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!

Dispatchers: An Officer's Life Is In Their Hands

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…
Linda McCabe

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 officers

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…
Dispatchers: An Officer's Life Is In Their Hands

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…
7 ways cops spot drunk drivers

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…
Dispatchers: An Officer's Life Is In Their Hands

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…
flashing blue lights

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…
WPA, Day One

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

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.…
kent mccord

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…
Dispatchers: An Officer's Life Is In Their Hands

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…
Dr. Katherine Ramsland: Inside the Archives of Rome's Crime History

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…
Linda McCabe

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 officers

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…
Dispatchers: An Officer's Life Is In Their Hands

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

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…
Dispatchers: An Officer's Life Is In Their Hands

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…