2016 Writers’ Police Academy Registration and Schedule

 

In just one week, storytellers from all over the world will be at their computers, anxiously awaiting the opening of registration for the most exciting and thrilling hands-on event ever produced exclusively for writers, the 8th annual Writers’ Police Academy.

This year, we’ve assembled a fantastic program just for you, and we’ve filled it to the brim with nearly 50 individual workshops and training sessions, heart-thumping hands-on action, mountains of much-needed and insider information, lots of cool police toys and equipment for you to try out, top instructors with centuries of combined experience and expertise, exquisite hotel accommodations and food, and much, much more, including the Oneida Casino!

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What can you expect to see at the WPA? Well… Drones, police pursuits, shootouts, intake/booking areas, jail and lockup facilities, a maximum security prison, Taser use, fire and firefighters, SWAT teams, firing ranges, ballistics, blood spatter, homicide scenes, K-9’s in action, multimedia live fire simulation training, PIT maneuvers (you’ll be driving the patrol car!), explosives, and more. And more and more and more.

Rifle range

We even have a functional emergency room where it’s up to you to save the life of a wounded patient. Yes, from helicopters to driving a real patrol car during a pursuit to our tactical training house featuring “surprise” interior design features that create hidden realistic dangers for you to experience first-hand, you’ll spend four action-packed days training at a renowned international law enforcement academy. This is the real deal, folks—actual police, fire, EMS, medical, and forensic training. And, Tami Hoag is our guest of honor!

As I mentioned earlier, registration is set to open at noon EST on February 21, 2016. Typically, slots for the WPA fill extremely fast, therefore we highly recommend that you be at your computers and ready to sign up the moment the registration link goes live. We also strongly urge you to reserve your hotel rooms asap. Our room block is filling quickly and once they’re gone we’ll not be able to add more. Currently, with our reserved room block the hotel is sold out.

By the way, we select our workshops and tailor the entire event based on your requests and current writing needs. After all, the WPA is all about YOU!

We started the event back in 2008, and after eight years of experience under our belts we continue to produce and deliver an event that’s described and endorsed by our major sponsor, Sisters in Crime, as “a rightly renowned hands-on interactive experience designed to help writers increase their understanding of all aspects of law enforcement and forensics.”

How important is the Writers’ Police Academy to writers? Why do writers from all over the world attend? Well, here’s what superstar, international bestselling author Lisa Gardner had to say about her experiences at the WPA. “Want to learn how to conduct a presumptive test for human blood? Check. Triage an accident scene? Deliver a high risk warrant? Confront a gunman in a crowded mall? Check, check, and triple check. The Writers Police Academy is where authors go to play… and in my case, where my latest novel was born.” ~ Lisa Gardner – excerpt from an article posted in Signature-reads.com.

Remember, the WPA is not a writers conference. Instead, we are a hands-on training event that’s both exciting and extremely fun. There are no author, agent, or editor panels. No pitch sessions. No classes on writing. No authors promoting their work. No pressure to sell, perform, or to impress fans and readers. Everyone attending the WPA is there for one unified goal…to have a blast and learn a thing or two while doing it.

Below is a list of some of the 2016 WPA workshops. Please do check the website often because we’ll be adding more sessions in the coming days and weeks. While you’re pursuing the site, please take a moment to have a look at the details for the wildly popular Golden Donut Short Story Contest. Winner receives the coveted Golden Donut Award AND a free registration to the 2017 Writers’ Police Academy!

See you soon!

 

2016 WPA Workshops   

 

– 10 COMMON MISTAKES WRITERS MAKE ABOUT THE LAW

– ARSON INVESTIGATION

– ASIAN AND NATIVE GANGS

– BALLISTICS

– BLOODSTAIN PATTERNS AND SPATTER

– BUILDING/ROOM CLEARING

 – CONSTITUTIONAL LAW

 – COURTROOM TESTIMONY

– DEATH SCENE INVESTIGATIONS

– DOMESTIC CRIMES

– DRONES

– EMERGENCY DRIVING

– EMS/HEALTH SIMULATOR

– EXPERT WITNESSES AND THEIR TESTIMONY

 – EXPLOSIVES/IED’S

– FINGERPRINTING

– FIRE 101

 – SHOOT/DON’T SHOOT SCENARIO TRAINING

– FORENSIC ART AND THE COGNITIVE INTERVIEW

– HANDGUN: LIVE-FIRE

– HOW TO THINK LIKE A BAD GUY.

– POLICE K-9’S – TRAFFIC STOPS

– LONG GUN: LIVE-FIRE

– MARTIAL ARTS FOR WRITERS

– MASHED POTATOES OF DEATH: ARE YOU GOING TO EAT THAT?

– MEDICAL EXAMINER V. CORONER

– ONEIDA TRIBAL

– PRISON TOUR

 – PRIVATE INVESTIGATION, OR HOW TO BE A DICK FOR FUN & PROFIT

– PTSD – POST TRAUMATIC STRESS

– PURSUIT IMMOBILIZATION TECHNIQUE (PIT)

– REAL COPS FOR REAL WRITERS: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF COPS

– SURPRISES!! *Each year we incorporate surprise sessions that are designed to excite the senses of WPA attendees. The purpose is to allow you to experience “events” that unfold in real time, just as officers and other first responders experience in the real world.

– TASERS

– THE CLINICAL INTERVIEW

– THE STEVEN AVERY CASE: ANALYSIS OF INTERVIEW AND INTERROGATION BY INVESTIGATORS

– THE UNDERCOVER EXPERIENCE

– TRACE EVIDENCE

– TRAFFIC STOPS

– WHY THEY WERE BAD

– WRITING THE POLICE SCENE 101

And more on the way!

 

(read workshop descriptions here)

 

*Again, registration opens at noon EST on February 21, 2016. That’s only 8 days away!