BIO-TERRORISM, STATE LEVEL INVESTIGATIONS, AND HAVING YOUR BACK TO THE DOOR - 048

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Transcript:

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​This week on the Writer's Detective Bureau bio-terrorism, state-level investigations, and having your back to the door. I'm Adam Richardson and this is the Writer's Detective Bureau. Welcome to episode 48 of the Writer's Detective Bureau, the podcast dedicated to helping authors and screenwriters write professional quality crime-related fiction. I'd like to thank Gold Shield Patron, Debra Dunbar from debradunbar.com.Gold Shield Patron, C.C. Jameson from ccjameson.com. Gold Shield Patron, Larry Keeton. Gold shield Patron, Vicki Tharp of vickitharp.com. Gold Shield Patron, Dharma Kelleher of dharmakelleher.com. Gold Shield Patron, Chrysann who is chrysanncreates on Twitter, and my latest Gold Shield Patron, Jimmy Cowe of crimibox.com for their support. I'd also like to thank my newest Coffee Club Patrons, Chris Shuler, Kelly Garrett, and Brandon Jones, as well as all of my long-time Coffee Club Patrons for their support month after month. And special thanks to Marco Carocari for upping his monthly pledge. You can find links to all of the writers supporting this episode by going to the show notes at writersdetective.com/48. And to learn about setting up your own Patreon account for your author business. Visit writersdetective.com/patreon, P-A-T-R-E-O-N.

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Elizabeth writes, "Hi, I love your podcast. I discovered you through your interview with Joanna Penn. My question is, what agencies would investigate an attempted bio-terrorism attack? I feel like the FBI and the CDC are given, but with the FAA or TSA be involved if the bio-terrorism attempt involved distribution by a plane, like a modified Cessna? What about Homeland Security? Would any local agencies be involved if the attempt occurred near a major metro area? Thanks for all the excellent help and advice you give the writing community." Thank you very much, Elizabeth. I really appreciate that. Yes, they would all be involved, at the local level, the state-level and the federal level. I'm sure every alphabet soup agency we have in the United States would be involved one way or the other. FBI, DHS, which is Department of Homeland Security. You name it.

In the example, you mentioned TSA and FAA. I should mention real quick that the TSA is one of many agencies under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security. So technically, by having TSA involved, you have DHS involved, but I'm sure many agencies within DHS would get involved. Terrorism in any form is one of the big huge things that would pretty much activate anyone. The FAA certainly would, just like we saw in the immediate aftermath of 911 grounding all aircraft. But as the author of your story, you can pretty much include any agency, federal, state, or local that you want in this. Everybody's going to want to have a hand in it. The FBI would ultimately have the overarching lead on the investigation as any kind of domestic terror attack is their formal jurisdiction. So you can create or craft how other agencies get involved pretty much however you like. I think it would be pretty realistic...                                                                                   Continue reading...