Writers' Police Academy, Part 5

What I'm reading: Crossfire, by Dick Francis and Felix Francis


Promo note – WHEN DANGER CALLS is now available at the Kindle Store. It's $2.99. Of course, if you want an autographed hard copy (great for gifts) you can still get them either through the regular Amazon store or via my website.


Back to the Writers' Police Academy

Dr. Jonathan Hayes was the featured afternoon speaker (again, right before dinner) and he elaborated on his earlier talk. This time, he focused on points which we authors can use to get things right in our books.

(Note: you might not want to be reading this over breakfast)

Writers' Police Academy, Part 4 - FATS

What I'm reading: Shoot to Thrill, by P.J. Tracy

A bonus guest this week. The Hubster is here recounting his adventures in the Firearms Simulation Training at the Writers' Police Academy.

The FATS Experience, by The First Victim

The decision to sign up for Firearms Training Simulator (FATS) module at the Writers Police Academy (WPA) was virtually a “no brainer”. You handle guns and get a big adrenalin rush. However, as it turns out, not all FATS programs are the quite same.

My first experience with FATS was at the Orange County (Florida) Sheriff’s Office as a part of the Civilian Police Academy. The OCSO’s simulator was in a small room with the projection screen up front and a ‘shoot back’ function whereby the operator could shoot nylon balls at the trainee if she/he doesn’t seek cover at the appropriate time. The operator chose a ‘scenario’ for the trainee to experience and make appropriate decisions.

The trainee was equipped eye protection and with a Glock 9 mm that ‘fired’ individual cartridges that were mini compressed air cylinders. When fired, each cartridge generated recoil and was ejected. Ammunition was limited to the capacity of the magazine. I don’t remember what my scenario was but I do remember that my heart rate jumped while going through the scenario and wondering if and when I’d have to make a decision to shoot or not. I made a decision to shoot. The system tracks each shot fired and you can see how you did on playback. My wife wanted the operator to test the shoot-back function on me but he wisely declined. It was interesting to note how each student handled the Glock – where it was pointed and whether or not a finger was on the trigger at inappropriate times. A few folks were clearly in need of some serious handgun safety training.

Writers' Police Academy, Part 3

I arrived home late enough last night to be brain dead after a full day of travel. I had written today's post on the road, and hope it's relatively coherent. Two conferences almost back-to-back are draining. I'll work my way through a few more WPA posts, then start on the Emerald City recaps. Stick around.

The second day at the Writers' Police Academy got off with a bang. Literally. We were ushered into a hallway at the college, ostensibly to hear one of the deputies talk about law enforcement on campus. He was interrupted by one of the group, who began shouting about his grades, and that someone had cheated. (He was a plant, of course). The next thing we knew, shots were fired, and someone was on the floor, bleeding. The action moved down the hall to a classroom where we could hear more shouting and more gunshots. The deputy called campus police and the EMS team, and we watched as the paramedics attended to the victims, and the police ushered a classroom full of students outside, hands on their heads. Afterward, we were free to ask questions about what we'd seen and heard.

Writers' Police Academy, Part 2

What I'm reading: White Heat, by Brenda Novak

Back to my notes from the Writers' Police Academy. The latter part of Friday was spent listening to Dr. Jonathan Hayes, Senior Medical Examiner for New York City. He began by explaining what a forensic pathologist is and does. Forensic pathology is a sub-specialty of pathology, and the major expertise is the evaluation of injuries. He also explained the difference between coroners and medical examiners, the former being elected officials who may or may not have any medical or forensic background. Medical examiners are not elected officials. The trend now is to move from coroners to medical examiners who are specialists in the examination of death, and are apolitical.

To become a medical examiner, beyond the normal medical school, internship, and residency, one needs to deal with 250 autopsies, as many homicides as possible, as many crime scenes as possible, and then have lab experiences with DNA, blood spatter, criminalistics, and toxicology (and more).

Medical examiners, at least in New York, are part of the public health system, NOT law enforcement.

They must determine cause and manner of death, the cause of death being the disease or injury that leads to death. Manner of death explains how that death came about. There are only a limited number of them: Natural, Accident, Suicide, Homicide, Therapeutic Complication, and Undetermined.

Of the above, suicides require the highest degree of proof. And, contrary to what we see on television, only about 5% of deaths are ruled homicides.

Writers' Police Academy, Part 1

First, thanks to Tia Dani for their haunting post yesterday. There's still time to leave a comment there for a chance to win their prize!

What I've been reading: Get Lucky, by Suzanne Brockmann, McKettricks of Texas: Austin, by Linda Lael Miller, Highland Moonlight by Teresa J. Reasor

The first official Writers' Police Academy, organized by Lee Lofland (if you don't know him from his blog, The Graveyard Shift, he's a retired cop who helps authors get the 'cop stuff' right' in their books). We squeezed into shuttle vans on Friday morning and arrived at the Guilford Technical Community College. One of the exciting things about this conference was that the venue was the actual campus that trains law enforcement officer, firefighters, and EMS personnel. Many of our workshops were taught by the same instructors who train cadets. I can't begin to imagine the combined years of experience we had access to.


First on the schedule after registration was an overview of every imaginable facet of public service. The campus is in High Point, and we had representatives from both Greensboro and High Point. We had police, highway patrol, deputy sheriffs as well as firefighters and paramedics. They had vehicles, from ambulance to ATV to mobile command centers, all giving us full access to the equipment they used, as well as an amazing willingness to answer every possible question a group of writers could come up with. Dive teams, S.E.R.T. (their version of SWAT), Hazardous Devices (what we used to call the bomb squad). A group of cadet firefighters showed up in turnout gear as part of their classwork—they were going to be practicing live fires that day.

And to let you know how interesting it was, I didn't mind being outside in a huge parking lot in the southern heat and humidity for several hours! And, even more impressive was the fact that all these officers also came out to stand in the heat, in uniform, on their own time.

Writers' Police Academy

Since we're leaving at the crack of dawn tomorrow, today we'll be busy taking care of all the last minute preparations. It looks like it'll be a great experience. I mean, how many conferences have you been to where they send the following information about what to expect?

Prepare yourself mentally. Don’t be shocked if someone carrying a machine gun passes you in the hallway. There will be shouting, sounds of gunfire, and bursts of adrenaline!

During the handcuffing and arrest workshops instructors will be demonstrating various techniques. You may be called upon to participate. This is not the time to show off your black belt or ground-fighting skills. Do not, do not, do not do anything other than what you’re told to do by the instructors. The life you save may be your own…

Cameras will be allowed, but you absolutely must ask permission before taking photos and videos during any of the workshops. Some of the officers work undercover assignments and a photograph could jeopardize their safety. Yours too if you snap a photo without permission… :)

And if you want to see some of the workshop offerings ...