Castle: Get a clue

 

Before we start this review, I have one tiny thing I’d like to get off my chest, and here it is. I. CAN’T. STAND. PI.

Okay, now that that’s out of the way let’s knock on Melanie’s door and see what she thought about this week’s episode. Melanie…

Melanie Atkins

This week’s episode of Castle had a definite Da Vinci Code vibe. Mysteries, intriguing history, and a puzzling murder… all are right up Rick Castle’s alley, and this case fit right in. I enjoyed it, but was much more interested in the drama playing out between Rick and Alexis.

The show began with Martha and Rick visiting Alexis in her new digs with Pi, the fruitarian hippie, for dinner. The night is a disaster thanks to Rick’s blatant disapproval of his daughter’s new living situation, and I can’t say I blame him. I don’t like Pi, either. The fruit loop needs to go, and soon. I don’t know how long they plan to keep him around on the show, but I’ll definitely cheer when he’s gone. I am enjoying the conflict between Alexis and her father, however, and maybe that sounds hypocritical. She’s always been the perfect, precocious child, and now to Rick she’s a stranger. A headstrong young woman sowing her oats and demanding to go her own way.

Rick vents to Kate about the situation and she tries to help, but the case gets in the way. I wanted more interaction between them… heck, just more Rick-Kate time in general. A few hugs and kisses and a little more reassurance, not just a promise from Kate to Rick to “come by later and try to cheer you up.” Come on, folks! Case heavy episodes just aren’t as much fun to us shippers.

Still, I appreciated the banter and the way the case played out with Rick and Kate working together, even though I pegged the murderer fairly early in the show. The episode contained lots of great lines and funny moments. Classic Castle, without the lovey-dovey moments I crave.

The last heartfelt scene between Alexis and Rick got right to the meat of their conflict: her disappointment in his not telling her he planned to ask Kate to marry him before the fact. She found out over the phone while she was in Costa Rica, and that upset her. Of course, Rick and Kate’s engagement did happen pretty fast, as Rick pointed out, and Alexis was already out of the country by then. IMHO, she needs to get over it — she is nineteen and in college, after all — even though she does have a point about acceptance. She has accepted Rick and Kate’s engagement, and she simply wants the same acceptance from her father about her own relationship with Pi. Fine, but she still comes off as an angry young woman using Pi to get back at her dad. Maybe Alexis isn’t so grown up after all.

Next week’s episode again focuses on Rick and Alexis as they work to prove a man on death row is innocent, and I’m wondering if it will bring them back together or push them further apart. Is Pi involved? Is Kate? What do you think?

Bring it on, and we’ll all find out together.

Lee Lofland

Let’s see a show of hands. How many of you knew the identity of the killer long before Beckett and crew figured it out? Easy to spot, huh? Yes, the boilerplate script was pulled from the shelf and dusted off for this episode, and the writers sort of missed their mark when filling in the blanks.

The show wasn’t bad, nor was it one of the better efforts, thanks to a disconnect between the case, Castle’s funny and boyish enthusiasm, and Beckett and crew. It almost seemed as if the show was filmed in three separate segments and then pieced together at the end of the week.

Actually, there was a fourth segment—Lanie.

Bless her little heart. I often feel sorry for Tamala Jones because of the horrible lines she’s given. I know she has no choice, and for the kind of money she receives to deliver those lines, well, I’d be more than happy to say them too. But it doesn’t have to be this way. It would be just as easy to write believable fiction as it is to write the nonsensical babble we consistently hear from Lanie. They don’t write it for Perlmutter, so why do it for Lanie? Anyway, the writers once again pushed Lanie under the largest bus they could find. And they’d been doing really well…until this week.

Lanie started out okay, when she said the victim had probably been killed in another location but moved to where the body was discovered. She based her opinion on the obvious lack of blood at the crime scene (Remember, a crime scene and the scene of the crime aren’t always the same. A crime scene is any location where evidence of a crime is found. The scene of the crime is where the actual crime—murder, robbery, etc.—took place).

So the point about the murder taking place at a different location was a good one. Later, though, she tells Esposito that, “Based on the curvature of the wound and injuries to the neck, I’d say she was stabbed with a sword. And it went in to the hilt because it left a crenulated (an irregularly wavy or serrate outline) bruising pattern, like this…” And she showed Esposito a picture of a sword.

Okay, this one stopped me in my tracks. I rewound and played it again just to be sure I’d heard what I thought I’d heard. I hoped I was wrong, but no, I’d heard correctly. So, my first thought was WTH (what the heck) is she talking about? A sword? Really? A sword? Because the wound was “curved?” Okay, that alone was stupid, but first let’s address the curved blade. Are there other items with non-straight blades? Let’s see…

Why not one of these curved-beak guys? Looks like a mad, psychotic killer to me.

Actually, the chances of a suicide-diving ibis flying directly into a victim’s neck with enough force to cause a through-and-through wound are about as good as Lanie looking at the wound in the victim’s neck, determining it was caused by a sword with a curved blade. It is, however, possible for a weapon or other object to leave an identifiable imprint in the skin.

Then there was the “ink on the hand thing” where Lanie detected ink residue in a gaping, palm-covering wound on the victim’s hand. And, presto-magico, and with a poof of pixie and fairy dust, Lanie determined the ink was used to draw a very distinctive pattern on the dead woman’s palm. But there was no pam left! It had been gouged out and away. It was gone. Not there. Nothing. In the past, the writers of this show have pushed the boundaries of realism out to the extreme, but this ink-crap was one of the worst stretches ever. Dumb, dumb, and double dumb.

– Of course, there were the fictional moments where Ryan and Esposito did their part to uncover all the minor details that tie up all the loose ends. However, those two almost always come across as believable, even when doing the unbelievable. In Lanie’s defense, she could probably pull off the unbelievable, too, if she were handed lines that made some sort of sense.

– The case was a minor detail this week, so there isn’t much to pick apart for those of you wanting to know what’s right and what’s wrong as far as the police investigation goes.

– I did find it ironic that a local TV news break popped onscreen during a commercial break, and it showed a close up of police cars and crime scene tape—another shooting in Savannah (The umpteenth shooting this year). Then a woman appeared who was obviously responding to a reporter’s questions about the deadly event. Her only words were, “I ducked down because I don’t do bullets.” Now, doesn’t that sound like something Castle would say?

– Castle was definitely entertaining this week. He delivered some pretty good lines and even dazzled us with his sword-fighting skills. Although, I did think that scene went on a bit too long. So long, in fact, I began to picture Stana Katic off screen impatiently looking at a clock on the wall wondering if or when they’d ever finish. By the way, it was a huge plus this week that Beckett managed to keep her gun AND, she wasn’t taken hostage or knocked out. Not even once!

– As I stated earlier, we all knew the cousin was the killer from the first moment we laid eyes on him. So no excitement there. And, his confession was a typical (yawn) Castle-ish confession—two or three questions and the killers give the typical “look down and a heavy sigh” before pouring out their heart and soul to Beckett.

Alexis… Her moving in with (I don’t even want to say his name, so I’ll call him “that guy”) that guy is SO out of character for her. For six years or so, we’ve seen Alexis as the strong one…the smart daughter who’s sort of raising her child-dad and keeping a watchful eye over him so he doesn’t do anything that’s too stupid. She was grounded, smart, and extremely loving and supportive of all things Castle. And she’s seen the relationship between her dad and Beckett grow and grow and grow to the point where the next step was inevitable. Yet she’s hurt and angry that her dad proposed while she off was playing Jane to “That Guy’s” Tarzan, a banana-picking, bee-counting fruitcake…I mean, fruitarian.

By the way, an article in the “No Meat Athlete” reported—A practicing fruitarian for over three years, Michael Arnstein eats nothing but lots of fruit and the occasional raw vegetable. Arnstein said he devours 30 pounds of fruit a day—as many as 30 oranges, five cantaloupes, a watermelon, and a salad with five pounds of tomatoes. Consuming 40 to 50 bananas a day is a common occurrence for him. He also claims that 10 to 15 Valencia oranges is the perfect post run snack.

Actor Ashton Kutcher, who, for a movie where he plays Apple founder Steve Jobs, adopted Jobs’s fruitarian diet for one month. “I ended up in the hospital two days before we started shooting the movie,” Kutcher told reporters at the Sundance Film Festival. “I was doubled over in pain, and my pancreas levels were completely out of whack, which was terrifying, considering everything.” Jobs died in October 2011, after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. (U.S. News – Health).

Anyway, this episode was just so-so for me. It definitely wasn’t memorable, but it was, however, wonderfully absent of bombs, tigers, doomsday scenarios. Still, I long for more realistic scenarios. You know, the ones with Zombies. And I definitely miss the mystery-writing Castle who likes to relax while playing poker with his writer-buddies, such as Michael Connelly.

Sigh… Those were the good old days when Castle actually wrote books and we at least saw some sort of romantic spark between Castle and Beckett…

Finally, Pi has got to go!

Mare Island

 

The Mare Island Naval Shipyard (MINSY) dates back to the mid 1800’s, when Commander David Farragut was at the helm of all shipbuilding and repair operations. During the Civil War Battle of Mobile Bay, it was Farragut who gave the order, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!”

Later, the Marines also took up residence at the Mare Island base.

The first U.S. submarines built on the west coast were constructed at Mare Island.

In 1996, the Mare Island Naval Shipyard ceased operations and was decommissioned. Today, the shipyard is a ghost town of empty buildings, broken glass, and rusted steel and burned timbers.

During WWII, the Mare Island base saw a huge surge of activity. Over 50,000 were employed to build and repair ships of all sizes and duties, and to staff a large hospital, a paint and rubber testing facility, a firefighting unit, and more. Mare Island was the bustling hub of all Pacific naval activities.

The massive cranes that were once used to hoist ships and submarines into dry dock now serve as decaying shelters for water birds. Osprey nests are common on the tops of the booms that tower above the island.

More than 500 vessels were constructed at the shipyard, including the first nuclear sub built on the west coast. Interestingly, the extremely patriotic military and civilian workers on Mare Island raised enough funds (War Bonds) to pay for every single submarine built at MINSY).

The island’s past is filled with hot steel, the clanking and whirring of heavy machinery, and of patriots’ love for their country and an unwavering respect for the military.

A visit to Mare Island is a journey to the very core of the United States. You can sense the hard work, the sweat, and the pride that went into keeping our country safe.

The setting today, though, is of gloom and doom and the feel of a post apocalyptic horror film.

I can’t help wondering what tomorrow will bring. However, if how we’re taking care of the planet is any indication of our future, well…

 

Friday's Heroes - Remembering the fallen officers

 

You gave your all to protect and serve us, and for that we are eternally grateful.

Officer Patrick Hill, 37

Detroit Michigan Police Department

October 19. 2013 – Officer Patrick Hill died as a result of a gunshot wound received six months ago during a gun battle with a murder suspect. He is survived by his wife and four children.

Officer Keith Crenshaw, 52

Eupora Mississippi Police Depart

October 23, 2013 – Officer Keith Crenshaw was struck and killed by a vehicle occupied by three armed robbery suspects. The suspects led officers in a high speed pursuit and, as an attempt to stop the fleeing subjects, Officer Crenshaw deployed a spike strip in the path of the suspects’ vehicle. The driver swerved to avoid the device, striking Officer Crenshaw.

Author Carolyn Hughey

Wow! I just returned from a long weekend at The Writer’s Police Academy and my head is buzzing with so much knowledge, I can’t wait to put it to good use! Hands down, this was the best conference I’ve ever attended. If you write mystery and haven’t attended this program, you don’t know what you’re missing. The long weekend is chock full of workshops by impressive, qualified teachers presenting information on things such as high-risk traffic stops, firearms, explosions, canines, undercover officers, secret service—street prostitution, narcotics, etc. Being a name dropper here, presenters like Dr. Dan Krane, a DNA specialist who performed the DNA on high profile cases such as OJ Simpson, Monica Lewinsky’s dress, Jon Benet Ramsey, just to name a few. Author, Kathy Reichs, who’s a forensic anthropologist and the television producer of Bones, Katherine Ramsland, forensic psychology and criminal justice, and the best LEOs to provide us with hands-on training.

I’ll be writing this in installments because there’s just so much to tell, and first up is:

My first activity on Thursday evening was a jail tour. Yep, you heard me right. Our instructions before we entered the jail, was not to stare at them, not to be offended by what we might hear or what they might do. Hoookay. For obvious reasons, we were not allowed to take pictures.

We were transported to the jail in the same white vans they use for the prisoners and actually drove into the building through the garage entrance used to transport the prisoners into the jail. It reminded me of OJ Simpson’s entry, but then, I have an imagination the size of New York.

As you’d expect, the cells were lined up one after another. The last prison I’d been to for a tour was Alcatraz in San Francisco, so I was expecting to see bars, but these were actual rooms behind wooden doors with look out windows, and they were all full. We were told the prisoners on this floor were in a holding pattern until they could appear in court. Black rubber mats covered the picture windows in the room so we couldn’t gawk at them, but they could gawk out at us–and they did—a bit unnerving to say the least. One prisoner was shouting ‘smack’, as they say, because he was unhappy about being there. We later learned he’d just been arrested for the second time in a week on burglary charges and he was seventeen.

We saw prisoners walk through the halls carrying their box of personal belongings and were told they’d just come from court. Seeing the women was the hardest for me, especially this one who had the most angelic face, it was hard to imagine she’s done anything wrong. We weren’t told what the offense was, but putting myself in her place didn’t give me a pleasant feeling.

The next floor was a visit to medical, and then up to the fifth floor where we were with the actual prisoners who sat in an open room watching television or entering a larger room for bible study. We were told the prisoners on this floor were in a program for good behavior where they had more privileges than the others and knew better than to do anything offensive because they’d be pulled out. Watching them being buzzed in and out of their locked rooms was a weird feeling. One guy in particular had a teardrop at the corner of his eye. At the time, I did not know what that tat meant–not until the next day . . .

Day Two:

Day two and it’s up early to meet the bus at 7:30 AM for a ride to the Academy. My first workshop was Building Searches. The condo you see behind him is owned by the Guilford Sheriff’s department and was purchased with drug money collected from various busts! Is that not a neat idea? Here’s a picture of our instructor, Capt. Randy Shepherd, who’s a nationally recognized expert police sniper showing us the equipment. The vest you see on the ground weighs in at 24 lbs.

 

This was so much fun. We were broken into groups of five and went through four condos looking for the crooks. In the final go-round, recruits were selected to hide in the units and we were to find them. It was a killed, or be killed operation.  I was a LEO (Law Enforcement Officer), and got shot because my bad guy was faster on the draw than I was. Officer down, Officer down!

My next workshop was about Gangs and their violence. Our instructor was Sgt. Ernest Cuthbertson, who works in Commerical Property Crimes in the Greensboro Police department. We weren’t allowed to take pictures in class but this workshop was very interesting. Sgt. Cuthbertson showed us a series of tattoos the police look for when they’re investigating a crime. We learned that Gangs are on the upswing and the worst gang violence takes place in major cities. When our instructor got to the face tattoos, I realized I’d seen a gang member the night before during the jail tour. A teardrop by a members’ eye means he’s killed someone. Ack! The hierarchy in the Gangs is much like that of the Mafia, and if you think about it, these gang members are just as bad. The biggest, baddest guy is dating 2-3 girls at a time, and there are more assaults/murders between gang members cutting in on each other’s territory, eg, girlfriends being one of the offenses. Our instructor told us the worst gang right now is the female gangs. I can’t even imagine that. But then I live in a sheltered world. Hearing the names of these gangs reminded me of Major Crimes and Det. Sanchez’s  frequent mention of the Crips. Cuthbertson said, gang members use code words with each other to confuse their parents and the police who are watching them on the social media outlets. One such code used by a girl who a gang member wanted to date was: “I like hardwood floors and sunny days.” And what that means is, she likes them shaved and no condoms.

Next up was Cold Case Protocols–Hits and Misses taught by Katherine Ramsland, actor/author, and Dave Pauly, a retired from the US Army Criminal Investigation Command where he served as a Special-Agent-in-Charge/Commander and Forensic Science officer. Phew! That’s a mouthful. As you can see, all of these instructors were very well qualified. Did you know there are 16,000 murders a year? That’s like 40-50 per murders a day, and at present, there are 164,000 unsolved crimes. One tidbit I found extremely interesting about testing for DNA is, not the entire garment is sent for testing. An investigator cuts off a piece from the garment and if he cuts off the wrong spot, the testing could prove non-conclusive.

One of my favorite classes of the day was Concealed and Confidential taught by Marco Conelli, a retired NYPD detective who worked undercover for three years in the Organized Crime Control Bureau. We’re talking heavy duty here, folks! Doing undercover is a lot different than we see on television. It’s extremely dangerous work and there’s nothing to protect the undercover from being killed. Conelli describes this as an acting gig. You have to be good at it or you’ll get killed. The acts you perform have to be believable. A few places drugs might be hidden and delivered to the buyer are under pizzas, wedged into a floral arrangement, etc. We saw footage of a few busts, one being John Gotti. One bust in particular took place in Queens where a drug dealer owned the apartment building. When this bust took place, three large buses pulled up, each containing enough LEOs to search each building wing. Conelli describes this as a massive bust.

The last workshop of the day was Forensic Identification by Dr. Dan Krane, who’s a world-renowned expert in his field and has worked on cases like OJ Simpson, Casey Anthony, Monica Lewinsky, JonBenet Ramsey. He gave us some astonishing facts about DNA and how the results don’t always identify the right offender. Now that’s a scary thought!

The Writer’s Police Academy – Day 3

Before attending The Writer’s Police Academy, Lee Lofland, its founder, told us we were being treated like recruits and the times specified meant exactly that–The bus was leaving and there were no “I overslept” buses. I’m an early riser anyway, so I wasn’t affected by it. As a matter of fact, I don’t think anyone was. Quite honestly, this program was so exciting, and so full of information I didn’t even want to go to bed. I was hungry for the information they shared and would have worked through the night! I’m not kidding, mystery writers–THIS PROGRAM IS THAT GOOD and not to be missed!

So off we go to the academy where Capt Shepherd greeted us. After a mini-overview of the day, he told us to follow him. When we were well on our way, he suddenly noticed a purple backpack left on the ground and asked who’d left it. And of course, no one stepped forward. This is when the fun began.

First, the K-9 walked toward the bag and sniffed it. This dog has been trained to lay down if he sniffs explosives. Well, you guessed it! That’s exactly what he did! What a set up, huh?

Next, the Hazardous Device Team pulled into the parking lot with a trailer containing all the equipment necessary to disseminate an explosive.

Standing there as quiet as church mice, we witnessed a robot roll out of the back and head toward the bag. A team member inside the back of the truck operated the robot. The robot’s long arms picked up the bag and carried it to the end of the parking lot, away from the maddening crowd. I’m new at this video stuff, so it’s not as extensive as it could have been, but here it is. By the way, this robot costs $125,000—a whole lot of money, but well worth it when it saves lives. As mentioned in a previous post on the WPA, the money to buy this robot did not come out of the town’s budget, but from a drug bust. I wish every police department would put that money to good use like Greensboro did. That was definitely a smart move.

Here’s a picture of a team member who’s dressed in his attire. This suit weighs 65 lbs. Can you imagine? I’d be exhausted for the rest of the day carrying around that much weight. Despite the suit, it’s still dangerous for this team member to go near the bomb. He can be blown up in the line of fire.  When the explosive ultimately went off, it blew the bag to shreds, and thank God, the LEO was safe. That’s Capt. Shepherd in the red shirt. The group named him Capt. Honeybuns. 😉

Tomorrow, I’ll be telling you about the workshops I took on Saturday. Can’t wait to share this wonderful experience with you! Thanks for stopping by.

Saturday’s Workshops at The Writer’s Police Academy

Today, I’m going to tell you all about the workshops I took on Saturday. I’ve been to a lot of conferences since I’ve started writing, partied hearty and by the end, all I ever wanted to do was sleep . . . but not after this conference. I want to tell the world about it. My adrenaline propelled me forward and all I kept wishing for was that it would never end.

After the experience with the explosive, we all ventured into the building, psyched and ready to learn more.

My first workshop was Secrets of a Secret Service Agent taught by retired SS Agent, Mike Roche. Now, this class blew me away. But then, all of them have. Before Mike started his presentation, he told us to feel free to ask as many questions as we wanted during his presentation. And boy, did we! The entire class was so anxious to know the in’s and out’s of the job these elite men do every day that Agent Roche never got a chance to actually show his presentation. But he didn’t care. He wanted to answer all our burning questions.

If you’re interested in applying to this program, you must have a college degree, and 3-5 years of real life experience. And just because you get your foot in the door doesn’t mean you’re staying. During the qualifications period, the recruit is put through a battery of testing, ie, background checks, drug, polygraphs, physical exams, interviews, and then the results are sent to Washington to the Homeland Security division for a decision before they can enter the program. Then, it’s twenty-nine weeks of rigorous training, but it doesn’t stop there, its an ongoing process throughout their career. Agent Roche told us that it isn’t uncommon for 90% of the recruits to fail the first time around. During his career, Agent Roche has protected presidents since Ronald Reagan until he retired in 2012. And no folks, he was not one of the agents in Columbia who got caught with a prostitute.

Next up was Fire Scene Investigation taught by Assistant Fire Marshall Jerry Coble. AFM Coble talked about there being three different types of fires: Accidental, Incendiary and Providential and showed us a series of slides so we could see the various ways to prove how a fire got started, etc.  They even built a structure outside in the parking lot and started a fire so he could demonstrate all the things he’d just showed us. AFM Coble told us how their investigation could actually show you from the marks on the walls, where certain pieces of furniture were positioned to help them identify what room they were in.  The progression and speed at which this fire flared up was scary, as was the intense heat. Check out the progression of this fire:


As you can see, this room had a sofa, a picture on the wall and a dresser. AFM Coble poured charcoal lighter fluid over the cushions on the sofa and lit a match and tossed it. Watch what happens in a matter of seconds!

Look at that black smoke!

I’d like to bring your attention to how I shot this picture much further away from the first picture. That’s because the heat was so intense we had to move back! I’ve never actually seen a fire in progress before, so this was absolutely amazing to me!

One of the students actually timed the amount of time it took for this fire to reach this stage and it was like two minutes. Scary. And although you can’t see it in this picture, there was in fact a shadow on the wall where the dresser was up against it.

After lunch it was off to The First Five Minutes of a Code Blue. This was an reenactment of an EMS team performed by students and their instructor aiding two people who were shot. The driver shot in the head, lost control of the car and wound up on a curve. It was interesting to watch how quickly the students moved to save the second person’s life.

The next class was Street Prostitution conducted by LEO Emily Mitchum who actually walked in the classroom dressed in her street clothes. She looked the part of a high-class hooker, but told us she typically dresses much more provocatively as a decoy. If you’ve ever seen the hookers walking the streets on 42nd Street in New York, or any other big city, you know what I’m talking about. Ofc. Mitchum works for the Greensboro Police Department where they run a Reversal Program that arrests the men trying to solicit the hookers. Their belief is if you arrest and humiliate the men paying for their services, making sure its in the newspapers, it will scare off other paying customers. Can you imagine being arrested for hiring a hooker and having to tell your wife what you did?? OMG!

The last event of the day was in the auditorium with Kathy Reichs, author and producer of the show, Bones who gave us some interesting facts about bones.

Sadly, this was the last day of workshops and our bus drove us back to the hotel for the banquet where all our instructors joined us and my absolute favorite author, Lisa Gardner spoke.

Sunday was a half-day. One of the many workshops I hadn’t taken, because you just can’t take them all in one weekend, was Criminal Investigation of a Sexual Assault Case: The Crime Scene. This class met three times during the long weekend and the recruits were selected by lottery. The recruits selected were divided into three groups to investigate various parts of the crime scene and a spokesman presented the case to a real prosecutor and a real judge. Absolutely fascinating!

The last event of the day was called a Debriefing with several of the instructors where you could ask any question you wanted and they answered it.

I can’t say enough good things about The Writer’s Police Academy. So many excellent instructors who perform these duties on a daily basis, and those who’ve performed them and teach us how it’s done. Will I return next year and every year thereafter? YOU BET I WILL!

One other thing I’d like to mention is if you’re a member of Sisters in Crime’s national organization, they pay half of the registration fee so that you can attend. If you’re interested in finding out more about this valuable program, check out http://writerspoliceacademy.com

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Carolyn Hughey is a multi-published author of humorous romance and suspense novels. Having worn many vocational hats in her career, all of which she’s enjoyed; her most enjoyable of those is luring you into her world of romance and intrigue. You can learn more about Carolyn/K.T. Roberts at www.carolynhughey.com, and at her blog carolyn-hughey.blogspot.com

Dr. Katherine Ramsland

 

Lost Boys: Exposure to violence plus adolescent turmoil becomes formula for tragedy.

On Monday morning, T. J. Lane allegedly took a gun into Chardon High School in Ohio. He saw a table in the cafeteria where students sat talking and took aim. Three have died and two others were wounded. He claimed, according to the press, that he did not know why he picked them. He has not yet offered a motive, but there is speculation that one victim was dating a former girlfriend.

Stories have emerged about Lane’s troubled past. His mother and father have both been arrested for domestic violence. His older brother has had substance abuse issues. Several relatives have had physical altercations. However, Lane himself was not a violent person, at least not on any open record. Some say he was bullied and teased, others insist he had friends. We don’t know how he viewed himself within this cauldron, but he apparently thought that shooting other kids was a viable means to an end.

We might search for a reason we can grasp, but motives for these incidents are generally complex. Each person processes experience in his or her own unique way. Some are resilient and can absorb life’s hurdles, but others cannot. One kid might perceive slights or disappointments as far more jarring than another would.

A few children grow angry and bent on power, revenge, or punishment. In France in 1995, Eric Borel, a fan of Adolf Hitler, used a hammer and baseball bat to fatally bludgeon his mother, stepfather and brother. Then he took a hunting rifle and walked six miles into town. Within half an hour, he had killed nine strangers and wounded seven before shooting himself in the head.

Some researchers say this kind of rampage violence arises from a brain disorder, and much work in neuroscience has been devoted to impulse control issues of the adolescent brain. Others cite attachment disorders from neglect or rejection. One study said that boys who had experienced maternal rejection were twice as likely to get involved in a violent incident as boys who had not.

Neuroscientist Adrian Raine studied children on a small island. Those who had slower heart rates and reduced skin responses when exposed to a challenge or loud noise got into more trouble than other children. However, nutrition and improved education helped to reduce criminality later in life. It was thought that because they did not experience normal fear or distress, they did not learn from risky behavior. They also did not learn empathy. Improved circumstances diminished the negative influences.

Still, some school shooters seek fame or notoriety. For years after the 1999 school shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, several would-be shooters had hoped to “out-Columbine Columbine.” And they weren’t always boys. Soon after the Columbine incident, a thirteen-year-old girl met with friends in a small Florida town to reveal a map of their school’s surveillance system. She showed them a hit list that included nine students and school personnel, but someone turned her in before she could do anything.

Many of these children have been angry about being bullied or rejected. They let their frustration build into rage. It turns out that children who expect to be rejected tend to perceive more hostility in ambiguous comments than those who are not so sensitive. Such children then behave aggressively in a pre-emptive strike, which adds to their interpersonal difficulties. So they get rejected and become further distressed. It’s a self-defeating cycle.

However, it takes more than just anger to form a plan to kill—particularly if one has a number of human targets in mind.

Back in the 1970s, psychologists Derek Miller and John Looney studied adolescent killers and noted that they showed a capacity to dehumanize. Those at high risk to kill saw others as objects that thwarted them. The psychologists found that these kids had become cold and detached from the way someone had dehumanized them. In fact, the extent to which they’d been treated this way was directly proportionate to how they viewed and treated others.

Family strife and bullying by peers may never be eradicated, but identifying kids who process such circumstances in disturbed ways might be the only way to develop effective interventions. This problem must be treated on the inside—the perceptual level—rather than through external controls, because kids who feel resentful and angry, and who devise violent resolutions, will find some way to act out.

*Article previously published in Psychology Today.

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Dr. Katherine Ramsland is a professor of forensic psychology at DeSales University in Pennsylvania, where she also teaches criminal justice. She holds a master’s in forensic psychology from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, a master’s in clinical psychology from Duquesne University, a master’s in criminal justice from DeSales University, and a Ph.D. in philosophy from Rutgers. She has been a therapist and a consultant. Dr. Ramsland has published over 1,000 articles and 46 books, including:

Snap! Seizing Your Aha Moments

Paranormal Forensics

The Mind of Murder a Murderer: Privileged Access to the Demons that Drive Extreme Violence

Inside the Minds of Serial Killers

The Forensic Psychology of Criminal Minds

The Forensic Science of CSI

The Criminal Mind: A Writer’s Guide to Forensic Psychology

True Stories of CSI

Beating the Devil’s Game: A History of Forensic Science and Criminal Investigation

Inside the Minds of Healthcare Serial Killers

Inside the Minds of Mass Murderers

The Human Predator: A Historical Chronology of Serial Murder and Forensic Investigation

Psychopath

The Vampire Trap

The Ivy-League Killer

Piercing the Darkness: Undercover with Vampires in America Today

Dr. Ramsland’s background in forensics positioned her to assist former FBI profiler John Douglas on his book, The Cases that Haunt Us, to co-write a book with former FBI profiler, Gregg McCrary, The Unknown Darkness, to collaborate on A Voice for the Dead with attorney James E. Starrs on his exhumation projects, and to co-write a forensic textbook with renowned criminalist Henry C. Lee, The Real World of a Forensic Scientist.

For seven years, she contributed regularly to Court TV’s Crime Library, and now writes a column on investigative forensics for The Forensic Examiner and a column on character psychology for Sisters in Crime; offers trainings for law enforcement and attorneys; and speaks internationally about forensic psychology, forensic science, and serial murder. She has appeared on numerous cable network documentaries, as well as such programs as The Today Show, 20/20, Montel Williams, NPR, Larry King Live and E! True Hollywood. For ID, she spoke as a recurring expert on the series, American Occult and Wicked Attractions.

Castle: Time will tell

 

Finally, Castle and crew were back together again for this week’s episode, and they were where they should be, at the NYPD. The show was a mixture of fun, surprises, and who knew Esposito would be a Dr. Who fan? The chemistry was there as were Castle’s snappy one-liners and boyish humor and imagination. Beckett was back in charge, tough, and a touch on the gritty side. Overall, this was a really good episode.

Let’s see what Melanie has to say about this one.

Melanie Atkins

Loved this episode of Castle almost as I did the one last week, even though it had a different flavor. The Back to the Future storyline was a little out there, yes… but it flowed seamlessly and kept my interest, Lanie had good lines, and we only had to endure Pi in one tiny scene. That alone made the show tops in my book. I’m ready for that fruitcake to beam himself to Mars.

My favorite parts, as usual, were the family moments between Rick and Alexis and Rick and Kate. I also loved the message from the future for our dynamic duo… along with Kate’s shy smile and Rick’s delighted grin. The man mentioned they married and had three kids, and neither of them freaked out? They are definitely making progress.

After the usual body drop at the beginning of the show, Rick’s painful meet-up with the belt Pi left on the living room floor led to a unpleasant confrontation with Alexis. Rick told her Pi had to go, and she basically said, “No problem. We’re moving out.” Rick, of course, had a cow. He did his best to talk her out of it, even suggesting she move back into the dorm and give her relationship with Pi a year to see what happened between them. Alexis politely declined.

Rick’s sadness over his daughter’s defection broke my heart, but he had to know she would move out sooner or later. He just wanted it to happen later. Much later. In wifely fashion, Kate did her best to soothe his fears and reassure him he still had milestones to go with Alexis, plus special times for him and Kate as a couple. He agreed but was still dejected about his daughter shacking up with the fruitarian. I don’t blame him, but like Alexis said, she is nineteen. Letting go is hard. I’m glad Rick has Kate to help him through it.

The circuitous plot intrigued me. Even the title, Time Will Tell, speaks of Rick and Kate’s relationship. Will they really marry and have three kids? Only time will tell. Get it?

I thought the story was well written and fun and wasn’t surprised to learn series creator and showrunner Andrew Marlowe and his wife Terri Edda Miller wrote it. I always love their episodes. Best. Show. Ever. I could watch Castle every day.

By the looks of the promo, next week’s show has a Di Vinci Code vibe. Another unusual plot, and more of Rick’s fascination with the oddities of life. Nathan nails it every time.

Lee Lofland

All right, Caste fans. Here’s something you don’t often hear from me. I liked this episode. Yes, from beginning to end I liked this episode and here’s why.

First of all, the show works best when Beckett is the woman in charge while she’s at work, because that’s what she does best. Solving murders and leading “the team” is her thing. Then, when she and Castle are on their own time, Beckett lets down her guard and her vulnerable side begins to appear. Castle…well, he’s a big kid who just happens to be good at solving crimes and is always vulnerable for a bashing of his emotions.

This is a show that doesn’t need gimmicks to maintain high ratings. Castle fans don’t need sloppy, silly detectives who eat junk food nonstop. And they don’t need obnoxious boyfriends for Alexis. Just give the audience a decent story/plot, some humor, and a bit of goo-goo eyes and touchy-feely-kissy moments between Castle and Beckett, and they’re good to go. In other words, Castle fans want and deserve the Castle they all know and love. This week, that’s what they got.

Next, the case this week was believable. Yes, there are people out there, and cops deal with them every day, who’re from Mars or Venus, or they’re John Lennon or JFK reincarnated. Maybe they’re the little man in the refrigerator who operates the switch for the light that comes on when you open the door. Whatever the case may be, these people are out there and they roam our streets searching for their next ride to the planet du jour. So, yes, the man-from-the-future plot was totally believable.

Even my dear old buddy Lanie was in top form last night. Jones delivered her lines perfectly, and her character was believable. I nearly jumped out of my chair when she said she’d have to get the body back to her office before she could come up with a time of death (TOD). Good line and believable.

Although, the lipstick/blacklist thing was a little wacky. How’d she know the spots on the victim’s neck were lipstick? No testing had been performed. Although, there are brands of fluorescent lipstick and other makeup products out there that do indeed glow brightly when exposed to black light. I guess it’s supposed to be a cool thing in nightclubs. Who knows, maybe Lanie dresses up and parties hard after a long day of slicing and dicing bodies.

– The victim du jour received a viscous slash to the throat, and she was electrocuted. Beckett seemed to believe the victim’s killer was a woman (due to the lipstick/kisses on the neck). As a rule, female killers do not torture or kill their victims in “up close and personal” and violent means. Normally, when a woman kills she prefers to do so from a distance, such as poisoning or with a firearm. Or, by hiring someone to do the job for her. Males are the sloppy killers who don’t mind a little blood on their hands, and perhaps a struggle with the victim. A detective’s gut feeling and past experience should have had Beckett keeping the possibility of a female killer on the back burner.

– Finally, after all these years, Beckett used the acronym BOLO (Be On The Lookout) instead of the dated and rarely, if ever used, APB (All Points Bulletin). First Lanie and now this. Hmm…Maybe someone’s reading this blog????

– The prostitute’s “manager” told Beckett that he had a former “cellie,” Garrett Ward, who could be good for the murder. Great touch of realism here, since cellie is a term that’s actually used by inmates when referring to the prisoners who share their prison or jail cells.

– Beckett and Castle head into an abandoned power plant to search for the ruthless and brutal killer, Garrett Ward. First of all, this search should have been conducted by a team of officers, not by a lone detective and her unarmed writer boyfriend. And, as usual, Beckett is surprised by the bad guy who promptly knocks her unconscious. Did she lose grip on her gun, even if only for brief time during the thug-induced blackout? Probably so.

So Castle, jumps on the behemoth’s back in a Curly-esque (Three Stooges) move, but the tables are quickly turned, leaving Castle against a wall with the killer’s hands around his neck in a deadly choke. But he’s saved from death by the appearance of little Simon Doyle (Joshua Gomez, formerly of NBC’s Chuck, and the Beatlemania tour where he played George Harrsion).

Of course, Beckett is only out for a few seconds but recovers without even the teeniest bit of grogginess or even a single strand of hair out of place (see yesterday’s blog post about blows to the head). She also managed to come up with her weapon pointing at Doyle.

– I did find it odd that the professor’s wife didn’t seem at all disturbed by the fact that her husband had just been brutally killed right before her eyes. But, people grief in different ways.

Okay, as you’ve seen, there was not a lot of police procedure to pick apart, and what was there was probably the best I’ve seen on this show since day one (yes, including Lanie). The thing I found most impressive was that the case actually unfolded in a way that’s quite similar to a real life case. There were no goofy red herrings. In fact, we all knew the killer’s identity early on and Beckett and crew pursued him ruthlessly, as any good detective should.

So yes, I enjoyed this episode, and I’m happy to say…THEY’RE BACK!

Still, Pi’s absolutely got to go…

You're still writing it

 

Some of the things I see on TV cop shows really grind my gears. And, unfortunately, some of those things are actually finding their way into books—a double gear-grinder. Hmm…I wonder how that could happen?

Could it be that some writers are still using cop-television as a research tool, no matter how many times I and others in the real cop business jump up and down while screaming, snorting, squalling, huffing and puffing, and squealing? Could it be that writers actually believe what they see on shows such as Sleepy Hollow, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Blacklist (actually, I like this show, but it’s still far from realistic), Ironside (this one lasted all of two episodes before the network flushed it), and the woefully ridiculous Under The Dome?

Could it be that writers believe THEM over what they see here on The Graveyard Shift and what they’ve learned at the Writers’ Police Academy? Please, say it ain’t so!

Of course, it’s perfectly fine and dandy to stretch the truth and even make up stuff when writing fiction, but the make-believe absolutely must be believable, and not just when writing fictional cop stuff. Other things in stories must also be believable—not necessarily true, but believable. Or, as I like to say, believable make-believe.

After all, shows like Star Trek and Grimm are total fiction, but viewers can easily be drawn into the action because what they see the actors doing on screen “seems” realistic. It’s believable make-believe.

There are many great examples of believable make-believe on TV, and one such show is The Andy Griffith Show. I know, there were no great crime-solving moments on the show, but the human aspect of police work definitely shined. Sure, Barney came across as, well, goofy, at times. And, of course, the goofy cases that did come up were handled in a like manner—goofy. However, we all kind of believed Barney and Andy and all they did to reach their goal(s), even though you knew, or at least you hoped what you were watching unfold on your TV sets was not how real police officers conducted business in the real world.

I suppose Barney and Andy came across as well as they did because there were no computers and other electronic gadgets to help with their investigations. They didn’t have the luxury of typing 7 keys on a computer keyboard and suddenly have the answer to world peace at their fingertips. Nor did Andy and his sidekick have instant access to surveillance cameras on every street corner corner from Mayberry to Mt. Pilot to Raleigh and beyond.

There were no magic touch screens in Mayberry that had the capability to pinpoint the exact coordinates of a bad guy’s location. Actually, Barney didn’t have access to many of the tools that are available to TV cops. And that’s understandable. But it’s not only the modern-day tools that seem to confusing writers. They’re tripping over the simple things. You know, like the ones that if they simply stopped and thought about them for a minute or two they’d have that “Aha” moment and correct the error(s).

Anyway, let’s go over a few of the things I’ve seen in some of the advanced reader copies I’ve received lately… Wait…before we go any further, I’d like to point out that I receive numerous books from publishers each month, and they send them asking that I read the stories and then review the books here on The Graveyard Shift.

Think for a second, though… How many book reviews have you read on this site? That’s right, I can count them on one hand. The reason there are so few is because I won’t write a bad review. Of course, not all the tales and writing are bad. In fact, the majority of the stories are extremely well-written and the voices are really nice, etc. But there are often bad police and forensic “things” that take me out of the story. So, I put the book aside and move on to the next tale.

Okay, back to the things I’ve seen in books that make me stop reading and wonder how in the world an author could think that what they were writing could indeed be believable. And the list starts with…

1. When shot, people fly backward as if they’d been shot out of a cannon. NO. When shot, people normally fall down and bleed.

2. Cops carry their sidearms fully loaded with a round in the chamber. This business of “racking the slide” before entering a dangerous situation is a TV thing.

3. Bad guys who live in cruddy $2 a day fleabag motels and have not a cent to their name, can easily afford and have access to top dollar military-grade weapons and explosives, and really cool electronic gear. Yeah, right. That could happen in the real world (note the sarcasm).

4. People are easily knocked unconscious with a slight blow to the head with a gun, book, candlestick, etc., or a quick chop to the back of the neck with the heel of the hand. NO! I’ve seen people hit in the head with a baseball bat and it never slowed them down. Believe me, if the blow is hard enough to render someone unconscious, they’ll be out of commission for a while and will not immediately hop up, rub their head for second, and then dive back into the fight.

5. This business of having one lone geeky man or woman who can tap five or six keys on a computer to bring up a bad guy’s photo, shoe size, current address, his favorite food, pet’s name and vet records, and an alphabetical listing of all food in his refrigerator and cupboards, is total nonsense.

6. The same geeky guy taps four more keys and suddenly has access to every single camera in the world, including the one’s installed outside of Betty Sue’s Cut and Curl is more nonsense.

7. FBI agents ride into town on white horses and take over local murder cases. And, when they do, they’re totally arrogant and obnoxious. NO. The FBI does not work local murder cases.

8. TV cops have no trouble kicking in doors while wearing high heels or other street shoes. Doors are NOT easy to kick in. In fact, no one does that anymore. There are more effective ways of gaining entry to a residence or business.

9. Why is it that TV and film cops have no trouble finding a parking spot no matter where they are, including cities like Boston. Have you ever tried to find a parking space in Boston? And, why do TV detectives all drive shiny new cars when real-life investigators often get hand-me-down cars or the cheapest thing on the lot?

10. Back to getting shot. TV cops are tough as nails. So are many real cops. On TV, though, the cops get shot four five times, stabbed four or five times, hit with a boards and bricks, and they still carry on until the bad guys are locked up. Not a single whimper. Yet, when a nurse or significant other touches the wound, they all scream like a woman in an old-time black and white horror flick. In real life, a cop gets shot and he’s taken to the hospital where, by the way, he still may moan, groan, and cry like a baby.

11. TV cops have a habit of getting shot a day or two before retiring from the job. This one is a really tired cliche’. Please stop writing it.

12. Revolvers do NOT automatically eject spent brass.

13. Cops cannot tell the type of firearm used by looking at a bullet wound.

14. Cops do NOT fire warning shots.

15. Cops do NOT shoot to kill.

16. Cops do NOT shoot to wound.

17. Cops do shoot center mass, and they do shoot until the threat ceases to exist, meaning if the bad guy stops shooting and puts down his weapon, then the police are to stop shooting as well. And their next move would be to restrain and arrest.

18. Cops do NOT use Tasers when the situation calls for deadly force.

19. Cops do not use deadly force when the situation calls for Taser use, pepper spray, baton, etc.

20. Do I really need to address cordite? NO ODOR OF CORDITE!!!!

 

Why I play piano

 

The journey that begins as you cross the Golden Gate Bridge heading into San Francisco, is one of inspiration, awe, and wonder. But, before we travel on, perhaps a little driving music would be a nice touch.


A brief stop in the Presidio to gaze out toward Alcatraz Island, before driving through Pacifica and points south.

We’re now making our way along the cliff-side winding and roller-coaster-ish Pacific Coast Highway.

The views are spectacular. In fact…

…the scenery is so breathtaking it often makes me do strange things. Doesn’t everyone do this?

Obviously, the inspiration is contagious.

Windsurfing at Half Moon Bay. Life just doesn’t get any better.

On second thought…

 

Friday's Heroes - Remembering the fallen officers

 

You gave your all to protect and serve us, and for that we are eternally grateful.

Lieutenant Clay Crabb, 42

Austin Texas Police Department

October 16, 2013 – Lieutenant Clay Crabb was killed in an automobile crash when his patrol car began to hydroplane during heavy rains. His vehicle slid into oncoming traffic where it was struck by another car. He is survived by his wife and three children.

Lt. Crabb died a day prior to his 43rd birthday.