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!
Castle: Ghosts
Episode 8, Ghosts, begins in a seedy, pay-by-the-hour hotel where a woman is found dead in a bathtub filled with motor oil. The show this week didn't provide much fodder for a bad review of police procedure, which was good. But the medical…
Weekend Road Trip: Linda McCabe in Paris
Linda McCabe is the past president of the Redwood branch of The California Writers Club. The branch was founded in 1909 and is proud to call Jack London one of their early members. Linda writes and maintains a fascinating blog she…
Friday’s Heroes: Remembering The Fallen
Officer Terry Adams, 38
Tifton Georgia Police Department
On April 22, 2009, Officer Terry Adams was answering an emergency call on his motorcycle when he was struck head on by a pickup truck. Officer Adams passed away during transport…
Familicide: The New Domestic Violence?
Actually, familicide is nothing new. It's just occurring at a more rapid and alarming rate. Parents who kill their children and then turn the weapons on themselves do so for various reasons. Those reasons tend to differ among men and women.
Men…
Warrantless Vehicle Searches: A Thing Of The Past?
A 5-4 Supreme Court ruling will now force police officers to obtain warrants for vehicles they want to search. In the past, a 28 year precedent gave officers the legal authority to search any vehicle without a warrant immediately or…
Castle: Home Is Where The Heart Stops
Home Is Where The Heart Stops is the title of this week's episode of Castle. The medical examiner, Lanie Parrish played by Tamala Jones, was back this week, unfortunately. Back, and in rare form again. In the opening scene she holds up a bloody…
Vehicle Stops: Day Two At The Writers Police Academy
You've all seen the flashing lights of a patrol car as it zoomed by, right? Hearing sirens blare those eerie wailing sounds causes most drivers to immediately swerve to the side of the road. But what's it really like to sit behind…
Writers Police Academy: Day One
Entrance to the Writers Police Academy.
The first day of the academy consisted of presentations by canine officers and their dogs, arson investigators, fire crews, tour of a working fire truck, and a hands-on look at fire-fighting…
Test Your Cop Knowledge
I'm away at the Writers Police Academy in Hamilton, Ohio, so my blogging is going to be a little sporadic. As you read this today we'll be taking tours of the county morgue and local police station. There'll be presentations by prosecutors,…
Becky Cantrell: Missing People
Rebecca Cantrell bought her first typewriter with babysitting money at age thirteen. Since then, she has written novels, screenplays, and short stories about the Alaskan wilderness, Berlin before and after the wall, and dot com Silicon Valley.…
10-Codes Are 10-7
The end of an era has arrived. Police departments all across the country are abandoning the tradition of using 10-codes when speaking on police radios. Sure, I understand the need to make the switch, but I must admit I'm a little nostalgic about…
Castle: Always Buy Retail
Let me start out by saying, "Hooray!" Why? Because we made it through an entire episode without having to stomach the horrible medical examiner character and her extremely bad forensics information. Thank goodness she was a no-show. Perhaps…
Katherine Ramsland: What Do You Get When You Cross a Gumshoe with a Serial Killer?
Katherine Ramsland, Ph.D. has published 34 books and over 900 articles, and is the chair of Social Sciences at DeSales University, where she teaches about forensic psychology, profiling, serial murder, and forensic science. Her forthcoming…
Weekend Road Trip: Linda McCabe in France
Lee asked if I would share some of my photographs from my trip to France with his readers. Lee is such a wonderful friend, how could I turn down such a request?
I have been slowly writing posts on my blog about my trip and spicing…
Friday’s Heroes: Remembering The Fallen
Trooper Mike Haynes, 28
Montana Highway Patrol
On March 27, 2009, Trooper Mike Haynes succumbed to injuries he received on March 23, 2009, when his patrol car was hit head on by a drunk driver.
Trooper Haynes is survived by his wife…
Police Officer Stress
Police officers have one of the highest suicide rate in the country. The number of divorced officers is staggering - possibly the second highest divorce rate overall. Cops are second when it comes to problem drinking. A law enforcement career…
Dispatchers: An Officer’s Life Is In Their Hands
Imagine working an entire county alone, on the Graveyard Shift. It's just you, your police car, and the few tools on your duty belt to keep dozens, maybe hundreds of square miles and thousands of sleeping citizens safe from who knows…
Castle: A Chill Goes Through Her Veins
This week's episode of Castle, A Chill Goes Through Her Veins, was overflowing with police procedure and forensics. Some was good, and some was not so good.
Let's dive right in and get the initial medical examiner scene out of the way. As…