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!

Cleaning up after CSI

Picking Up The Pieces: Crime Scene Clean Up

  Police officers and other emergency response personnel have the unpleasant task of working with the dead. They're the first responders---the life-savers and the crime-solvers. But when their job is done they go about their duties of…
Winslow Arizona

Jurisdiction: Who Can Go Where, When?

  Jurisdictional issues come up all the time for police officers. Criminals are extremely mobile, and unfortunately for local cops, they simply don't stay put waiting for detectives to come and get them. Jurisdiction (according to…
Yvonne Mason

Yvonne Mason: Bounty Hunting In Georgia

Bounty Hunting in the State of Georgia Okay everyone who has been waiting and biting their fingernails. Now is the time to get down to the nitty gritty of Bounty Hunting. Since I am from the beautiful state of Georgia and since that is…
Friday's Heroes - Remembering the fallen officers

Friday’s Heroes: Remembering The Fallen

  Correctional Officer Donna Fitzgerald, 51 Florida Department of Corrections   On June 25, 2008, Officer Fitzgerald, a 13 year DOC veteran, was ambushed and sexually assaulted by an inmate at the Tomoka Correctional…
Combination rifle and shotgun

Bullets and Gun Barrels: An Easy Comparison?

  Rifling is the term used to describe the twisting pattern of grooves and lands (raised areas between grooves). Lands and grooves are tooled into steel gun barrels to cause the projectiles (bullets) to spin. The spinning movement stabilizes…
Name that author

Police Officer Hiring Process

  Applying for the job of police officer is a bit different than trying to land any other job. In fact, the process a police applicant must undergo can be quite challenging. To qualify for one of these coveted positions (there's often…
Crime Scene: Picking up the tab

Crime Scenes: Picking Up The Tab

  Have you ever wondered about the costs associated with criminal investigations? Well, you'd better believe the suits keep tabs of where public dollars are going. Here's a rundown of expenses associated with materials used in crime-solving. Crime…
Yvonne Mason

Yvonne Mason: Basics of Bounty Hunting

Basics of Hunting As I promised now I am getting down to the meat of the matter the basics of hunting. Most common folk have this misguided notion that a bounty hunter goes in "with guns blazing." While on the silver screen it makes for…
Beaches

Weekend Road Trip: Beaches

  Long Wharf, Cambridge, Maryland This week our Weekend Road Trip takes us on a journey to both U.S. coasts. Rehoboth Beach, Delaware Bethany Beach, Delaware Bethany Beach, Delaware Hoopers Island, Maryland Coastline…
Friday's Heroes - Remembering the fallen officers

Friday’s Heroes: Remembering the Fallen

  Sgt. Robert Deichman Youngstown Ohio Police Department   Sergeant Deichman was killed on June 19, 2008 when his unmarked police car collided with a tractor-trailer truck. He leaves behind a wife, two daughters and his…
Detectives

Trace Evidence Collection

  Trace evidence is left at a crime scene when one object touches another. This type of evidence is quite small, but large enough to measure. Some examples of trace evidence are, scrape marks, fingerprints, hair, fibers, soil, tool marks,…
The Language of Cops and Robbers

The Language of Cops and Robbers

  Cop, Crook, and Street Slang The world of cops and robbers is an entity all its own. It’s a culture that lives and breathes in every neighborhood of every city. With each individual society comes a set of traditions, rules,…
Hallie Ephron

Hallie Ephron on True Crime

Hallie Ephron is the author of the forthcoming psychological suspense novel "Never Tell a Lie" (Wm. Morrow/HarperCollins, 2/09); crime fiction book reviewer for the Boston Globe; author of an Edgar-nominated how to write book; and author of…
Yvonne Mason

Yvonne Mason: Bounty Hunters – Part Two

The Graveyard Shift welcomes back author/bounty hunter Yvonne Mason for part two of Bringing 'Em In Dead or Alive. Yvonne Mason is the eldest of five children, Yvonne was born May 17, 1951 in Atlanta, Georgia. Raised in East Point, Georgia,…
Writers Conference

Weekend Road Trip: Writers Conferences

  Mock trial of Jacker Reacher (Lee Child) at Crime Bake 2007 in Boston. l-r Michele Martinez (prosecutor), Judge Ken Freeman (judge), Lee Lofland (DEA agent), and Lee Child (Jack Reacher). Murder Really Bugs Me panel. Bouchercon…
Friday's Heroes - Remembering the fallen officers

Friday’s Heroes: Remembering The Fallen

  Detective Clinton Rice St, Claires Shores Police Department Detective Rice died on June 6, 2008 from injuries received in an automobile accident. A witness to the accident performed CPR on the detective, but the officer died…
J.D. Rhoades

J.D. Rhoades: Defending the Who in a Real Whodunit

  Howdy, Graveyard Shifters! J.D. Rhoades here. Thanks for having me here, and thanks to Lee for inviting me to guest blog. I’m the author of three (so far) novels featuring bail bondsman/bounty hunter Jack Keller: THE DEVIL’S…
Elmo

Drugs: Elmo Busted for Possession of Cocaine

  Narcotics officers have a difficult task when it comes to locating drugs while searching someone's property. Bad guys have become fairly creative when it comes to finding new hiding spots, and to make matters worse, engineers and manufacturers…