The Graveyard Shift Blog

Since 2008, Lee Lofland has written over 2000 articles on his blog, The Graveyard Shift. Topics such as police procedure, forensics, criminal behavior, and what it’s like to be a cop has helped countless numbers of popular and aspiring writers.

His life’s mission – to remind writers that cordite is dead and gone. Just say no to cordite in your books!

Cop Details That’ll Help Your Stories Zing with Realism: What’s in Your Underwear?

It's often the tiniest of details that'll pique a reader's interest in your work. Those elements, by design, just might make a lasting fan out of someone who recognizes that you've done your homework, and that you know how to subtly weave fact…

Writers’ Police Academy Online’s December 2020 Schedule

The December 2020 class lineup is amazing and the instructors are stellar. The combination is a live and interactive seminar designed for writers by writers. To sweeten the pot, international bestselling author Tami Hoag wraps up the daylong…
Don't call a plumber

Don’t Call A Plumber If You Don’t Want Your Leak Fixed

Have you ever called a plumber to fix a leaky water pipe in your kitchen, and when he arrived you told him not to use his tools and training to repair the problem? Well, consider the person who did just that, telling the plumber who responded…

It’s Almost Time for the Writers’ Police Academy’s Online Seminar Featuring Tami Hoag!

Within the next couple of days Writers' Police Academy Online will officially open registration for the daylong seminar called "Mystery and Murder: Transforming Reality into Fantastic Fiction." This incredible, one-of-a-kind event is scheduled…
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Don’t Fear the Reacher: Are You Writing Your Hero Into the Dreaded Cliche’ Corner?

Good action scenes---car chases, gunfights, and exploding cars and buildings---are great at keeping readers busy turning pages. But, how does your hero survive the barrage of bullets, flames, and KABOOMS? Are you giving the star of your book…
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Boogaloo Boys: Anti-authoritarian, Anti-state, and Anti-police

Boogaloo: a slang phrase used as a shorthand reference for a future civil war. (Also known as "Boog.") Boogaloo Boys (aka Boogaloo Bois): A leaderless group whose "members" seem to have extreme libertarian politics, with a strong emphasis…
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Details: The Heartbeat of a Good Book

I have many fond memories of my days as in law enforcement. Sure, there were bad times and I still bear those scars, both physical and mental, but all things considered I value and cherish the experience. After all, I have a built-in resource…

A Polka Dot Mini Skirt and Hot Sauce: 10 Unofficial Guidelines for Police Officers

Police officers are expected to follow and enforce many rules, laws, and ordinances. The penalties and punishments for straying from those regulations can be quite severe. In addition to the written requirements are numerous "unwritten guidelines"…

Welcome to the Scent Cone: Detection Dogs

A dog's nose is its superpower. In fact, it's so powerful that a dog could, if it desired to do so, detect a single spoonful of sugar in a million gallons of water (two Olympic-size pools). As a former K-9 handler, tales (pun intended) of…
old shed

A Suicide That Wasn’t Meant To Be: Page Three of My Spiral Notebooks

Front door askew. Hanging by a single rusted hinge. Open slightly. Sunlight painted a narrow wedge of yellow on dusty plank flooring. "I heard a shot but I was too scared to look," she said. "Is Daddy in there?" "Stay back, please." Standing…

Red Alert! Writers Need Assistance

It's time to reach for the emergency switch that's hidden beneath my desk, the switch that sends out a high-voltage shock to the writers who refuse to listen to the experts. You know who you are. You sit on your couches eating popcorn while…
Using common sense when writing about cops
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10 Ways to Stop Embarrassing the Hero of Your Story

Detective I. M. Manly here, and I've stopped by today to tell you about a serious situation concerning today's protagonists. We, the heroes of your stories, have attended numerous meetings in secret, trying to figure out ways to put an end…
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No, Transient Evidence is Not Evidence Left Behind by Homeless Criminals

Research is the name of the game if a crime writer’s goal is accuracy about a particular aspect of their story, such as murder, cops, and investigations of crimes. Unfortunately, some writers avoid any and all cop-type research, believing…

Button-Zinging At The Piggly Wiggly

You've had a long night answering call after call---he-saids, she-saids, chasing a Peeping Tom through back yards and alleys, a couple of drunks arguing over a near-empty bottle of Ripple, kids spray-painting stop signs, and the guy who insisted…
Firearms malfunctions: Squibs, stovepipes

Firearm Malfunctions: Squibs, Stovepipes, and Limp-Wristing

Officer Dewey Shootornot found himself in a real pickle when he heard that all too familiar muffled "pop" at the precise moment when a pair of armed robbers chose to send a volley of bullets his way. No matter which way he turned the gun,…

Breonna Taylor: The Search Warrant – Part One

Before I begin with the content of today's article about search warrants, I'd like to take a brief moment to thank everyone for their kind words, well-wishes, support, and generous donations to the fundraiser for our daughter Ellen. She's in…
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Writers’ Police Academy’s 2020 Golden Donut Short Story Contest: The Winners

The rules were simple---write a story about the photograph above using exactly 200 words, including the title, and the image must be the main subject of the story. Shortly after the contest was announced stories then began arriving from…
Using common sense when writing about cops

Lee Child, and Using Common Sense When Writing About Cops

Today, when your keystrokes guide your police officer/detective/protagonist through the perils that go hand-in-hand with saving the world from total devastation, pause for just a moment and consider the lives of real-life officers. Do your characters…