You’ve completed the research stage of your next project, a mystery. You’d finally sucked it up and attended your local citizen’s police academy. You’ve bought every book about law enforcement you could find. You’ve contacted every friend of a friend of a friend of a cop. And you smartly attended the last Writers’ Police Academy. You are sooooo ready to write this book.
Stacks of notebooks overflowing with the information you’ve painstakingly gathered during the past several months cover the corners of your desk. You happily opened the first one, the one containing the information you learned at the beginning of the citizen’s police academy. Yeah, that week was a bit boring, so you found yourself daydreaming about the protagonist in your new book. Would he be tall? Short and muscular? How about a slight beard? No, the hero should be a woman. That’s it! You decided to….oh, yeah, you remember that you’d done more doodling than note-taking. Well, it wasn’t your fault that all those facts about who does what and when they do it, or not, weren’t very interesting.
The second notebook would be better. You were confident that… Hmm…caricatures of your classmates and not many notes. What did that officer tell you about the FBI investigating murders? Or, was it that the ATF does that? Yeah, that’s it. It must be the ATF agents (are they agents or officers?) who tell the local sheriff to back off because they’re taking over the murder case. No, only the FBI has that authority. After all, you read that in one of those murder mysteries you found at the garage sale, right?
Okay, enough of this nonsense. You decide to start writing, and you do. After shoving your notebooks to the floor you decide to write a lead character, an FBI agent, who chooses to “go rogue” and investigate the murder of a local auto mechanic who’d worked on the agent’s cars since he was 16-years-old. It was personal. Besides, the agent is on vacation so she can do whatever she wants, and solve a murder it is.
Sure, you vaguely remember someone saying the FBI doesn’t investigate local murders. ATF agents either, for that matter. But it just sounds more exciting to have the feds ride into town and do what they do best…solve murders, rapes, and robberies. Wow, you think, this book is going to be the best thing since Poe or Christie first set their thoughts to paper.
And off you go, typing away, paying no attention to the stack of notebooks the cat is now using as a day bed. Your literary agent, a man who believes that Car 54 Where Are You? is the ultimate police tale, loves your book, and so does your editor. Of course, she’s one of those folks who’s not quite sure how to spell FBI or ATF, so your book of little mistakes hits the shelves. And, much to your publisher’s dismay, the project you worked on for so long is not selling well, not even for free on Kindle. And the reviews from those who did read it were awful, especially from people who work in law enforcement and the court system.
Why, you ask, was the book not very well-received?
Easy answer. Because you didn’t bother to get your facts right. And all it would have taken was a quick peek at a few websites or cop blogs.
I often compare this foolish and careless lack of accuracy to someone hiring a plumber to do your dental work. Or, sign a computer tech to play quarterback for the New England Patriots. The two are nearly that far apart (a plumber is as near to being a dentist as an FBI agent is to local cop).
Anyway, here’s a bit of information that will get you started in the right direction. However, if you’re not interested feel free to print it out and use the paper for doodling while you try and figure a way to have Patriot’s quarterback Tom Brady solve a murder in DoodleBop, Utah.
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF)
With offices in all 50 states and a staff of nearly 5,000 (both for compliance—ie-regulatory people who inspect gun dealers and explosives licensees—and criminal enforcement). The 2,000 +/- ATF special agents in the field handle investigations involving criminal organizations, the illegal use and trafficking of firearms, the illegal use and storage of explosives, acts of arson and bombings, acts of terrorism, and the illegal diversion of alcohol and tobacco products. ATF agents often work closely with local law enforcement officials, especially when local cases involve firearms. Illegal narcotics cases often involve guns, therefore, it’s not unusual for an ATF agent to investigate cases involving illegal drugs.
The ATF website features a fun page for kids.
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
Multi-million dollar seizure of methamphetamine
The DEA was created by President Nixon in 1973. The mission of the DEA was to fight “an all out global war on the drug menace.” With a budget of $75 million and less than 1,500 agents, the DEA set out to stop drugs from taking over the country by developing long-range strategies and intelligence operations.
Early DEA guidelines required “clear-cut lines of command and control in enforcement situations and stressed that operations must be carried out in a manner that is legally correct, morally sound, with full respect for the civil rights, human dignity of persons involved, and the sanctity of the home.”
DEA agents of today are 5,000 strong, working out of 223 offices throughout the U.S., and operate with a budget of well over $2 billion. DEA agents also work with local agencies, often on DEA-led drug task forces.
Globally, the DEA has 86 offices in 67 countries.
For specific drug information, please visit DEA.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
The FBI employs over 35,000 agents and support personnel, all working with a budget of well over $8 billion.
Contrary to what we see on television and read in many mystery books, the FBI does not work local criminal cases. That’s the job of state and local police departments and sheriff’s offices.
The FBI’s focus is the following:
1. Protect the United States from terrorist attack
2. Protect the United States against foreign intelligence operations and espionage
3. Protect the United States against cyber-based attacks and high-technology crimes
4. Combat public corruption at all levels
5. Protect civil rights
6. Combat transnational/national criminal organizations and enterprises
7. Combat major white-collar crime
8. Combat significant violent crime
9. Support federal, state, local and international partners
10. Upgrade technology to successfully perform the FBI’s mission
The FBI investigates:
U.S Marshals Services
The U.S. Marshals Service is the oldest federal law enforcement agency. U.S. Marshals are presidentially appointed and serve each of the 94 judicial districts of the U.S. Currently, there are nearly 4,000 deputy marshals working throughout each of those districts.
U.S. Marshals are not the typical law enforcement officers investigating typical criminal cases. Instead, the duties of the U.S. Marshals Services include protecting federal judges, U.S attorneys, jurors, prisoners, and the general public, apprehending federal fugitives (escapees from federal custody and those who are wanted on indictment or by warrant), managing and selling seized assets acquired by criminals through illegal means, housing and transporting federal prisoners to and from prison, jails, and courts, and operating the Witness Security Program.
Facts About The U.S. Marshals Service:
– U.S. Marshals apprehend nearly 350 wanted fugitives every day.
– Each day Marshals provide protection for 2,200 federal judges, and 10,000 other judicial employees.
– In 2012, the Marshals cleared over 39,000 federal warrants by locating and arresting 39,423 people wanted by the federal courts.
– In 2012, the Marshals cleared over 114,000 state and local warrants by locating and arresting 114,311 people wanted by state and local courts.
– The 2012 budget for the Marshals Service was $1.186 billion.
United States Postal Police
Officers of the United States Postal Police are responsible for protecting postal facilities and their employees, escorting high-value mail, and for securing the perimeters of postal properties. In addition to the 650 postal police officers, the U.S. Postal Service also employees 1,500 postal inspectors who investigate crimes involving mail fraud.
* Local police agencies investigate crimes that occur within their jurisdictions, including kidnappings and murder. If they need assistance they normally call on the sheriff or state police. If they decide they need the assistance of a federal agency, that agency will gladly help out in a supporting role.
By the way, cordite is no longer used in ammunition, so your heroes can’t smell it when they enter a crime scene. Well, unless they were 16 when Car 54 Where Are You? first aired.
Cops: The Happy Whistlers
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 above. 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 can be presented as awards. They come in velvet-lined walnut cases.
*This is a repeat post. I’m totally swamped attending to WPA details and just didn’t have the time to write something new.
A Coroner’s Investigator In Scottsdale, Arizona
Saddle up, folks, and join Paul Beecroft, one of England’s finest as he took aim at some of Scottsdale’s attractions.
* * *
Paul Beecroft, has spent a good deal of his life in law enforcement, in England. He’s worked Foot Patrol, Area Car, Instant Response Car and also as a Police Motorcyclist. Paul currently works as a coroner’s investigator and has traveled all over England, Wales, Scotland and even Germany to investigate crimes.
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Friday’s Heroes: Remembering The Fallen
You gave your all to protect and serve us, and for that we are eternally grateful.
Sergeant Jorge Luis “JL” Garcia, 51
Pharr Texas Police Department
August 8, 2013 – Sergeant JL Garcia, a 27-year police veteran, was killed in a a vehicle crash when his car was struck by a dump truck. Sergeant Garcia is survived by his wife, Brenda, and their two children, Valerie Nicole and Daniel Jay.
It’s Raining Men: Singing To The Pepper Spray
How do you safely remove handcuffs when placing a suspect inside a jail cell?
Sometimes it’s easier said than done, especially when the guy wearing the cuffs is 6’6″ and weighs over 300lbs—a solid mass of hard-packed muscle that was designed to break bone and blacken perfectly good eyes. So you and the eight other officers it took to get Bobby Bodybuilder to the cell block, all give one big heave-ho, forcing the over-sized version of Ah-nold Schwarzenegger through the door. Hopefully, someone will remember to close and lock it.
To remove cuffs from the wrists of “good” bad guys, officers have the suspect(s) step inside the cell and then close and lock the door behind them. The prisoner then places his cuffed hands to the rectangular opening in the cell door. This allows officers to safely unlock the handcuffs. The same opening in the cell door is used for passing food trays to the prisoner(s) inside.
When officers bring a suspect to an interview room they’ll normally leave the cuffs on their prisoner. If officers are removing cuffs from a prisoner outside a cell they’ll apply a wrist lock technique for control before unlocking the restraints. Two or more officers should be present anytime they’re removing cuffs in an unsecured area.
The picture above is of a typical holding cell. The platform to the right is the bed (without a mattress, which by the way, is not much more comfortable than the concrete and tile platform).
In the rear of the cell is a stainless steel toilet/sink combination—good for taking care of bodily functions, clothes washing, passing messages to a friend in another cell (details another day).
A polished steel mirror hangs above the sink. The heavily scratched and dented faux looking glass is held to the wall with bolts that can’t be backed out without a special tool. The thick steel door is equipped with the aforementioned tray slot and peep hole. You can also see a round piece of stainless steel on the upper door. This is a receiver for a computerized device called “The Pipe.”
Jail officers carry the pipe with them as they make their rounds, touching the end of the apparatus to each receiver throughout the jail or prison. The receiver uploads the time and date into the pipe. At the end of the officer’s shift he/she inserts the pipe into a terminal inside the jail’s master control room.
The computer then records every movement the officer made during the day. There are also many, many security cameras throughout the institutions that send their images to the main control booth.
Cameras are okay, I guess. They do offer a view of the goings-on throughout the facility. However, officers often forget the cameras are there, especially the tired and sleepy officers working graveyard shift. First thing you know, one of the sleepy-beauties decides to sing a little song to help keep him awake. So he pulls out his can of pepper spray and uses it as a pretend microphone as he warbles and screeches out a chorus or two of “It’s Raining Men.” And this is without auto-tune. Next thing they know, he’s entertainment for the entire supervisory staff and control room officers.
Cameras don’t lie…unfortunately.
*I’m doing a bit of traveling today, so please play nice while I’m away.
A Pictorial Visit To The Morgue (Warning – Graphic Images!)
Death investigations are conducted by both police investigators and medical examiners or coroners. Each city, county, and/or state determines whether or not to utilize a coroner or medical examiner system.
A coroner is an elected official and may or may not be a medical doctor. In fact, even the ticket-taker at the local Bijou Theater could be elected as coroner in some places, as long as he/she meets the local requirements. In some locations the requirements are minimal, such as being a citizen of the area for a year, and being of legal voting age with a non-violent criminal history.
In some counties, in California for example, the county sheriff also serves as coroner. Elected corners with no medical background employ pathologists to conduct autopsies.
A medical examiner is a medical doctor that has been hired by a city or county to conduct autopsies and investigate the cause(s) of suspicious deaths.
The police are in charge of all murder scenes, but medical examiners and coroners are in charge of the body. Medical examiners and coroners do not interrogate suspects and detectives do not examine bodies.
Bodies are placed in sealed body bags and delivered to the morgue in specially equipped vehicles.
Upon arrival at the morgue, bodies are placed on gurneys and rolled onto scales where they’re weighed.
After weighing, the body is placed inside a cold room until autopsy. Black or dark gray, leak-resistant body bags are used pre-autopsy. The paper bag resting on the body of the murder victim at the top of the photo contains the victim’s personal belongings.
Autopsy station
Former Butler County, Ohio coroner, Dr. Richard Burkhardt, M.D., at autopsy station.
Carts containing the necessary tools of the trade are wheeled next to the autopsy station within easy reach for the pathologists.
Bone saw for removing the top of the skull, and sometimes to make the rib cuts for access to internal organs.
As organs are removed they’re placed on hanging scales for weighing.
“If a medical examiner were allowed to do only one thing during an autopsy, that one thing should be to weigh the heart of the victim. The weight of a heart is key to most of death’s mysteries.” Dr. Richard Burkhardt, Butler County Ohio Corner. (Excerpt from Police Procedure and Investigation by Lee Lofland)
Once the autopsy is complete, an assistant begins the process of closing. Pictured above, an attendant replaces the top of the skull and then stitches the scalp back in place.
Pathologists make a “Y” incision, starting at each shoulder, meeting at the bottom of the sternum (the xiphoid process is the cartilaginous/bony tip at the base of the sternum), continuing to the pubic bone, typically bypassing the navel.
Body – post autopsy.
Samples of organs are often kept for future examination, and/or DNA testing.
Cold rooms also store amputated body parts. The gray trays on the right contain severed limbs. White, paper-like body bags, like the one lying on the gurney in the rear of the cold room above, are used post-autopsy for bodies waiting to be transported to funeral homes.
*Attendees of the first Writers’ Police Academy were treated to a behind the scenes tour of the morgue featured above. Hmm…only writers would consider a trip to the morgue as a treat.
Stop And Frisk: Legal, Or Not?
New York City has been feeling the heat for its stop and frisk policy, with many claiming the police department unfairly and unconstitutionally targets people of color. Maybe so, maybe no. I can’t speak to the NYPD’s situation because I don’t know their rules and regulations regarding the encounters. What I do know is that “stop and frisk” is indeed legal and it’s nothing new, not by any means. Here’s how it all began…
In the mid 1960’s, a Cleveland, Ohio detective (his last name was McFadden) saw two men, strangers to the area, walking back and forth in front of a store. On each pass the men stopped to look into the store window. McFadden watched the men while they made a couple of dozen trips past the storefront. After each trip by the business the two men stopped at the street corner to chat for a minute or two. Soon, a third man met the two men at the corner.
Well, Detective McFadden had seen enough to send his “cop radar” into overdrive. He was certain the men were “casing” the place, waiting for just the right moment to rob the store owner. So McFadden approached the three men at the corner, identified himself as a police officer, and then asked for their names. Someone mumbled something but no names were offered. Therefore, sensing things could quickly go downhill, McFadden spun on of the the mumblers around (John W. Terry) and patted the outside of his clothing, feeling a pistol in the man’s coat pocket.
Unable to retrieve the pistol on the street while keeping an eye on all three potential robbers, the detective ordered the men inside the store where he had them face the wall with their hands in the air. McFadden retrieved the pistol from the first suspect’s coat and then patted the clothing of the the other two men. During the searches McFadden located a second pistol. As a result, the three men were detained and taken to the police station. The two men with the guns were charged with possession of a concealed weapon.
On appeal, Terry argued that the officer had violated their constitutional rights according to the 4th amendment (unlawful search and seizure). However, the U.S Supreme Court ruled in favor of the officer, stating that his search was the minimum action required to see if the men were armed, a necessary tactic to safeguard his safety and the safety of others. And, that the suspects were indeed acting in a manner consistent with the probability of robbing the store owner.
Basically, the Court stated that whenever possible and practicable, a police officer must obtain a warrant to conduct a search and seizure. However, an exception must be made when “swift action” is required based on the observations of an officer.
Detective McFadden’s stop and frisk tactic has since been known as a Terry Stop.
The Terry Stop
Officers may, even without sufficient cause for arrest, briefly detain someone if…
– the officer identifies him/herself as a police officer (either by the uniform and badge, or verbally) and asks reasonable questions regarding the suspect’s current conduct.
– the officer has knowledge of facts that lead them to believe the suspect is involved in some sort of illegal activity.
– the person they’ve stopped does not immediately justify his actions in a manner that satisfies the officer’s suspicions.
Officer’s may conduct a pat-down search during a Terry Stop if they have a reasonable suspicion, based on personal knowledge of facts, that the person is armed. The Terry Stop is a search for weapons. Officers may not, however, go out on “fishing expeditions” under the guise of the Terry Stop. There must be facts supporting their reasons for a “frisk.”
By the way, a pat-down search is exactly as it sounds. Officers may only “pat” the outer surfaces of clothing. They may not reach into a person’s pockets unless they feel a weapon.
There is an exception to the rule, however, and that’s when an officer who has sufficient training and first-hand knowledge of narcotics packaging, “feels” what he/she suspects is a packet of drugs. The officer may then reach into the pocket to retrieve the packet. To do so, the officer must be able to testify under oath, and verify, that he/she has the sufficient experience and training that would give them the knowledge needed to identify narcotics packaging by feel. An example would be an officer who worked undercover or on a narcotics task force.
Okay, with that out of the way it’s time to visit New York City and the NYPD’s stop and frisk policy. Citizens are raising a ruckus because they don’t believe the department’s policy meets the standard of Terry v. Ohio, where an immediate action is required by the officer to protect himself or the safety of others. Nor do officers (according to citizen complaints) conduct these pat-down searches based on reasonable suspicion that a crime is about to take place.
Furthermore, many say NYPD officers simply stop people of color merely because they are indeed people of color who just happen to be walking along the street in a high crime area. And I must say that walking on a sidewalk in a high crime area is not in itself cause to warrant a Terry Stop.
Recently, Manhattan Federal Court Judge Shira Scheindlin ruled that the NYPD’s stop and frisk policy is unconstitutional, particularly when it comes to black and Hispanic males. Her ruling, though, does not mean that NYPD officers cannot conduct Terry Stops. What it does mean is that officers must follow the law to the letter and not detain and pat-down people without just cause. A person’s race, by the way, is not just cause.
Honestly, I don’t see the problem. If an officer’s assignment is to patrol a high crime area of the city, then it should be no problem to spot people who’re engaging in suspicious activity—drug dealers, robbers, rapists, car thieves, etc.—, especially in New York City.
I agree, police officers should not target anyone based on the color of their skin. To do so is very wrong. I do think, however, that officers should concentrate the majority of their proactive efforts in areas of the city that experiences the most crime, regardless of the race of the residents there—white, black, purple, or green. To do differently would be like fishing in a small pond. Sure, you might catch a fish or two, but there are far more in the ocean. That’s also where the big ones swim.
* * *
Elmore Leonard
1925 – 2013
WPA Offers Intensive Sexual Assault Investigations Workshop…and more
Those of you who’ve attended the Writers’ Police Academy in past years already know how intensive some of our workshops can be. However, we’ve added one this year that is probably the most detailed and thorough we’ve ever offered.
Criminal Investigations of Sexual Assault (CISA) is actually a four-part workshop beginning on Thursday night following the overall WPA orientation. The first session, taught by course instructor instructor Andy Russell, is a briefing about what you can expect during the workshop.
The CISA session is a hands-on course where WPA recruits will work as 5 teams of 4, investigating a sexual assault case from the initial call to collecting evidence at the crime scene, interviewing the victim and the suspect, report writing, writing and obtaining search warrants, processing a rape kit, and finally arresting the offender and presenting their case to a judge and jury.
CISA participants will meet for a session each day, ending with the presentation of the case on Sunday morning. This course offers writers a rare inside view of the internal workings of a real police investigation. Class size is limited to 20 participants—sign-up information coming soon.
* Other WPA news and notes of importance:
Last year we introduced an underwater evidence recovery course where police divers demonstrated what they do in the water and why they do it. Well, this year they’ve agreed to allow 6 WPA recruits (3 per session) to suit up and go into the pool with them. Any takers? Sign-ups for this session will be available soon.
*Building searches were also added to the 2012 schedule, and those sessions were such a huge hit that we’ve increased the number of sessions and participants. This year we’re expanding the workshop to 4 sessions (20 per session) which will allow 80 recruits (that’s you) to join in on the door-kicking and the search for dangerous bad guys who’re hiding to evade capture. As always, you’ll “suit up,” carrying weapons and shields before “going in.”
– There are only two days left to send in your Golden Donut Short Story entries. Hurry!
– The schedule is 99.9% complete. Please visit the schedule page on the WPA website to begin making your plans. Remember, you will not be able to see and do everything, and workshops fill quickly, so please have 2nd and 3rd choices ready. It is best to make your plans ahead of time.
– The WPA is a rain or shine event, so please remember to bring wet weather gear just in case—umbrella, poncho, hat, etc. If a session is scheduled outdoors, then that’s where it will be, rain or no rain. The weather is unpredictable in that part of N.C., especially in September during hurricane season. No, hurricanes are not a worry, but the deluge of rain that comes with them is a possibility. Also, it may be hot and humid. Or, it could be cool and crisp early in the morning. So, if you pack everything from shorts to parkas you should be fine. Seriously, we’re anticipating nice warm days.
– If at all possible, please register on Thursday at the hotel. By doing so you won’t miss a single minute of the exciting events taking place on Friday morning. This thing truly is Disneyland for writers. You’ll see.
– Dress comfortably and wear comfortable shoes!
– Suggested banquet attire is business casual.
– We have some absolutely fantastic items available for raffle and auction, including items signed especially for us by folks such as Charlie Daniels, Reba McEntire, Ricky Scaggs, the Oak Ridge Boys, Diamond Rio, Josh Turner, Shawn Hatosy (Southland and CBS’s new show Reckless), and many, many more!
Shawn Hatosy
Oh yeah, Shawn even donated a t-shirt that he promises he only wore once… Now that is a collector’s item for sure!
By the way, we’ve gone all out this year, bringing you the largest and best event we’ve ever produced, so be prepared to have a real blast! Oh, speaking of blasts…well, you’ll have to see for yourself.
Remember, there is no other event like the Writers’ Police Academy anywhere on the planet!
Friday’s Heroes: Remembering The Fallen
You gave your all to protect and serve us, and for that we are eternally grateful.
Officer Ivorie Klusmann
DeKalb County Georgia Police Department
August 10, 2013 – Officer Ivorie Klusmann was killed in a single vehicle crash as he was responding to an officer-needs-assistance call. He is survived by his two children.
* * *
Friday’s Heroes is a spot normally reserved for the brave officers who’ve lost their lives in the line of duty, but today I’ve made an exception for someone else whose job was also to save lives, but in a different way.
Keri Anne Clark was recently named Savannah, Ga. Dispatcher of the Year, and she earned the prestigious award for saving the life of a suicidal woman, spending an hour on the phone with her while police frantically searched remote areas of the city. Officers were finally able to locate the distraught woman and take her to safety. The woman later phoned her hero, Keri Clark, to thank her for taking the time to listen, and to be there for her when she most needed someone.
I recently met Keri, online, while searching for someone who could answer a few questions for a new book I’ve set in Savannah. After a few email and Facebook messages, Keri had my story on the right path. It was easy, even in written messages, to understand why so many of Keri’s friends describe her as bubbly and always smiling and always happy.
Sadly, this past Tuesday, Keri Anne Clark, one of Savannah’s true heroes, was killed in a car crash. She will be greatly missed by all those who loved her and knew her as a friend and co-worker.
Indeed, Tuesday was a night a light went out in Georgia.
Keri Anne Clark was 23.
*Images – Facebook
FBI, ATF, DEA, U.S. Marshals: What They Do…and many of you have it wrong!
You’ve completed the research stage of your next project, a mystery. You’d finally sucked it up and attended your local citizen’s police academy. You’ve bought every book about law enforcement you could find. You’ve contacted every friend of a friend of a friend of a cop. And you smartly attended the last Writers’ Police Academy. You are sooooo ready to write this book.
Stacks of notebooks overflowing with the information you’ve painstakingly gathered during the past several months cover the corners of your desk. You happily opened the first one, the one containing the information you learned at the beginning of the citizen’s police academy. Yeah, that week was a bit boring, so you found yourself daydreaming about the protagonist in your new book. Would he be tall? Short and muscular? How about a slight beard? No, the hero should be a woman. That’s it! You decided to….oh, yeah, you remember that you’d done more doodling than note-taking. Well, it wasn’t your fault that all those facts about who does what and when they do it, or not, weren’t very interesting.
The second notebook would be better. You were confident that… Hmm…caricatures of your classmates and not many notes. What did that officer tell you about the FBI investigating murders? Or, was it that the ATF does that? Yeah, that’s it. It must be the ATF agents (are they agents or officers?) who tell the local sheriff to back off because they’re taking over the murder case. No, only the FBI has that authority. After all, you read that in one of those murder mysteries you found at the garage sale, right?
Okay, enough of this nonsense. You decide to start writing, and you do. After shoving your notebooks to the floor you decide to write a lead character, an FBI agent, who chooses to “go rogue” and investigate the murder of a local auto mechanic who’d worked on the agent’s cars since he was 16-years-old. It was personal. Besides, the agent is on vacation so she can do whatever she wants, and solve a murder it is.
Sure, you vaguely remember someone saying the FBI doesn’t investigate local murders. ATF agents either, for that matter. But it just sounds more exciting to have the feds ride into town and do what they do best…solve murders, rapes, and robberies. Wow, you think, this book is going to be the best thing since Poe or Christie first set their thoughts to paper.
And off you go, typing away, paying no attention to the stack of notebooks the cat is now using as a day bed. Your literary agent, a man who believes that Car 54 Where Are You? is the ultimate police tale, loves your book, and so does your editor. Of course, she’s one of those folks who’s not quite sure how to spell FBI or ATF, so your book of little mistakes hits the shelves. And, much to your publisher’s dismay, the project you worked on for so long is not selling well, not even for free on Kindle. And the reviews from those who did read it were awful, especially from people who work in law enforcement and the court system.
Why, you ask, was the book not very well-received?
Easy answer. Because you didn’t bother to get your facts right. And all it would have taken was a quick peek at a few websites or cop blogs.
I often compare this foolish and careless lack of accuracy to someone hiring a plumber to do your dental work. Or, sign a computer tech to play quarterback for the New England Patriots. The two are nearly that far apart (a plumber is as near to being a dentist as an FBI agent is to local cop).
Anyway, here’s a bit of information that will get you started in the right direction. However, if you’re not interested feel free to print it out and use the paper for doodling while you try and figure a way to have Patriot’s quarterback Tom Brady solve a murder in DoodleBop, Utah.
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF)
With offices in all 50 states and a staff of nearly 5,000 (both for compliance—ie-regulatory people who inspect gun dealers and explosives licensees—and criminal enforcement). The 2,000 +/- ATF special agents in the field handle investigations involving criminal organizations, the illegal use and trafficking of firearms, the illegal use and storage of explosives, acts of arson and bombings, acts of terrorism, and the illegal diversion of alcohol and tobacco products. ATF agents often work closely with local law enforcement officials, especially when local cases involve firearms. Illegal narcotics cases often involve guns, therefore, it’s not unusual for an ATF agent to investigate cases involving illegal drugs.
The ATF website features a fun page for kids.
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
Multi-million dollar seizure of methamphetamine
The DEA was created by President Nixon in 1973. The mission of the DEA was to fight “an all out global war on the drug menace.” With a budget of $75 million and less than 1,500 agents, the DEA set out to stop drugs from taking over the country by developing long-range strategies and intelligence operations.
Early DEA guidelines required “clear-cut lines of command and control in enforcement situations and stressed that operations must be carried out in a manner that is legally correct, morally sound, with full respect for the civil rights, human dignity of persons involved, and the sanctity of the home.”
DEA agents of today are 5,000 strong, working out of 223 offices throughout the U.S., and operate with a budget of well over $2 billion. DEA agents also work with local agencies, often on DEA-led drug task forces.
Globally, the DEA has 86 offices in 67 countries.
For specific drug information, please visit DEA.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
The FBI employs over 35,000 agents and support personnel, all working with a budget of well over $8 billion.
Contrary to what we see on television and read in many mystery books, the FBI does not work local criminal cases. That’s the job of state and local police departments and sheriff’s offices.
The FBI’s focus is the following:
1. Protect the United States from terrorist attack
2. Protect the United States against foreign intelligence operations and espionage
3. Protect the United States against cyber-based attacks and high-technology crimes
4. Combat public corruption at all levels
5. Protect civil rights
6. Combat transnational/national criminal organizations and enterprises
7. Combat major white-collar crime
8. Combat significant violent crime
9. Support federal, state, local and international partners
10. Upgrade technology to successfully perform the FBI’s mission
The FBI investigates:
U.S Marshals Services
The U.S. Marshals Service is the oldest federal law enforcement agency. U.S. Marshals are presidentially appointed and serve each of the 94 judicial districts of the U.S. Currently, there are nearly 4,000 deputy marshals working throughout each of those districts.
U.S. Marshals are not the typical law enforcement officers investigating typical criminal cases. Instead, the duties of the U.S. Marshals Services include protecting federal judges, U.S attorneys, jurors, prisoners, and the general public, apprehending federal fugitives (escapees from federal custody and those who are wanted on indictment or by warrant), managing and selling seized assets acquired by criminals through illegal means, housing and transporting federal prisoners to and from prison, jails, and courts, and operating the Witness Security Program.
Facts About The U.S. Marshals Service:
– U.S. Marshals apprehend nearly 350 wanted fugitives every day.
– Each day Marshals provide protection for 2,200 federal judges, and 10,000 other judicial employees.
– In 2012, the Marshals cleared over 39,000 federal warrants by locating and arresting 39,423 people wanted by the federal courts.
– In 2012, the Marshals cleared over 114,000 state and local warrants by locating and arresting 114,311 people wanted by state and local courts.
– The 2012 budget for the Marshals Service was $1.186 billion.
United States Postal Police
Officers of the United States Postal Police are responsible for protecting postal facilities and their employees, escorting high-value mail, and for securing the perimeters of postal properties. In addition to the 650 postal police officers, the U.S. Postal Service also employees 1,500 postal inspectors who investigate crimes involving mail fraud.
* Local police agencies investigate crimes that occur within their jurisdictions, including kidnappings and murder. If they need assistance they normally call on the sheriff or state police. If they decide they need the assistance of a federal agency, that agency will gladly help out in a supporting role.
By the way, cordite is no longer used in ammunition, so your heroes can’t smell it when they enter a crime scene. Well, unless they were 16 when Car 54 Where Are You? first aired.
Dr. Katherine Ramsland: A Serial Killer’s Postmortem Maze
Israel Keyes, a 34-year-old Anchorage construction worker, was picked up for the kidnapping and murder of Samantha Koenig in Alaska. During his interrogation, he confessed to this murder along with a double homicide in Vermont, and added that he had killed as many as eight people. He hinted that it could be more.
The FBI suspects that he began his killing spree more than a decade earlier and that his victim toll is at least 11. He had named New York and Washington State as places where he’d killed, but he’d traveled in many more states.
However, Keyes committed suicide this past fall before he provided victim names or clearly identifying details, leaving investigators to piece together his puzzle. This has been difficult.
Keyes was a careful predator. He scouted locations and buried his murder kit (knives, ropes, guns, chemicals, zip ties) in various isolated places. When he got in the mood to kill, he would find victims near his stash. He’d partially funded his attacks with bank robberies, but was caught when he tried to get ransom money.
Keyes told investigators that he’d looked for victims in remote locations, such as parks, campgrounds, trailheads, cemeteries and boating areas. He’d also broken into many houses and robbed a number of banks. After his suicide, officials offered some details in the hope that the public might have seen Keyes or have some information about missing people who match the partial descriptions.
On Monday, the Anchorage Daily News and other media outlets ran a feature on a 4-page report that the FBI just released. This might help to jog some memories, so I’m using my blog space to provide this public service appeal:
The following details were in this report:
– Keyes is thought to have traveled internationally and, while living in upstate New York for a time, he might have entered Canada, particularly Montreal.
– During the summer of 1997 or 1998, Keyes grabbed a girl floating the Deschutes River in Oregon on an inflatable tube. He lived in Maupin, Ore. at the time, and the abduction is thought to have occurred near there. It was late afternoon or early evening and the girl, between 14 and 18, was with friends. He sexually assaulted her and let her go.
– Keyes joined the Army in 1998 and was discharged in 2001, when he began living in Washington State. He said he’d killed a couple in Washington some time between 2001 and 2005. He might have moved the couple’s car to a distant location and he alluded to having buried them near a valley. They might have been residents or tourists.
– In either 2005 or 2006, during the summer or fall, Keyes killed in two separate encounters. He tied anchors to at least one of the bodies, which he dumped in Washington’s Crescent Lake, leaving it in more than 100 feet of water.
– Keyes moved to Alaska in 2007, driving north on the Alaska-Canada Highway. He flew to Seattle on Oct. 31, 2008 and traveled to multiple other states. He rented a 2008 PT Cruiser in Seattle, then flew to Boston on Nov. 2.
– Keyes admitted to killing a girl or woman in an East Coast state on April 9, 2009, and robbing a bank the next day. He told investigators he’d crossed multiple state lines to bury the body in upstate New York, then robbed Community Bank in Tupper Lake, N.Y., on April 10. After the bank robbery, he parked for several hours in a nearby campground.
– From July 9 to July 12, 2010, Keyes went on a trip from Anchorage to Sacramento and Auburn, CA, renting a black Ford Focus. He drove about 280 miles in those three days.
– Keyes flew to Chicago on June 2, 2011, and drove to Essex, Vermont, where he abducted and killed Bill and Lorraine Currier on June 8. Afterward, he drove around the East Coast before returning to Chicago. He then flew to San Francisco on June 15, stayed the night there, and returned to Anchorage the next day.
– On Feb. 1, 2012, Keyes abducted Samantha Koenig, raped, and strangled her and dumped her dismembered remains in Matanuska Lake near Palmer, Alaska. He went on a cruise out of New Orleans and came back through Texas. The FBI believes he killed someone at this time. He set fire to a home in Aledo, Texas, on Feb. 16 and robbed National Bank of Texas in Azle.
He was arrested in March and spent hours talking to investigators, but he was cagey with details unless he knew they already had them from his computer. He finally grew irritated that the prosecutors were not upholdng their end of the deal for media silence and a speedy execution. On December 1 or 2, 2012, Keyes slit his wrist with a razor and used a bed sheet to choke himself in a segregation unit at the Anchorage Jail.
The FBI will reportedly release an interactive map of Keyes’ travels today. The agency asks anyone with information on Keyes, his travels or his victims to call 1-800-CALL-FBI.
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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.