August 2016 - Lee Lofland

Make Money from Home: Earn $1,000 per Month for NOT Killing People!

It was a dark and stormy night when the suspected killer, a 17-year-old, hopped inside a car driven by an ex-con who hid the teen and his crime from the police.

With the engine purring and the radio playing softly in the background, the convicted felon slipped the kid a thousand dollars in cool cash. He told the young man that he’d make his crime “go away” if he promised to not use a gun while committing other crimes, an improvement of his current lifestyle.

The former bad guy eyed the butt of pistol protruding from the teen’s waistband, but said nothing. The youngster thought for a moment and then nodded his head in agreement. The two made a deal—for a guaranteed sum of $1,000 each month, the kid agreed to not kill another person. Not even one. Nor would he be permitted to use a gun while committing any other crime. Because if he did, the convict would cut off his free money. The kid pocketed the ten $100 bills and the pair drove off. The police were not informed of the arrangement.

The next day, just after the sun began to peek above the rooftops of the Big Money condos at the eastern edge of the city, and the thick fog was beginning to break up, the ex-con was busy rounding up four members of the Kill-em-All Gang, a notorious group of murdering drug dealers. One by one the heavily-tatted group piled into the former crook’s car, and when the last one tossed his bag into the trunk and was seated in the back with two others, the driver sped away, heading for the airport.

The four gang members, each with ten crisp $100 bills in their respective pockets, hugged their driver and said their goodbyes. Then they proceeded through security and finally boarded a plane bound for South Africa by way of London.

The driver of the car watched as their plane lifted into the sky and then drove back to town. It was time to find the next shooter. The thick wad of $100 bills in his pocket was in need of a new home.

Does the above crudely-written narrative sound a bit ominous? Scary perhaps (the tale, not the horrid, quickly cobbled writing)? Weird? Odd? Fictional?

Well, hang on to your hats … because the story is true. Yes, in Richmond, Ca., one of the most violent cities in the country, per capita, violent people are earning $1,000 per month ($12,000 per year) to NOT kill anyone.

That’s right, officials have hired ex-cons to mentor and supervise violent teens who have killed or could be preparing to murder someone. These “supervisors/mentors” drive city-owned cars and have the authority and city backing, and the funding, to pay violent teens the $1,000 stipend each month as long as they abide by the one simple rule—DO NOT KILL.

These violent kids are often sent on pleasure trips to places such as South Africa, Mexico, and London for the purposes of seeing new things, easing their tensions, and to make new friends outside of their inner circle of fellow criminals.

The police are not a part of the program, nor are they privy to the inner goings-on. In fact, suspected murderers have been brought into the program as a means of hiding their crimes from law enforcement officials.

The city of Richmond is claiming success. They say the homicide rate has dropped significantly since they started the program. However, there’s no real monitoring system in place. No official statistics. And no real way of knowing if the program has a true affect on the crime rate.

The Richmond program began by asking 21 gang members to attend a meeting at city hall. They did and each attendee was rewarded with $1,000 in cash, no questions asked and no strings attached. The program leader hired mentors, men who’d served time at San Quentin for crimes involving the use of firearms.

The program also sets aside an additional $10,000 per participant for travel expenses so they may visit other states or countries. The only stipulation required to use the travel money is that the participant partner with someone they’d tried to kill, or with someone who’d tried to kill the participant. The purpose of this unusual stipulation is so they can see that other people are just like them, not a wicked and evil enemy who must be destroyed.

So, what do you think? Should we pay people to not commit crimes? Or, would those funds be better spent by supplementing the already strained budgets of police departments? Or none of the above?

* Other cities are considering adopting this or a similar program. The next could be your hometown, where your hard-earned tax dollars could be used to purchase an all expense paid trip to London for the kid who shot at you while you were crossing the Piggly Wiggly parking on your way to pick up a gallon of milk and the latest copy of True Detective: Tales of Greed, Lust, and Murder. Now doesn’t that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? When’s the last time you were offered a free trip to, well, anywhere?

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August 31, 2016/by Lee Lofland

Police Procedure

Cop Talk: But I Heard it on TV!!

Police jargon is like a person’s accent or the climate or types of food. It varies across the country.

I urge you to do a bit homework before injecting dialogue in your books that doesn’t ring true. A quick phone call to a police department’s public affairs office will normally provide the necessary information.

When I was conducting the research for my book on police procedure I had the opportunity to speak with police officers all across the country about this very topic. Here are a few examples of what I learned:

Perp – This is pretty much a TV term. Not many, if any, police officers use the shortened form of the word perpetrator. In fact, most cops don’t even say perpetrator. Instead, they use the more common terms, suspect, subject, or a**hole. Listen to newscasts. You rarely ever hear an officer say, “We apprehended the perp at 0100 hours.” It’s always, “”We apprehended the suspect/subject at 0100 hours.”

I’ve heard officers from the West Coast say it’s an East Coast term and I’ve heard officers on the East Coast say it’s a West Coast thing. The reality is … It’s not a “thing” at all. In fact, a couple of weeks ago while at the Writers’ Police Academy, officers from all over the country participated in the Sunday debriefing panel. I asked each of them, “Do you or your fellow officers use the term “perp” when referring to a suspect?” 100% of the officers said they did not.

Actually, I worked my entire career as a police officer on the East Coast and never once heard “perp” spoken by another officer unless he/she was making jokes about an unrealistic TV cop show.

Vic – This is another one I’ve seen in books countless times. Again, not all, if any, cops use “Vic” when referring to the victim of a crime. Well, TV cops do, but real-life cops? Not so much. Actually, some real-life cops refer to their police cars, if they’re driving a Crown Victoria, as a Vic.

What word do cops use when referring to a victim? That’s an easy one. They say victim or dead guy. Maybe even an occasional “maggot snack.” But not Vic.

Juvie – This is a nickname given to a place of detention for juvenile offenders, or to the actual troubled children. Again, not all, if any, members of law enforcement use this term. Most simply say juvenile, or youthful offender, or (hold on to hats because this one’s a real shocker) some even call those troubled youngsters “kids.” I know, shocking, isn’t it?

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August 30, 2016/by Lee Lofland

Police Procedure

Crime Rate is Down? Not at SlayMart or Robbery Lobby

So, your city is listed as one of the safest in your state. How wonderful for you and your neighbors.

Now that the new report is out you no longer need to fear those bullets whizzing by your head as you stroll down the sidewalk. Nor should you concern yourself with the gang members battling it out in the parking lot of your favorite store, SlayMart.

Those purse snatchings, robberies, stabbings, shootings, and bloodstained pavements? Nope. No worries. Because the crime rate is down and you know it’s so because today’s headline says it’s so.

Well not so fast.

Here’s how a police department/city can skew the numbers to make even the most dangerous city in the country look good … on paper. And ~~they~~ some do.

First of all, when crime reports are issued for public review we should, before taking the stats at face value, look at the number of actual calls for service. That’s the real meat of situation.

Oakland, Ca. police calls for service report.

How many times did officers report to locations where shots were fired? Where purses were stolen? Where assaults occurred? What’s the tipping point for determining when a theft warrants arrest as opposed to a issuing a summons?

In our area, for example, a simple theft typically must exceed $950.00 before police are allowed to physically take the suspect(s) into custody (for a felony). Otherwise the crooks receive a summons, if caught, and that often equates to no report to UCR ,which in turn does not show up in the grand total of crimes reported to the public.

After all, if police respond to a million calls about people breaking into cars and never do more than take information and/or write a simple summons, but write no report, well, this large number of tickets doesn’t come into play on the official crime tally. It’s only certain crimes in certain categories that show up in the federal Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR)— the violent crimes of murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, and the property crimes of burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft. In 1979, arson was added as the eighth category. Remember, too, that police departments are NOT mandated to provide information to the government for inclusion in the UCR reports.

To add to the ~~so-called~~ pretend “decreases in serious crime,” California passed Proposition 47, a law that instantly transformed many felonies into misdemeanors. For example (from Balletpedia):

The measure requires misdemeanor sentencing instead of felony for the following crimes:

Shoplifting, where the value of property stolen does not exceed $950
Grand theft, where the value of the stolen property does not exceed $950
Receiving stolen property, where the value of the property does not exceed $950
Forgery, where the value of forged check, bond or bill does not exceed $950
Fraud, where the value of the fraudulent check, draft or order does not exceed $950
Writing a bad check, where the value of the check does not exceed $950
Personal use of many illegal drugs

In January 2015, it was announced that as many as 1 million Californians may be eligible to change past felony convictions on their records under Proposition 47.

Many businesses directly attribute a spike in shoplifting claims to California’s proposition 47. Thieves can now grab up to $950 and run without fear of a felony arrest/conviction.

So, if you want to know how safe your community really is, read the local police department’s calls for service/daily blotter, etc. Don’t rely totally on what you see in the media or in those published UCR reports published by the FBI. The latter is by far the better of the two, but even it is not 100% accurate.

In the meantime, trust your instincts. If a local Gang Members 101 union meeting is taking place in the SlayMart parking lot, well, you might want to consider shopping at another store. But, shopping at a business that uses a bulls-eye as their logo kind of gives me a willies when thinking of all the shootings these days. And let’s not forget KillZone Auto Parts, Corpse and Barrel, Robbery Lobby, Drug Buy, The Home Invasion, and Totally UnSafeway.

Speaking of crime …

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August 29, 2016/by Lee Lofland

Police Tools and Equipment

Happy Cops Whistle While They Work

While sitting at my desk trying super hard to come up with a new blog topic for the day, I heard the sound of a whistle blowing outside. The sharp but distant tweetings were coming from a nearby soccer field, signaling that what was likely an exciting game was currently underway. And then it hit me, I once wrote an article about, of all things, police whistles. So, without further adieu, I present to you … a Saturday “tweet.”

Police officers use whistles to attract the attention of motorists and pedestrians, and to call for assistance from fellow officers.

Prior to the use of whistles, officers used hand rattles to summon back up. Radios eventually took the place of whistles; however, the shrill-sounding devices are still used when directing traffic or for signaling pedestrians.

Types of police whistles.

(Wikipedia photo)

The model 300, a solid brass, nickel-plated whistle, comes with a water-resistant cork ball. This high-quality piece of police equipment can even be imprinted with a logo of choice.

Finger whistles are equipped with an adjustable finger band.

Whistles are available in various colors, such as those pictured below. They’re made of molded plastic.

Whistle with lanyard and rubber safety tip.

Rubber safety tips in assorted colors.

Whistle hook (pins to uniform shirt).

20″ snake chain with button hook (attaches to shirt button and whistle).

Civilian Safety Packs contain a whistle for blowing when in danger, and a key ring that can be used as a weapon of self-defense. The manufacturer advertises this pack as being ideal for people who live alone, college students, women, and senior citizens.

24K gold-plated whistles are sometimes presented as awards. They come in velvet-lined walnut cases.

And, just for fun, the number one song on this day in 1966.

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August 27, 2016/by Lee Lofland

Friday's Heroes

Friday’s Heroes: Remembering the Fallen

Officer Kenny Moats, 32

Maryville Tennessee Police Department

August 25, 2016 – Officer Kenny Moats was shot and killed after responding to assist at a domestic call where it was reported that one of the suspects was armed. He and a detective managed to rescue one person from the home before taking cover behind their vehicle, but the suspect began firing from the garage with one of the rounds striking Officer Moats in the neck.

He is survived by his wife and three children.

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August 26, 2016/by Lee Lofland

2016 Writers' Police Academy

Jessica Ellis Laine: Top Ten Reasons I Love the Writers’ Police Academy

Top Ten Reasons I Love the Writers’ Police Academy

I heard about the Writers’ Police Academy from my Sister in Crime, Jessie Chandler, and decided to go this year. It was awesome. Here’s why:

Girls’ Road Trip. On Thursday morning, I took my first road trip in years (sans dog, child, and husband) with two up-and-coming crime writers, Michelle Kubitz and Emily Gorman. Although we had spoken at several Twin Cities Sisters in Crimes meetings, it was on this trip that I got to know Shelley and Emily and their writing.
Beer and Cheese. You can’t shake a stick in Wisconsin without hitting a can of beer or a block of cheese. On Thursday afternoon, we ate lunch at the Great Dane Pub in Wausau. I drank a beer in something called a crowler, which is a growler in a can. You learn something new every day.

Supposedly, authentic cheese curds will make a squeaky noise when you bite into them. Did ours do that? I’m not sure because we inhaled them in less than five minutes’ time.

Sisters and Misters. In Green Bay, we realized we were not alone; there were Sisters and Misters everywhere. At the Sisters in Crime table, we introduced ourselves to President Leslie Budewitz and Debra Goldstein. It was a nice way to kick off Thursday night.

4. Special Ops Show and Tell. At the hands-on demonstrations, we spent some time watching the K-9 officer and his police dog. Then we spoke at length with an officer on the bomb squad team who gave us insight into the challenges his team faces on a regular basis. I came away with some great ideas for my novel-in-progress, a police procedural set in Australia. We wrapped up the event with a photo on this super-humongous bear cat.

5. Emergency Driving. On Friday morning, I took a “crash course” on Emergency Driving with driving partners, Leslie Budewitz and Karen Heines, and our instructor, Colleen Belongea. Part of what makes the WPA great is the opportunity to take note of how cops talk, walk, and hold themselves. Our instructors (including Colleen and John Flannery) were so incredibly personable, intelligent and self-assured that I’m sure they’ll end up in many of the writers’ stories. (I know they’re going to end up in mine :).

Among other things, Colleen taught us the proper way to round corners at high speed. The experience definitely made me think about what those high-speed chases would be like for my story’s protagonists, a Latina constable and her partner.

Peeps. On Friday and Saturday, we hung out with Doug Dorow and Carol Huss, fellow crime writers from Minnesota. It was fun to review the classes we’d taken and to discuss our stories. We also met crime writers from Milwaukee, Toronto, Vancouver, Virginia Beach, and Seattle. I feel fortunate to have forged connections with all of these incredible writers.

7. I had no idea that Green Bay skirts Oneida tribal land. As a writer of color, it was very powerful to see diverse police officers in action at the Writers’ Police Academy. All ages, sexes, and races were represented. Also, as you can see, the “eye candy” quotient was very high. Just sayin’.

8. Real Cops for Real Writers. Retired Madison police officer, Paul Smith, tugged at my heartstrings when he explained how he developed PTSD following two fatal shootings (he was cleared in both incidents). I can’t imagine a more stressful job than that of a police officer. While the high-stress situations police officers face make for great fiction, the actual toll stress takes on officers can be devastating.

Trying to create the mental health support needed for officers is an overwhelming task. I have been following the Victoria Police’s attempts to create a safety net for its officers in Australia following a review last year which stated the department’s “suck it up” management style was its greatest weakness.

At one point, Smith considered suicide but was able to turn his life around and now works as a PTSD counselor and law enforcement trainer. The session was very moving, and Smith’s service dog had me at hello (shhh, don’t tell my black Lab, Sinjin). Here we are together—and in love.

Tami Hoag and Long Gun: Live Fire. What can I say about this unbelievable experience? Shooting a .223 patrol rifle. With Tami Hoag at my side.

*Mic drop.*

*Video by Lee Lofland

Tami was the keynote speaker at the banquet on Saturday night. She was so open and honest with us; it was a speech I won’t soon forget.

Whaaat? Dancing in Green Bay, Home of the Packers? Yes, yes, and yes. On Friday night, we danced with the enemy (Packer fans) at the Stadium View Bar, but kept our identities as Vikings fans a secret.

Then we boogied down on Saturday night with our new WPA friends (including Jill and Colleen “The Rock” Belongea) at Purcell’s Lounge in the Radisson until we shut that mother down.

Overall, I had an amazing time at the Writers’ Police Academy. Many thanks to everyone who made this such an incredible experience for attendees. I will be practicing my dance moves in preparation for next year’s conference. See you in 2017!

Jessica Ellis Laine lives with a houseful of men. Her short story, “Safe Harbor,” is featured in the mystery anthology, Cooked to Death. Jessica’s novel-in-progress won the 2016 Mystery Writers of America-Midwest Hugh Holton award. She can be found online at http://jessicaellislaine.com.

August 25, 2016/by Lee Lofland

2016 Writers' Police Academy

2016 Golden Donut Short Story Winners and Runners-Up

Each year the Writers’ Police Academy sponsors a fun and challenging writing contest called The Golden Donut Short Story Contest. The rules are simple—write a story about a photograph we supply using exactly 200 words, including the title.

The 2016 photo-prompt is pictured above.

Below are the first, second, and third place contest winners selected by international bestselling author Tami Hoag.

Congratulations to each of you, and to everyone who entered the contest. Each and every story was absolutely wonderful.

2016 Golden Donut Award Winner!

Click. Clack.

by A. R. Kennedy

Click clack.

That is all I have heard for days.

Click clack.

My fingers producing the only noises in the still ship.

Click clack.

We ran aground twenty-one days ago.

The penetrating waves. The driving rains. The pounding winds.

I sat at this typewriter as we rocked, as we swayed and, finally, crashed.

Click clack.

Only us four had survived the first night.

The others drowned in the high seas.

Plenty of other beds were available now.

All the other cabins were available now.

But we had stayed together.

Out of loneliness? Out of friendship? Out of fear?

I could not answer for them.

For me, I could not leave my Underwood. My only true friend.

It always told me what I wanted to hear.

Click clack.

Just us four until day fourteen.

The yelling. I could not take the bickering anymore.

The hunger. I could not take the starving anymore.

Click clack.

My bunkmates stopped talking to me seven days ago.

But their voices…their voices lingered in my head.

Their screams as I covered their mouths…They bounced around in my head.

But now, even that was gone.

And so was the hunger.

Click. Clack.

Second Place

Final Words

by Jan Utz

I slip into the room and quickly lock the door.

The sixties called, they want their dorm room back.

This is where I am going to die. I am okay with that.

I was there when history was made.

The worst mass murder on a college campus.

Everything moved in slow motion as I watched rounds of automatic rifle fire slice through young bodies. The two slugs I took to the gut were things of beauty.

I need to record something, anything, to mark this occasion.

The drawers hold nothing but receipts. The ribbon on the ancient typewriter is dry.

Ah! But an ink source oozes between my fingers as I clutch my wounds.

Sitting on the edge of the old chair, I dab blood on the ribbon.

Faint letters appear as I type my last words and remove the narrow receipt.

I hear cops searching door to door.

My frozen in time room will be next, but it will be too late for me.

As the cops break in, my rifle slides down, snagging the pink lace on my skirt.

I take my last breath as the blood soaked message drifts to the floor.

Sorry. Not sorry.

Third Place

Writer’s Getaway: Inspiration Guaranteed

by Chelle Martin

The brochure had promised a quaint retreat, with tranquil gardens and the opportunity to relax and interact with other writers. So far, I was a party of one in an aged Victorian house that would probably collapse from a strong wind. I would have checked my weather app and prayed for a gale, but cell service disappeared fifty miles ago.

To say my quarters were cramped was the proverbial understatement. My writing desk was sandwiched between two “handcrafted” bunk beds with warped drawers. If I accomplished a draft, it would be a miracle. To top it off, my agent had recommended this place. “I have only heard good things about it,” she had said.

Anger engulfed me as I rolled a sheet of paper into the carriage of the antique Royal typewriter and pounded away on the keys like the Phantom of the Opera playing a menacing symphony on his pipe organ. Clack, clack, clack. Ding!

The story flowed with a fierce pace, opening with a badly treated author murdering her agent and then escaping to a place no one would ever look for her–a little Victorian house that disguised itself as a writer’s retreat.

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August 24, 2016/by Lee Lofland

2016 Writers' Police Academy

Stacy Green: Writers Need the WPA Because Readers Are Smart

I used to be terrified of flying. For 37 years, I refused. But three years ago, on a whim, I contacted Lee Lofland and lucked into a cancellation spot at Writers’ Police Academy, held in North Carolina that year. I sucked it up and conquered my fear of flying, found an inner strength I didn’t know I had, and I started to gain the confidence to begin writing what I truly loved, crime fiction.

A huge part of that genre depends on research and details. Readers are smart and will hone in on anything you wrote incorrectly. And there’s only so much a person can learn from Google and nonfiction. Writers need to hear it, taste, feel it, and smell.

Writers’ Police Academy delivers on every level. My first year, in North Carolina, I was lucky enough to win a ride along with a county sheriff’s deputy.

Just as he finished telling me his patrol area was pretty quiet, a call came in for a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Several high-speed minutes later, we were at the location and I watched the deputy breach the door. Sadly, the man inside had committed suicide, and so the deputy and his colleagues began to secure the scene. I sat in the cruiser for several hours, watching how it all unfolded. My gracious deputy apologized profusely for being stuck there, but I assured him the little details I picked up were invaluable. I saw how the various officers walked and talked, how they compartmentalized the gruesomeness of the scene and worked with the grieving family. One deputy spent long minutes bringing out cats in carriers and made it a point to have them all face in a circle in an effort to calm them. It was a raw, human side of law enforcement I will never forget.

Last year, I went on the shooting range for pistol training. We were put through the same exercises as new recruits, and learned all aspects of using the pistol, the correct stance for a police officer, and practiced deadly force. I also got my picture in the Appleton paper, right below the article featuring Karin Slaughter (who is my crime fiction hero) as the conference’s keynote speaker.

This year, I was part of group on an extensive tour of Wisconsin’s oldest maximum security prison, and I learned how to walk a crime scene and figure out blood spatter.

In three years of attending, I’ve found dozens of new classes to take: crime scene investigation, SWAT, interview tactics, constitutional law, criminal psychology, EMS, undercover work, private investigation, medical examiner and coroner presentations—the list goes on and would take up the rest of the article. Every class at WPA is taught by an experience professional, most of them full-time instructors at the police academy after retiring from law enforcement.

But the incredible classes aren’t even the best part. That’s a tie between the opportunity to pick the experts’ brains (and get their contact info for future questions) and the incredible real-life situations WPA likes to throw at us.

This year, the staff at NWTC stage two awesome demonstrations. First up, an MVA involving a drunk driver and a family.

One actor played dead on the hood of a crumpled car for 45 minutes while another sobbed with grief, all while police, paramedics, and finally life-flight—a real helicopter that landed within yards of us—worked the scene just as they would in real life.

Next day, inside a crowded lecture hall, WPA instructors and volunteers staged a terrorist act. Several people were “knifed” and we watched the public safety officials handle the situation, including triaging the injured. For a visual person like me, stuff like this is gold.

I can’t underscore how much this conference has changed my writing life. It gave me the courage to go from suspense with romance to what I truly love—the dark, gritty stuff. I forged various public safety contacts and realized I could network with other authors, that I wasn’t as much of an introvert as I believed. I learned about the psychology of cops and the day-to-day stuff they go through and gained a new respect. I’ve been able to have conversations with my three favorite authors,—Lisa Gardner, Tami Hoag, and Karin Slaughter.

Last year, during Karin Slaughter’s signing, I told her I’d been struggling on my first gritty crime fiction, in part because I was afraid I couldn’t write the homicide investigation so that it was believable. She told me to face my fear and go after what I wanted. So I got on the phone and found a cop in D.C. willing to work with me. I sold that book this spring.

This year, I got to tell Tami Hoag that her book, The 9^th Girl, helped me get back into the right frame of mind to finish that same crime fiction thriller, and that just hours before she signed my copy, I found out my publisher is releasing the book in hardback in January. She was so excited she wrote “congratulations” with her signature.

How cool is that for the mom from Iowa who didn’t think she’d ever be able to branch out far enough to write what she really wanted?

It’s all because of the opportunities from Writers’ Police Academy, and it’s the one conference I won’t miss, because there’s always something new and exciting.

Thanks so much to Lee and Denene Lofland for all they do for us. I’m already marking my calendar for next year!

Stacy Green is the author of the Lucy Kendall thriller series and the Delta Crossroads mystery trilogy. ALL GOOD DEEDS (Lucy Kendall #1) won a bronze medal for mystery and thriller at the 2015 IPPY Awards. Stacy has a love of thrillers and crime fiction, and she is always looking for the next dark and twisted novel to enjoy. She started her career in journalism before becoming a stay at home mother and rediscovering her love of writing. She lives in Iowa with her husband and daughter and their three spoiled fur babies. Her current work includes the true crime series KILLER SHORTS: Murderers Among US, and her crime fiction novel, KILLING JANE, will be available in January 2016.

Stacy is represented by Italia Gandolfo of Gandolfo, Helin and Fountain Literary Management for literary and dramatic rights.

Stacy loves to hear from readers!

Website: stacygreenauthor.com

Facebook www.Facebook.com/StacyGreenAuthor

Twitter: @StacyGreen26

August 23, 2016/by Lee Lofland

2016 Writers' Police Academy

Terry Odell: Why Writers’ Police Academy?

The 2016 Writers’ Police Academy was the fifth one I’ve attended. I’m not sure I’ve been to any other conference that many times, but WPA always offers something new and different. And just when you think you’ve seen enough to get you through the next five books, Lee goes and changes the venue so there are new things to explore.

Why WPA? As authors, we want to (or at least should want to) provide as much accurate information as possible, and having a conference at a training facility for first responders with access to their instructors—well, it doesn’t get much more real than that.

Will you have a fire scenario in your book. You need WPA. Cops? WPA is a given. EMS? Ditto. Private Investigators? Courtrooms? They have those, too. Want to breach a building? Fire a patrol rifle? Try ‘shoot-don’t/shoot’? Watch a K-9 in action? Yep. WPA has it all.

This year began with a parking lot display of all the nifty cop vehicles. Attendees were climbing in and out like kids at a hands-on museum exhibit. And, as always, there were plenty of personnel around (including one of the furry four-legged variety) to answer questions.

After that was the annual “orientation” where Lee provides valuable information about how everything will work. There’s always a critical tidbit that rises to the forefront. In 2015, the most-repeated question was “What time does the pool close?” This year, it was “How long are the bus rides?”

WPA always begins the first full day with a group welcome. This year (after a bus ride of appropriate length), we were welcomed onto the campus with a fully staged traffic accident. We observed a field sobriety test, Jaws of Life extracting victims from the crashed vehicles, and they even brought in a fricking helicopter.

But the real value, in addition to watching how these scenarios are handled, comes from the willingness of staff to go through every detail afterward, explaining not only what they did, but why they did it. And, even more valuable is the willingness of the instructors to share their contact information so you can hound them ask them followup questions when you get home and find yourself dealing with a scene you want to get right.

After the opening demonstration, the rest of the day is filled with small classroom and hands-on workshops. There’s no way you can hit all of them (did I mention this was my 5^th WPA?). Smartest move is to find a friend (and everyone will become your friend) who’s going to something you can’t get to and then share notes.

Rather than go into the entire curriculum in this post, you can look at the WPA website and find the schedule of all the different classes they offered.

My choices included firehouse life, poisoning people, the psychological consequence of being a cop, defensive arrest tactics, how cops talk, and traffic stops with a K-9 (I did that one twice—once with a drug/patrol dog, and once with a bomb/patrol dog). Oh, yes, I took a class on live-firing an AR15 patrol rifle. My takeaways from that one—I’m a granny with little or no upper body strength, and yoga classes, no matter how many downward facing dogs or sun salutations you do, you’re not using the same muscles. But there’s no substitute for learning by doing. The sounds, the smells (and it’s gunpowder, NOT cordite!) And, thanks to the instructors, we learned the safe way to do everything.

Saturday begins with a trek to a large lecture hall. Repeat attendees suspect this will be more than a talk about terrorist attacks. Many first-timers have their suspicions as well, I imagine. Sure enough a few minutes in the presentation, shouts of “Help! I’ve been stabbed!” resound from behind the door at the base of the classroom. The instructor pauses, but continues with his lecture until the call comes again. He opens the door, admitting a “wounded” victim. First aid procedures begin immediately, and soon the instructor has volunteers from the audience.

Then more attack victims arrive, and we’re now in a full-blown lockdown scenario, with police working to secure the campus and the paramedics arriving to aid the victims, and the room swarms with police (well-played by rookies at the college).

Everyone in the audience is told to place their hands on their heads, fingers entwined, and they’re not kidding. So much for taking notes.

They begin questioning members of the audience, moving them down the stairs after they’ve been cleared. Luckily, no one challenged the officer with the booming voice when he said, “For the last time, put your hands on your head!” to someone who didn’t take the scenario seriously enough. Later, during the debriefing, when someone asked what would have happened to that individual, we were told he would have been handcuffed and placed where the officers could make sure he was behaving.

One of the best takeaways from WPA is the jargon. You’ll hear “package them up,” “put the white stuff on the red stuff,” “dirty walls and clean walls,” “gunners and grabbers”—all things begging to be added to dialogue in your next book.

Add to all this talks by Lee Goldberg and Tami Hoag, and you have a weekend with enough writing fodder—the right writing fodder—to ensure you don’t have people experienced in these fields throwing your books across the room.

That’s WPA in a nutshell—a very small nutshell. Hope to see you there next year!

Click here to read more about Terry Odell.

Terry Odell always wanted to “fix” stories she read so the characters did what she wanted. Once she began writing, she found this wasn’t always possible, as the mystery she intended to write became a romance—a real surprise, since she’d never read a romance. Terry writes mystery and romantic suspense, but calls them all “Mysteries With Relationships.” Her 20 pulbished works include the Blackthorne, Inc. covert ops series, the Pine Hills Police series, the Triple-D Ranch series, and the Mapleton Mystery series. Her awards include the Silver Falchion and HOLT Medallion, among others.

Click the cover below to read more about Terry’s latest book.

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August 22, 2016/by Lee Lofland

2016 Writers' Police Academy

Writers’ Police Academy: Our History … and cover models

Many of you have asked how the Writers’ Police Academy started and why it did. So, here’s a brief outline to answer those questions.

In November of 2007, Sisters in Crime sponsored an event in St. Louis called Forensic University. Headliners for the event were Jan Burke, Eileen Dreyer, Dr. D. P. Lyle, and me (Lee Lofland).
While at this fabulous event I sat in on several of the workshops and lectures.
Each session consisted of an instructor/lecturer who typically used Powerpoint or handouts as part of their workshops.
The material covered was extremely valuable to writers.
At the end of the second day ATF Agent Rick McMahan (another presenter) and I were sitting in the lobby discussing the overall event.
I suggested to Rick that while Forensic U was one of the best conferences I’d seen for writers, I thought it would be fantastic if writers could attend a hands-on event, where they touch, and hear, and see, and physically experience police and other first responder training.
I said I’d like to try to do just that at an actual police academy.
Rick said I was absolutely and without a doubt, as crazy as a loon. It would never work. No police academy in the country would permit a bunch of eager writers to storm their facilities for an entire weekend.
I agreed with Rick. But … I wanted to try, knowing how extremely valuable a hands-on event could be for writers. After all, I’d seen the term “Cordite” used one too many frickin’ times in too many frickin’ books.
So try I did. And, as expected, I heard “NO, NO, NO, and NO” dozens of times.
Then I approached a popular writers conference in Ohio. I presented them with my idea and they connected me with their local police department.
I met with local police officials, the mayor, the coroner, the prosecutor, fire officials, and they each agreed to help.
We put together a small program for writers, the very first but very small WPA, that included a K-9 demo, sessions on arson investigation, a tour of the morgue and police department, a fire truck demo, and more. Other workshops were taught by Rick McMahan, Mike Black, Dave Swords, and me.
The Ohio event was a big hit. But too big for the Ohio location. There was no police academy.
Denene and I took a cross-country RV trip and during one of our stopovers in a North Carolina RV park we met Andy Russell.

Andy Russell

During a conversation with Andy I learned that he, coincidentally, taught at a police academy.
DING, DING,DING! A police academy!! A foot in the door??? It was FATE.
Andy took our proposal to his bosses and they agreed to meet with me. And …
In 2010, the WPA opened at an actual police academy, with Jeffery Deaver (The Bone Collector. Remember the movie with Angelina Jolie? Yes, THAT Jeffery Deaver) as keynote speaker.

Is that Jeffery Deaver with the fully automatic rifle? It sure is!

Special Guest Speaker – Dr. Katherine Ramsland (Katherine has been with us each year since).

2011 – We expanded the event.

2011 Guest of Honor – Christopher Reich

2012 – We continued to grow.

2012 Guest of Honor – Lee Child

Special Guest Speaker – Marcia Clark (Yes, THAT Marcia clark – OJ Simpson prosecutor). Pictured with Denene and Lee Lofland.

In 2013 we decided to take attendees on an underwater evidence recovery adventure.

World-renowned DNA expert Dr. Dan Krane offered his expertise at the Friday afternoon session.

Dr. Dan Krane has testified as a DNA expert in over 100 high-profile criminal cases worldwide, including serving as a consultant for the “dream team” in the OJ Simpson case. Dr. Krane was also involved in the review of high profile cases around the world, including: the Washington D.C. Beltway sniper, the Jaidyn Leskie Coroner’s Inquest in Australia, the Omagh IRA bombing in Northern Ireland, and the Deventer murder in The Netherlands. He work closely with the Innocence Project and has been involved with several exoneration cases, including George Gould and Ronald Taylor.

2013 Guest of Honor – Lisa Gardner

2013 Special Guest Speaker – Kathy Reichs (producer and writer of the TV show Bones).

2014 was the year of the super-exciting police pursuit and shootout.

We also brought you a recreation of the Boston bombing where we detonated a backpack using a C-4 charge. An explosive detection K-9 alerted on the package.

The crowd was moved far away from the scene and then a bomb robot carried the backpack to a safe location.

The bomb squad did their thing.

And … now you see the suspicious backpack, and …

… now you don’t! We blew that sucker to somewhere beyond the suburbs of oblivion.

2014 Guest of Honor – Michael Connelly

And yes, we, too, had cover models, sort of like those at RWA events. Sort of …

Rick McMahan shows his hard-earned six pack.

Even I pulled off the shirt to help the cause …

By the time 2015 rolled around we’d outgrown the North Carolina facility, so we packed our bags and moved the entire operation to a police academy in Appleton, Wi., where we met Larceny Lori, the meanest bank robber in WPA history.