide.
Emphasizing community spacePlacing more stock in technologies obviously frees up quite a bit of library space, and leaders at the Anoka County Library in Minneapolis know just how to put it to good use. More room means they can start offering a wider range of programming, serving as a community center focused on learning rather than just literature. Some of their plans include genealogy classes targeting seniors wanting to know more about their family histories and giant letter blocks for children. Libraries probably won’t disappear to digitization, but their shape will likely change over time.
More social media savvyAs with the latest in literary gadgetry creeping into libraries, social media has already started ingraining itself as integral to the experience. It offers greater community outreach, promoting and answering questions about events, and provides a forum in which to share cool book news. Social media also makes it easier than ever for libraries to receive feedback about what sort of programming the community wants most, suggestions about how to improve offerings, and talks about what books need to make their way to the shelves. Hosting online discussions certainly holds its merits as well!
Digital media labsIn an effort to lure in more teenagers, Chicago Public Library hybridized the traditional system with a digital media lab dubbed YOUmedia. There, they can take advantage of the video recording and editing equipment, computers, recording studio (complete with keyboards and turntables!), and classes on graphic design, podcasting, and photography. YOUmedia also hosts an Internet-based literary magazine. With so many seriously amazing offerings, high school kids can learn even more about the potential career paths that interest them most; seeing as how libraries are all about education, these offerings don’t stray from their core values.
Electronic outpostsSimilar to the satellite system already in place for county libraries in larger towns and cities, futurist Thomas Frey thinks that – over time, of course – they might start the same thing with a more digital bent. Rather than acting as an extension of a central library’s physical holdings, they would work as almost a “cyber cafe” where patrons go to access digital archives. Many of the holdings would revolve around preserving the history of the surrounding communities, adding a more personalized dimension to the experience.
CrowdsourcingNew Jersey’s Madison Public Library is one of many libraries who understand that their survival depends on how well they interface with the neighborhoods that support them. So they’ve turned towards crowdsourcing their future, hosting focus groups and opening up to suggestions from professionals, patrons, and professional patrons alike. Much of what the people had to say of course involved technology, like training reference librarians in resources like YouTube, Wikipedia, Google, and more. They also wanted to see more programming aimed at engaging the growing Latin American community. All these responses help MPL better provide exactly what their visitors needs for a well-rounded educational experience.
More active librariansOnce again, the precedent has already been set here, with most libraries around the world asking their staff to pull double duty as event planners and class leaders. Seth Godin thinks the librarians of the future will almost universally be tasked with tutoring students on their homework, teaching patrons computer basics, and other responsibilities putting them at the front lines. But this transition is a positive one, as it nurtures a heightened sense of community and destigmatizes the librarian profession, painting them as neighborly mentors instead of silencing book police.
https://leelofland.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/New-Picture-38.jpg224448Lee Loflandhttps://leelofland.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/the-graveyard-shift-1.pngLee Lofland2012-04-25 07:17:152017-05-18 08:18:2610 Changes to Expect from the Library of the Future
As those who read my John Ceepak Jersey Shore murder mysteries know, a young cop named Danny Boyle who grew up in my fictional town of Sea Haven, NJ and attended Holy Innocents Elementary when he was a kid, narrates the tales.
But here’s why Ceepak mystery #7 FUN HOUSE (available May 1st from Pegasus Crime) will be dedicated to Daniel R. Boyle.
Back in 2010, a woman I have never met named Sherri Bunting sent me an e-mail:
A friend wanted me to contact you about your Ceepak mysteries. Seems you use the name Danny Boyle as one of the police and her brother was an officer with Philadelphia police department until his untimely death in 1991. Her mother just picked up the first two books and has ordered a few more. Seeing just his name in print brings a kind of joy to their hearts. To see them this happy over such an odd coincidence is beyond words. I just wanted to thank you for the stroke of karma that made you choose his name.
Also, our Danny Boyle attended Holy Innocents School. Weird. Sending a link for you to the fallen officers page. Again thanks for putting a smile on their faces!
If you visit the real Danny Boyle’s Fallen Officer page you’ll learn that, at the age 21, he succumbed to a gunshot wound sustained after stopping a stolen car. Officer Boyle had served with the Philadelphia Police Department for one year. His “End of Watch” was February 6, 1991.
As you might imagine, that was one of the best e-mails I have ever received as an author. And I am very proud to have my new book dedicated to such a brave young man.
* * *
Chris Grabenstein did improvisational comedy with Bruce Willis in New York before James Patterson (yes, that James Patterson) hired him at the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency. Chris also wrote for Jim Henson’s Muppets.
His Anthony Award-winning debut TILT A WHIRL (A John Ceepak mystery) was followed by MAD MOUSE, WHACK A MOLE, HELL HOLE, MIND SCRAMBLER and ROLLING THUNDER.
Ceepak mystery #7 FUN HOUSE will be available May 1st from Pegasus Crime.
https://leelofland.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Chris.jpg336390Lee Loflandhttps://leelofland.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/the-graveyard-shift-1.pngLee Lofland2012-04-24 07:36:032017-05-26 09:33:28Chris Grabenstein: The Real Danny Boyle
Being president comes with some really great perks. You don’t have to worry about paying rent, you never have to wait in the security line at the airport, and you get to let people off the hook for crimes they’ve committed. Many of these pardons granted by the president, or rulers of other countries, go largely unnoticed by the public, but some have captured our attention. Whether it’s because they righted an injustice or because we think the pardons themselves were an injustice, these nine pardons are some of the most well-known.
On President Bill Clinton’s last day in office, he made the unpopular decision to grant Marc Rich a pardon. Rich was a commodities trader, and a good one at that. He was able to build his business and fortune, but may have gotten too greedy when he ignored the U.S. embargo on business with Iran. Rich bought crude oil from Iran and Iraq and sold it to U.S. companies. In 1983, he was indicted for illegal trading with Iran and tax evasion, but he was in Switzerland and refused to return, landing him on the FBI’s 10 Most-Wanted Fugitives List. Clinton pardoned him at the beginning of 2001, and many believe the decision stemmed from the amount of money Rich’s ex-wife had donated to the Clinton Library and Democratic Party.
As Secretary of Defense under President Ronald Reagan, Caspar Weinberger was an important and well-respected man. He even received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and honorary British knighthood in his lifetime. But that didn’t save him from becoming embroiled in the messy Iran-Contra affair. The political scandal involved top officials secretly selling arms to Iran while an embargo was in place, supposedly because they believed it would prompt the release of hostages. Weinberger was indicted on perjury and obstruction of justice charges. President George H.W. Bush pardoned him (and five others) in 1992, before Weinberger’s trial could begin, leading some to believe the president might have something to hide.
Yes, that Blackbeard. Edward Teach’s pirate name was Blackbeard and he has become something of a legend around the globe, perhaps the most famous pirate in history. British Blackbeard liked to take over and loot ships, especially those with valuable goods, like tobacco, sugar, and gold, and didn’t care if the ship was larger than what most pirates would go after. After hearing of the offer of a royal pardon for any pirates who turned themselves in by a certain date, Blackbeard accepted and settled down in North Carolina, a twist in the story no one expected. Of course, Blackbeard returned to pirating. A warrant was put out for his arrest and he was tricked and killed in 1718.
Opposition to the Vietnam War was fierce and loud, especially by those who were the right age to be drafted. One way young men found to avoid the draft, which is illegal, was to go abroad; about 100,000 Americans left the country in the ’60s and ’70s. Ninety percent of those went to Canada. These men would likely be charged and sent to prison if they returned to the U.S., but in 1977, President Jimmy Carter chose to give a blanket pardon to all draft dodgers.
The famed Confederate general who lost the Civil War surrendered at Appomattox courthouse in 1865. President Andrew Johnson pardoned Confederate soldiers, but there were several groups of exceptions. These people, such as officers, had to send an application to the president asking to be pardoned. Lee sent his request and signed an Amnesty Oath to become a member of the Union again, and that should’ve been the end of his pardon. But no one ever processed his oath, so while he and everyone else acted as though he’d been pardoned, he wasn’t actually pardoned until 1868 when Johnson granted an unconditional pardon to everyone who participated in the rebellion. Even stranger, Lee wasn’t an official citizen until about 100 years later when a historian found his lost Amnesty Oath and President Gerald R. Ford officially made Lee a U.S. citizen again, though he’d been dead for a century.
If you don’t know the band Peter, Paul and Mary, go check out the songs “Puff the Magic Dragon” and their famous version of “Leaving on a Jet Plane.” Peter Yarrow, the Peter in the group, got a little carried away with a 14-year-old (read: underage) groupie and served three months in prison. Apparently President Carter was a fan of his, and Yarrow was given a pardon for the incident. If groupies aren’t fair game to musicians, is there anything left sacred in the world? Yarrow has since apologized for the indecent incident.
Tokyo Rose is the name given by the Allied forces during World War II to female Japanese broadcasters, but has since been used mostly to refer to Iva Toguri. She was an American stuck in Japan when the war broke out and, along with many Japanese women, broadcast Japanese propaganda on the radio to the Allies. She went by the name Orphan Ann on the radio show. When the war ended, she was sent to prison in the U.S. for treason for her actions. Toguri always claimed she had been loyal to her country, refusing to give up her American citizenship and working with American POWs to make her broadcasts ridiculous. In the ’70s, these POWs came forward and supported Toguri’s story. She was pardoned by President Gerald Ford in 1977, perhaps a small victory for Japanese-Americans everywhere who had been mistreated during the war and its aftermath.
This pardon came at the end of a controversy that had been bubbling in the U.K. for 45 years. Derek Bentley was a British 16-year-old convicted of the murder of a police officer. His friend, Christopher Craig, also 16, was the one who physically committed the murder in 1952, but Bentley had been party to the murder and was hanged for his involvement. (Strangely, Craig served just 10 years in prison.) The public was very uncomfortable with Bentley’s execution, and his sister led a campaign to receive a posthumous pardon for him. Bentley received a partial royal pardon in 1993 and then a full one in 1998. The case made the British population question the merits of capital punishment and find some flaws in their justice system.
On the same day that President Clinton pardoned Marc Rich, he also granted a pardon to Patty Hearst, the heiress to newspaper giant Randolph Hearst. When she was 19, Hearst was kidnapped by a revolutionary group called the Symbionese Liberation Army. She eventually joined their group and performed a bank robbery with them. She was arrested in 1975, about a year and a half after her kidnapping, and sentenced to 35 years for the crime, though she only ended up serving 22 months. Hearst is one of the most well-known cases of Stockholm Syndrome, the psychological experience of having empathy and fondness for your captors. In light of this and all she’d been through, Clinton gave her a pardon.
You could write a short chapter in The Press Democrat’s SONOMA SQUARES MURDER MYSTERY
Fellow Writers,
The link below will get you info. on how to submit for possible publication a chapter in a murder mystery debuting Monday on The Press Democrat blog, Digitale stories.
Were talking less than 1,000 words submission. Up to three submissions will be chosen for publication on the blog, with the writers’ photos and, when appropriate, links to their websites. For details and to see the 15 writers already taking part, go to:
Paul Beecroft has spent a good deal of his life in law enforcement, in England. He’s worked Foot Patrol, Area Car, Instant Response Car and also as a Police Motorcyclist. He currently serves as a coroner’s investigator and has traveled all over England, Wales, Scotland and even Germany to investigate crimes.
The Graveyard Shift offers our condolences to the families of these brave officers.
Correctional Officer William Wright, 31
North Carolina Department of Public Safety
April 11, 2012 – Officer William Wright died as a result of a fall from metal staircase inside the Mountain View Correctional Institution. Immediately after the fall, he was transported to an area hospital and was released the next day. However, he died at his home a day later due to complications resulting from the injury. Officer Wright is survived by his fiancée, parents, sister, and grandmother.
Sergeant Maxwell Dorley, 42
Providence Rhode Island Police Department
April 19, 2012 – Sergeant Maxwell Dorley was killed in an automobile crash while responding to a call. As vehicles in front of Sgt. Dorley’s patrol car pulled over for the lights a siren, one driver, instead, turned left, causing Sgt. Dorley to swerve and strike a telephone pole. The pole broke and landed on the patrol car. Crews extricated the officer from his car and transported him to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. Sgt. Dorley is survived by his wife and two children.
Writers often ask what kind of entrance and exit wounds are produced by police ammunition. And you know me, I’d rather show than tell. So please follow me to an underground indoor shooting range located at a sheriff’s office somewhere in the U.S.
And, since we’re conducting research, we may as well make that experience as fun as we possibly can. So let’s start out with a Thompson sub-machine gun (think Bonnie and Clyde and the early FBI). Before going any further, though, you may want to first scroll down and click on the video at the bottom of the page, letting it play as you read. Oh, and be sure to turn up the volume. The song could very well enhance your journey through this brief article.
This extremely heavy weapon fires .45 cal. rounds, unloading its magazine with unbelievable quickness.
The rounds (bullets) in the photograph above are hollow-point bullets similar to the rounds fired from the Thompson sub-machine gun. This is what they look like before they’re fired. They’re about the diameter of the Sharpie pens authors use to sign books. That’s pretty close to the size of most entrance wounds – the size of the bullet.
The picture above is of one of the .45 caliber rounds after it was fired from the Thompson machine gun. The round passed through the self-healing wall tiles in the firing range, striking the concrete and steel wall on the the other side. Hitting the solid surface head-on caused the bullet to expand and fracture, which creates the exit wound we see in shooting victims (the hollow point fills with the material it strikes causing expansion of the bullet).
To give you a better idea of just how much the hollow point expands when hitting some solid, the round copper center you see in the photo above is the size of the original .45 cal. bullet.
Many times, bullet slivers break off inside the body causing further internal damage. The size of an exit wound depends on what the bullet hits inside the body. If the bullet only hits soft tissue the wound will be less traumatic. If it hits bone, expect much more damage. Easy rule of thumb – the larger the caliber (bullet size), the bigger the hole.
close contact chest wound caused by 9mm round – post-autopsy (note the stitching of the “Y” incision
Bullets that hit something other than their intended target, such as a brick wall or a metal lamp post, can break apart sending pieces of flying copper and lead fragments called shrapnel into crowds of innocent bystanders. Those flying fragments are just as lethal as as any intact, full-sized bullet.
FYI – Bullets don’t always stop someone. I’ve seen shooting victims get up and run after they’ve been shot several times. And for goodness sake, people don’t fly twenty feet backward after they’ve been struck by a bullet. They just fall down, moan a lot, and bleed. That’s if they don’t get back up and start shooting again.
https://leelofland.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/New-Picture-36.jpg307432Lee Loflandhttps://leelofland.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/the-graveyard-shift-1.pngLee Lofland2012-04-19 09:21:472017-05-28 11:34:04When The Bullet Hits The Bone
