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​This week on the Writer's Detective Bureau; investigating a murder of one of your own, filming props, and testimony dialogue. I'm Adam Richardson, and this is the Writer's Detective Bureau.

Welcome to episode number 90 of the Writer's Detective Bureau, the podcast dedicated to helping authors and screenwriters write professional quality crime-related fiction. This week, I'm answering your questions about who investigates the murder when the victim is a police officer of your own agency, as well as how to best secure realistic props for filming and tips for creating realistic testimony dialogue.

Big thank yous go out to my Gold Shield patrons Debra Dunbar from debradunbar.com, C.C. Jameson from ccjamieson.com, Larry Keeton, Vicki Tharp of vickitharp.com, Chrysann, Larry Darter, Natalie Barelli, Craig Kingsman of craigkingsman.com, Lynn Vitale, Marco Carocari of marcocarocari.com, Robert Mendenhall of robertjmendenhall.com, and Terri Swann, for their support along with my Silver Cuff Link and Coffee Club patrons. You can find links to all of the authors supporting this episode in the show notes at writer'sdetective.com/90.

100% of this month's Patreon money was donated to masks for docs to provide PPE to those on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. If you have funds or PPE that you'd like to donate to doctors, nurses, or first responders, or you are a first responder or medical professional that's in need of PPE, go to masksfordocs.com to get connected right now. And to learn more about patronage through Patreon, go to writersdetective.com/patreon, P-A-T-R-E-O-N.

​This week's first question comes from Ryan Elder. And Ryan rights, "Thanks again for your advice before. I have an idea for a screenplay and I was wondering if it was realistic or not. If a police officer is murdered, is the same police department he worked under allowed to investigate it, or would a more impartial division such as Internal Affairs or any other agency come in and take over the case? The officer was killed while he was off duty and there are clues to suggest it may be linked to a case he was part of investigating in the past.

Would that make any difference as to whether or not an outside department would take the case? If an outside division would take over the case, is there any way the police department the victim worked under could be in on the loop or still part of it in any way? Thank you very much for any advice."

Interesting question, Ryan. I've actually seen both, where the same agency that had an officer killed work the murder investigation, and I've also seen another agency handle the murder investigation on behalf of the victim's agency. But the latter has tended to be when the victim's agency is quite small. If the murder happens within the city limits of that police department's area of responsibility, then that is still their murder case. The conflict of interest concept might be something the defendant, meaning the suspect in this murder case once he's captured, might be something the defendant's attorney tries to argue at trial if the defense strategy is to allege that an overzealous detective bureau is framing his client.

But to my knowledge, there's nothing that makes for a conflict of interest by having a police department investigate a murder in their city, even if it's one of their own that died. So by all means, write it as you see fit. You could plausibly write it so that another investigative unit within the department might take over the case. But if your victim was a detective within the homicide unit, the homicide unit would still likely be the one working the case. You mentioned Internal Affairs in your question, and just real quick, the job of Internal Affairs is to investigate police wrongdoing...                                                                                                                                                                                Continue reading...

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​This week on the Writer's Detective Bureau, cell phone photos, real life, red herrings, and courthouse waiting rooms. I'm Adam Richardson and this is the Writer's Detective Bureau.

Happy Mother's Day and welcome to episode number 89 of the Writer's Detective Bureau, the podcast dedicated to helping authors and screenwriters write professional quality crime related fiction. And this week I'm answering your questions about detectives using their cell phones to take evidentiary photographs, whether real life criminals leave red herrings and what do they call courthouse waiting rooms?

Big thank yous to my gold shield patrons, Debra Dunbar from debradunbar.com, C.C. Jameson from ccjamieson.com, Larry Keaton, Vickie Tharp of vickytharp.com, Chrysann, Larry Darter, Natalie Barelli of nataliebarelli.com, Craig Kingsman of craigkingsman.com, Lynn Vitale, Marco Carocari of marcocarocari.com and Robert Mendenhall of robertjmendenhall.com for their support along with my silver cufflink and coffee club patrons. You can find links to all of the Bureau's patrons in the show notes at writersdetective.com/89.

​This month's Patreon deposit for May, 2020 just hit my account and 100% of that money has been donated to Masks For Docs to provide PPE to those on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. If you have funds you'd like to donate to Masks For Docs or PPE, you'd like to get to those who need it most or you're a first responder or medical professional that's in immediate need of PPE, go to masksfordocs.com right now. And to learn more about patronage through Patreon, go to writersdetective.com/patreon, P-A-T-R-E-O-N.

I hope you're having a great Mother's Day despite having to shelter in place and if you're feeling a bit out of touch, come join us in the Writer's Detective Facebook group. The fastest way to get to the group is by going to writersdetectivebureau.com/facebook and that will redirect you straight to the Facebook group. In fact, I pulled this week's first question right from there.

​​Marcia Smart asked this in the Facebook group. "When executing a search warrant are the police usually the ones who take photos using their phones of things they find or do they need to bring along an official photographer from the department? Is that still necessary? This is for Chicago PD." While I'm not sure of Chicago PD's policy, I can tell you that the vast majority of the search warrants I've served did not involve the department photographer...                                                                                                                                                            Continue reading...

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​This week on the Writer's Detective Bureau, Writer's Detective fifth birthday police firearms, and protecting a victim. I'm Adam Richardson and this is the Writer's Detective Bureau.

Welcome to episode 88 of the Writer's Detective Bureau, the podcast dedicated to helping authors and screenwriters write professional quality crime-related fiction. This week we are celebrating the fifth birthday of Writer's Detective, and I'm also answering your questions about police officers carrying their own firearms on duty and how a victim might get special protection. Big thank yous go out to Gold Shield patrons Debra Dunbar from debradunbar.com, C.C. Jameson from ccjameson.com, Larry Keeton, Vicki Tharp of vickitharp.com, Chrysann, Larry Darter, Natalie Barelli of nataliebarelli.com, Craig Kingsman of craigkingsman.com, Lynn Vitale, Marco Carocari of marcocarocari.com, Robert Mendenhall and Terri Swann for their support, along with my Silver Cuff Link and Coffee Club patrons. You can find links to all of the Bureau's patrons in the show notes at writersdetective.com/88.

Since COVID hit, I've been donating 100% of the money I received through Patreon to masks for docs, to provide PPE to those on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. If you have funds you'd like to donate, a box of N-95 masks, or if you're a first responder or a medical professional that's in need of PPE, go to masksfordocs.com to get connected with PPE right now. And to learn more about patronage through Patreon or to support the show and get access to my Patreon-only live streams for as little as $2 per month, go to writersdetective.com/patreon, P-A-T-R-E-O-N.

​This past week marks the fifth birthday of Writer's Detective, and if you notice that I didn't end up pushing out a podcast episode last week, that's because I was answering your questions in my very first Facebook Live inside our Writer's Detective Q & A Facebook group instead. Thanks to those of you that were able to catch it live and throw out some questions for me to answer. I appreciate it. It would have been really weird for me to be in there all by myself. So I thought I would start out this week with a trip down memory lane back to the very beginning by reading my very first blog posts since fewer than 10 people probably read it back then. All right, here it goes. April 25th, 2015. Welcome and thanks. Last weekend, a screenwriter friend and his wife were joining us on a wine tasting weekend when the conversation turned to work. He asked for my take on a search and seizure issue related to how a character in his script would have actually had to deal with it.

After a quick lesson on search warrants and privacy, I realized these types of questions are probably common amongst writers. This was my aha moment and when I decided to launch this website. I should probably explain that I've been a cop for nearly 20 years, the last 16 as a detective. I've held a variety of assignments from wearing a suit and tie working white collar cases and then major crimes, sexual assault, robbery and homicide, to dirtying up to some work covertly in narcotics, vice and counter terrorism. I've worked alongside many of the federal acronym agencies, been assigned to task forces and worked on countless dignitary protection details. In addition to my own adventures as a detective, these experiences have given me unparalleled insight into how these agents and agencies work. We in law enforcement are wary of folks calling themselves experts, often snarkly defining an expert as someone carrying a briefcase and from more than 50 miles away.

I'm not claiming to be an expert in all things law enforcement, I'm simply here to augment your writer's toolbox by offering my own experiences and knowledge. I promise not to bullshit you. I will tell you if I don't know something, and I will work with you to find the answer. I want to thank the crime writing community on Twitter for welcoming me with open arms. There are quite a few great resources for crime writers out there already. I highly recommend following @HomicideSchool and @ThrillWritingFQ on Twitter. As a writer, you're already able to accomplish a huge amount of research on the internet, which is likely why you're on this page, just by reading articles applicable to your story scenario. While I certainly plan to add to your technical repository of cop knowledge, my real goal is to help you understand the human aspect of police work...                                                                                                                                                                                        Continue reading...