Danger, Danger! A Writer Needs Assistance…Again
I suppose it’s time to reach for the red emergency switch that’s hidden beneath my desk, the switch that sends out a high-voltage shock to the writers who refuse to listen to the experts. You know who you are. You sit on your couches eating popcorn while watching fictional police-type TV shows, scribbling away as fast as your little fingers can write, making notes for your next scene. Well, let me be the first to say…STOP IT! There’s a reason they call that stuff fiction. Yes, someone made it up for our enjoyment. You know, like when you write a book based on the characters who live inside your mind. They’re not real and neither is a lot of the stuff you see on TV.
So, if you’re going for law-enforcement-realism I suggest you ask an expert—someone who’s actually in the business. Not an actor. Not someone who read about the subject matter and then wrote about it. Not someone whose sister’s husband’s cousin is married to a guy who knew a guy who worked in an auto parts store a block over from the police station. No, you need to talk to someone who actually lives the life and has hands-on experience. Think about it…everyone (hopefully) uses a toilet during the course of a day, but that doesn’t make them an expert on plumbing. And when you need someone to work on that toilet you don’t call the guy from the auto parts store, right? Nope, you call a plumber. So why do you insist on relying on actors and screenwriters for your police information?
Actually, attending the Writers’ Police Academy is the absolute best way to learn about police, fire-fighting, EMS, and forensics. But there are many other events out there that offer mini-versions of what you’ll learn at the WPA, including citizens police academies. Take advantage of those events…PLEASE.
Anyway, here’s a few things I’ve seen lately (again) that should never make it into your stories.
1. Cops DO NOT purposely shoot to wound. They’re not trained to do it, and they don’t. Police officers are taught to shoot center mass of their target.
And to be sure you understand where center mass is located, it’s the large hole in the target above. Again, cops do not shoot at arms, hands, guns, legs, and fingers. Not on purpose, anyway.
2. Revolvers DO NOT automatically eject spent brass (cartridges). Pistols (semi-automatics) and automatic weapons do.
3. Cops always keep a round in the chamber of their weapons. Therefore, they DO NOT pull the slide back on their pistol when they’re about to enter a dangerous situation. To do so would eject a live round (bullet) from their weapon, leaving them one bullet shy of a full magazine. And I already know quite a few cops who are one bullet shy of a full magazine. We don’t need more.
4. Cops DO NOT “thumb off” the safety when they’re entering a dangerous situation. Police officers DO NOT carry their weapons with the safeties engaged (on). Their duty weapon must be ready to fire at all times. That extra second it takes to think about flipping off a safety could cost them their life. That’s if they remember to do it at all while under fire. Believe it or not, folks, bullets flying around your head is actually pretty stressful, so you may not be thinking all that clearly. Also, please do a little research about the weapon carried by your protagonist. It may not even have a safety (SIG Sauers do not).
5. Revolvers, as a rule, DO NOT have safeties.
6. Prisons are NOT country clubs. Even the lower-level federal prisons are tough. Sure, there are fewer restrictions and less supervision in the camps, but living in a locked building and having minimal food tossed your way a couple of times a day ain’t exactly living like a king.
7. It’s a rare occurrence, if ever, for an officer to come from one department and go to another and start out as a detective.
8. The FBI does not ride into town and take over cases from small town police departments. They’re not some omniscient “see all” entity that knows when every single crime occurs. Someone from that town would have to call them and ASK for their assistance. Sure, they’ll help, and they’re great about doing so. Besides, as a rule, they don’t work murder cases.
Every officer in every single police department in this country is perfectly capable of investigating their own cases. Yes, their resources may be limited, but they have the knowledge and training to investigate crime. By the way, FBI agents do not have authority over local police officers. So please don’t have them ordering the local sheriff around. It does not happen like that in real life.
9. Yes, there is a provision in the law that allows a police officer to deputize a private citizen in an extreme emergency. Does this happen? Rarely, if ever. Sometimes investigators call on various experts for their assistance and advice, but there’s no need to deputize them, and they don’t. If the officer(s) needs more hands to work a case, they’ll simply call on a neighboring jurisdiction—sheriff’s office, state police, or another town. Now that does happen quite often. But to deputize a private citizen…nope.
10. Finally, please DO NOT give your readers an informational overload. Realism is very important, but to write something that belongs in a gun catalog…not good. Don’t bore your readers. You DO NOT need to show off your extensive knowledge of a particualr subject matter. For example:
Bobbie Sue climbed into the pilot’s seat. She’s never flown a plane before, but she’d seen grownups do it on TV, so how difficult could it be? She glanced around, her eyes taking in all the shiny buttons and gleaming dials and gauges. The 1978 Cessna 185 Skywagon N44TU, with its fixed landing gear, 300 horsepower (for takeoff), and 88 gallon fuel tank, would be perfect for the fun afternoon she had in mind. I mean, what other tiny plane with an overall length of 25ft. 8in. and a wingspan of 35ft. 10in. could tool along at a cruising speed of 145mph with a range of 645 miles. And all for only $130,000. What a deal!
Bobbie Sue giggled, barely able to contain her excitement, as she began to search for the ignition key and CD player. “Hang on, Bucky. Here we go!” she said.
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Nice rant! Good info. I laugh myself silly everytime I see the FBI ride into town and take a case over just because they are the FBI. And the show The Closer drives me insane…there is no way somebody from an outside jurisdiction transfers in to the LAPD as a Deputy Chief! Give me a break…
Great advice, as always. THANK YOU!!
Dear Lee: I love you.
Could I just say – the same applies with any kind of martial arts or other hand-to-hand fighting? No one with any real training would try to kick a gun (or knife) out of someone’s hand . . .
Outstandingly useful. Thanks!
Thanks for that awesome post Lee! Now I know why I hate the FBI on tv! I always thought that was odd and probably not realistic. I’m glad I was right. And I’m glad I’m getting all this stuff corrected in my novel. It makes me feel better and makes my novel that much better.
Good points, Lee. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve groaned when I’ve seen some cop on TV rack the slide on his semi-auto before entering a “dangerous situation.” Excellent post.
Great rant! i imagine reading a lot of what passes for police procedurals these days must give you the same feeling I get when I read a legal thriller. (I’m not a lawyer, but I am a paralegal and mediator.) I’ve thrown more than one book across the room while screaming “Get out of your chair, get off the Internet, and go talk to someone who actually knows the LAW before you write this stuff.”
You’ve gotten my curiosity up, though: Under what circumstances would a police officer deputize a private citizen? I’ve been pondering this for a few minutes, and I can’t think of a circumstance where this would help anybody.
You forgot to specify whether that 645 mile range is with or without reserve. Two- or three-blade propellors? And did Bobbie Sue know that the seat cushion may NOT be used as a flotation device?
Jonathan – Bobbie Sue is sitting on a booster seat just to see outside…
As always, good stuff, Lee. I recently read a story where a guy on parole went to visit an inmate at an institution and they knew the visitor was an ex-inmate himself. While I’m aware different institutions have different rules, where I was (Pendleton) would never allow an excon to visit anyone in the joint. In fact, one of my buddies had a brother who’d done time and he wasn’t allowed to visit. I realize some institutions have different rules, but thought this was a fairly universal one. And the guy in this story was still on parole…
Also, liked your point on shooting for body mass and not trying to “wound” anyone. I recently read a news account of a guy who was convicted of 2nd degree murder because he’d shot and killed a bandit. The reason he was convicted was because he’d fired more than one shot. One shot made it self-defense, more than one made it murder, in the eyes of the life insurance salesmen on this jury… Turned out the guy was a veteran. Well, in my four years in the service, we were taught to keep firing until the subject was dead–not fire once, check to see if he was down, then fire again. Empty the clip. Quickly reload. I imagine police officers are taught much the same. We were always advised that if we did like movie actors did–fire and then look to see the effect… then we stood a good chance of being rendered room temperature… I know if someone breaks into my house and I’m armed and I know he is as well, I’m emptying the clip. Like they say, I’d rather be convicted by twelve than carried by six.
Good stuff, Lee!
Thanks for the insight, Les. And yes, officers are trained to stop the threat. And only the officer who’s in the “line of fire” can determine when that threat is over. He/she is the person who knows when they no longer feels as if their life is in danger.
I cannot even watch the TV shows unless they are high art foolish after all my years running advocacy program for vicitms and teaching at the police academy.
Just read a book that had the police asking a shrink to talk to a witness who was too upset to talk to police———–that one nearly broke a bedroom lamp. Like I used to tell my staff….you will hear many new words for penis interviewing child victims but never supply any words…..it’s like throwing mud into a blood sample.
Rock on!
I’ve written stories where the local police do call in the FBI for assistance. Hope I got it right…
Lee, even the pros can do it. I’m reading a book now that is written by an author with about a dozen bestsellers. He will say, ‘he pulled out his GS-243 9mm laser-sighted, double-edged, blah, blah, blah…’ I have found it very distracting.
What would be wrong with, ‘he pulled his pistol?’
Then again, a dozen bestsellers …
Yikes! I’m one of them and guilty as charged. I’ve had such a hard time finding a police contact that I do resort to taking some info from what I see on TV. I’ll keep trying, Lee.
Re: the FBI. Doesn’t the FBI assume jurisdiction if a case crosses state lines?
Well, I did it. I had my protagonist transfer into the local force as a detective. I knew it was incredibly rare and devoted a fair amount of backstory to how it happened. The book doesn’t begin until long after this happens, but her insider-outsider status is still in play and figures as part of the plot.
I throw myself on the mercy of the court
Barbara Ross
The Death of an Ambitious Woman
I was once trying to craft a scene in which two characters–a brother and sister–were killed before the start of the story timeline itself. I needed to know if the brother could end up being shot first, trying to protect his sister, and still die last, while his sister died right away.
I went to a friend of mine who’s former Army (he was an MP), former cop, has experience with guns and how bullets react, and posed my question to him. He gave me more than enough information, pulled out several of his pistols to show me what he was talking about, and helped me figure out how to make my bad guys and their guns do what I needed them to do.
I talked to a couple of different cops when I needed to have an officer make a death notification in a different story. The Boston beat cop told me how it would have been handled in his department, but since the story wasn’t an urban setting, I went with the advice of the rural cop I spoke with, the mom of a high school friend.
Lee,
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! This is why I can rarely (if ever) read a cop novel or watch a cop show with a straight face. I really love the officers who “transfer” to another department/agency (I’m looking at you John Munch and Brenda Johnson). No refresher academy, no probationary period, nothing! Monday you’re a detective with Agency X and POOF, Tuesday you’re working Major Case/Robbery-Homicide/ Special Problems with Agency Y……..how do I get that job?
Great rant, Lee. Can I add a few of my own pet peeves that drive me nuts?
Authors, please research the local terminology the officers in your story’s department uses. In L.A, suspects are suspects, not “perps”. An ambulance is an R/A, not a “bus”. An arrest is a bust/body/number, not a “collar”. Prosecutors are DDA’s not, “ADA’s”. Patrol sectors are areas or divisions, not “precincts”. I could go on, but the point is if you’re going to set your story/script on the west coast, DON’T pepper it with east coast (NY) slang/terminology.
#3 above also applies to shotguns. I know it’s “sexy” to have the officer exit his Black and White, “rack” the shotgun and walk menacingly into the situation like Wyatt Earp, but don’t do it. Wyatt just wasted a live round.
On an active crime scene, the primary unit handling is responsible for it’s security until the lead handling detective(s) get there. With the exception of SID/CSI nobody enters that crime scene and even they must be guided through so as not to distrub/contaminate any evidence Not other looky loo cops, not the captain, not the press, not The Chief, not the coroner, not Jesus Christ Himself….NOBODY! If they have no business being there, they don’t get in unless cleared by the handling detectives. PERIOD.
Thanx for listening.
Snowprince – Good to see you here, and thanks for the LAPD point of view. I, too, cringe when I hear or see “perp” used. It’s like bamboo under my fingernails. Same thing for “collar” and “wit” (witness).
You ready for the new season of SouthLAnd?
The closer WPA gets, the sadder I get that I had to back out :(
I think a whole lot more authors need to attend WPA so that they don’t make silly mistakes (“uncock the Glock” being one that absolutely makes me apeshit crazy).
Please, authors, for the love of John Moses Browning, if you’re going to have guns in your books at least take the time to go to the range yourself and take a class; fire off a few rounds under the supervision of someone who knows which end the projectile comes out of.
Revolvers and semi-automatic pistols are NOT the same thing – quit using them interchangeably!
Thanks for having me, Lee. Always ready for a new SouthLAnd season. I can’t speak to the procedural accuracy of other agencies depicted on other shows, but as for the LAPD SouthLAnd mostly gets it right. Especially in the portrayal of “street grunt” patrol coppers. Most shows/stories are detective oriented and it’s nice to see police work through the eyes of the bluesuit first responders accurately portrayed.
Awesome article Lee! I actually learned a lot! My single biggest pet peeve with TV dramas is that whenever a cop moves their gun, out of their holster or up or down, you always hear the cocking sound multiple times. WTH is with that??
I had also noticed in some shows that I never heard that sound, and then they fired. I just figured it was an audio glitch, I didn’t know they aren’t required to keep their guns on safety. I like the fact that police officers are able to carry their guns with a round in the chamber, and off safety. They have enough training to keep themselves safe, and things can go bad so quickly.
I learned so much of this information at last year’s WPA and from your blog, and the closer WPA 2011 gets, the more excited I am to learn more. Thanks, Lee.
“4. Cops DO NOT “thumb off” the safety when they’re entering a dangerous situation. Police officers DO NOT carry their weapons with the safeties engaged (on). Their duty weapon must be ready to fire at all times. That extra second it takes to think about flipping off a safety could cost them their life.”
Apparently, you haven’t met the dozens of sheriff deputies I know who carry 1911-style handguns, or the citizens I know who carry 1911′s on a regular basis. To a man/woman, they carry it with the safety on.
There are other styles of semi-autos that have safeties that people leave on, too, if the handgun is a single-action semi-auto (or, like many CZ-brand handguns, can be carried that way as an option).
Tim Weaver
Phoenix, AZ
Addendum:
After reading my comment, I realize that I am coming off like an ass. Sorry, unintended.
I grew up around firearms, and have been actively involved in teh shooting sports for over 20 years (mostly action shooting like IDPA and ACTS), and am definitely “within my lane” on the topic.
I remember when some of the first 9mm semi-autos hit the police/consumer market (S&W models 39 and 59). I knew many people who would leave the safety “on”, since it disconnected the trigger. This extra step gave an added element of office/owner safety in the event of a gun-grab by a bad guy.
Though it required some practice, it really wasn’t too hard to learn to thumb the safety lever during the presentation/draw. I used to own/carry a S&W 469, so I also know from experience.
The Beretta M9/92 series of handguns, though, is a pain. Too easy to engage the safety while manipulating the slide, and too far away from the average user’s hands to easily rotate back up into the “fire” position.
Again, my apologies for coming off harsh.
Tim
No problem, Tim. But I speak from experience as someone who has been in an a shootout with an armed robber (I shot and killed him), and I speak as a former police academy firearms instructor. We taught, and still teach, to carry a round in the chamber with safeties off. No exceptions. I don’t agree with any law enforcement officer (not civilians) keeping a safety on, but if that’s the policy of the individual department, then so be it. They have their reasons. I’m not aware of any police agency with that requirement, though. And I’m talking about thousands of police officers, not the dozens you speak of in Cochise County (right?).
Finally, you say you’re “within your lane” because you’ve been shooting for 20 years. Well, my lane stretches out a little bit further than yours. I’ve been shooting for over twice that long (over 40 years), and I’m guessing I was first certified as a firearms instructor around the same time you pulled your first trigger.
By the way, Tim. There’s a huge difference between practicing a draw when facing a paper target and trying to remember to flip off a safety when some thug is rapidly firing round after round at your head.
*When I worked as a sheriff’s deputy we carried the Berretta 92F’s, with safeties off…always.
I definitely agree about the Beretta’s…the design stinks when it comes to safety manipulation. My comment is specifically geared toward 1911′s and other single-action semi-autos.
I don’t know any deputies in Cochise County…this has been in Maricopa County, as well as in Ventura County (CA), where I grew up, and a couple in King’s County (CA) and Clovis, CA, near where I went to college. All of the LEO I know/knew who carry/carried 1911′s carried them with the safety on.
I can’t say whether this is/was department policy, but the pre-Safariland 6004 holsters used “back in the day” were designed for “cocked” carry…and I don’t know anyone who does, or has, carried a holstered 1911/single-action semi-auto with the safety disengaged.
To your other point, I can’t fathom why anyone would carry a firearm without a round in the chamber, especially LEOs. However, a neighbor/friend who is a sergeant with Phoenix PD told me he had to start doing chamber-checks with his squad when he discovered a couple of his officers were hesitant about carrying with a round chambered.
I found this to be incomprehensible, esp when you’re carrying as part of your job, and as a tool to not only save your (officer’s) life, but that of your fellow officers or a citizen/victim. I know some citizens who carry w/o a chambered round, and I still don’t understand that, but since they’re not under any moral or legal obligation to act, it’s their decision turn their firearm into a club.
As for when I pulled a trigger for the first time…around 1970-71. I picked up my first firearm at age seven, got my first rifle at 15 and started shooting regularly at 17, and bought my first handgun at 18 (Cold Series 70 Government Model 1911 in 9mm).
I wrote I have been active in the shooting sports for about 20 years, not that I have been shooting for only that amount of time. :)
Finally, I didn’t see the issue of suppressing revolvers mentioned…however I don’t recall ever seeing it in printed form, so I don’t know if that has ever been an issue in fiction and is only a fascination within the context of Hollywood and TV. :)
Thanks for your time,
Tim
We too (LAPD) carried the 92F, de-cocking lever up (safety off). The only agency I know of that carried the Colt 1911 as a duty weapon was Culver City. They carried theirs “cocked & locked (thumb safety on), by department policy.
My complaint about cop shows is when the cops draw on the bad guys, and the bad guys point a gun at the cops…then they talk about the situation for a while, THEN they cock the gun (pull the slide or hammer). WHY are they pointing a gun that isn’t ready to fire??
I had been trained (MP) that you don’t point a gun unless you’re ready to fire, then you fire. You don’t stand around talking about it.
Just my thoughts.
Good column, Lee. We also carried the 92F, one in the chamber, safety off. I do recall my own habit on the range, sliding my thumb up to make sure the safety was off as I drew, because of the potential for accidentally holstering it and engaging safety during training. Later we switched over to the Glocks, which made it a non-issue, there being no safety.
As for TV and the continual scenes where they are heading to a potentially dangerous situation and they all pull the slide back, it’s clearly done for the sound effect. Ignoring the bad procedure, it sounds cool, admit it.
Short film makers aren’t immune either, despite some or all of the cops featured in this film being real police officers: http://www.vimeo.com/22621746
(or, if linking is prohibited, go to vimeo and search for Save Miranda)
Granted, in this case the cops themselves are going for the dramatic effect, but a skilled writer would have worked around that. I’m not convinced the rest of the procedure is by the book either ;)
Incidentally, I really miss shooting guns. Damn these European “welfare” states and their draconian laws! Shooting a rental gun at a range for 50 minutes costs over $80!