 Beth Groundwater’s first mystery novel, A REAL BASKET CASE, was published in March, 2007 and was nominated for a Best First Novel Agatha Award. The second in the Claire Hanover gift basket designer series, TO HELL IN A HANDBASKET, will be released this month. It is set in Breckenridge, CO and opens with a death on the ski slope. Between writing spurts, Beth defends her garden from marauding mule deer and wild rabbits and tries to avoid getting black-and-blue on the black and blue ski slopes of Colorado. Visit Beth’s website at bethgroundwater.com and her blog at bethgroundwater.blogspot.com .
Like most mystery authors I know, I try very hard to portray the workings of the law professionals in my books as accurately as possible. That means educating myself about how the sheriff’s offices work in each of the real Colorado counties where my books are set. I started with the setting for my first mystery, A Real Basket Case, which takes place in Colorado Springs. Colorado Springs is in El Paso County, and the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office holds a Citizen’s Academy twice a year.
I attended the fall class of 2004 with four fellow mystery writers. After the first class, the rest of the students allocated the front row to us since we asked the strangest and most varied questions, mostly about how to get away with various types of murder. Even the instructors appreciated our lively interest! The twelve-week program gave an excellent overview of the entire Sheriff’s Office. Topics included:
• Organizational Structure
• Firearms Safety and Education, including demonstration of officers’ weapons
• Use of Force and the standards for escalation from non-deadly to deadly force
• Emergency Services, including the Wildland Fire and Search & Rescue teams
• Internal Affairs
• Vice and Narcotics, including methamphetamine labs
• Tour of the Communication Center, which also handles emergency dispatch
• Crime Scene Investigations
• Officer Safety
• Traffic & DUI Enforcement
• Victim Assistance Programs
• Tours of the City Jail and County Criminal Justice Center
• Ride-Along with a Patrol Officer
The ride-along was a fascinating and sometimes nail-biting opportunity to see what I’d learned in the classroom put to real use. I rode with a patrol officer during his 4pm – midnight shift and observed traffic stops, a domestic violence response, an alcohol check of a noisy teen party, a high-speed lights-on response to a reported bar brawl, and much more. I also listened on the radio to other officers responding to calls ranging from cows on the road to a foot chase and use of a Taser on a theft suspect.
If your local sheriff’s office or police department offers a citizen’s academy, I highly recommend it to everyone. It gives you a much fuller appreciation of what these officers do. You may even end up volunteering for one of their victim assistance or other volunteer programs, as I’ve known fellow academy classmates to do.
For To Hell in a Handbasket, which is set in Summit County, Colorado, I made an appointment with the Undersheriff of the Summit County Sheriff’s Office. I came armed with a list of questions about how their operations may differ from those of the larger El Paso County Sheriff’s Office. Since Summit County is less populous and the Sheriff’s Office is much smaller, they do not have an in-house laboratory and rely on the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to process a lot of the evidence they collect. They also cooperate and share work a lot more with the sheriff’s offices of neighboring counties and the police departments of incorporated cities in the county. I show that cooperation in To Hell in a Handbasket.
The visit to the Summit County Sheriff’s Office turned out to be a lot of fun both for me, including watching a strapping young officer pirouette while modeling his uniform, and for the personnel there, because a visit from a real-live author was a welcome diversion in their day. I’ve gone on to interview a detective in the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office for another manuscript, and found that office to be similarly open and cooperative.
My interviewees appreciate that I educate myself as thoroughly as possible on the basics first, prepare a list of questions beforehand, and promise to take no more than an hour of their time. Most wind up offering to answer further questions by email or phone. The Undersheriff of the Summit County Sheriff’s Office even read a couple of chapters of To Hell in a Handbasket to assure that while the events were far-fetched, the portrayal of the Sheriff’s Office’s response was accurate. While I’ve read books about law enforcement, including The Making of a Detective and True Blue, nothing beats talking to the real McCoys!
I’d be happy to answer questions about researching local sheriff’s offices. Would you like to share any interesting experiences you’ve had with your local county sheriff’s office or police department? Remember that if you comment or ask a question here, you will be entered into a contest for a free autographed set of the Claire Hanover mystery books. To see the schedule for the rest of my May blog book tour, visit my website at http://bethgroundwater.com/. You can also sign up there for my email newsletter and see where I’ll be appearing in person.
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When I was a kid I decided I’d like to write science fiction because then I wouldn’t have to interview anyone to find out how the real world works. I imagine I’d be far too nervous to interview anyone, but I love reading books where you can tell the author’s got it right.
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Beth,
I do the same thing–I heartily recommend that all my writer friends take a citizen’s police academy. Totally fascinating.
I also had a wild ride-along experience. We got a report of people running through a parking lot with rifles. After a sirens-blaring ride through town, the cops corralled a bunch of kids with air rifles–they could have gotten shot by the cops who had no idea what types of weapons they were wielding in the dark! In fact, this incident made it into one of my novels.
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Hi Sheila,
I tried my hand at science fiction a few years ago. I wrote a hard science fiction novella about space colonists having to make a difficult ethical decision on a far-away planet. Titled The Epsilon Eridani Alternative, it is due to be released by Virtual Tales late this year. I decided that after finishing that project, science fiction (at least hard scifi) was too hard to write precisely because it required so much research!
Hi Alan,
Yes, indeed, I’ve woven a few of my experiences with the sheriff’s office citizen’s academy into my writing, too. As the famous sweatshirt says, “Watch Out or You’ll Wind Up in my Next Novel!”.
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Hello Beth,
Love to see the way authors do their research and the process they go through. I’m learning several ways of doing research. Thank you for your information. Have a great day.
by Roberta Harwell
on May 11th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
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Proper research is so important if you want a credible story. Your long list of topics to study is time consuming but necessary if you want the reader to experience what the characters are involved with.
I had to research Einstein-Rosen Brdges (wormholes) and Boston police department procedure among other things for my book Breakthrough. Understandng how things work gives an author confidence they can write a great story and give the reader their money’s worth and want to buy your next book.
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A citizen’s police academy would be an interesting experience. I have been on a couple of ride-a-longs before- and as they were late night ones they were far from dull.
Far from dull indeed.
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I expect that you authors made the class so much more interesting for the rest of the students. I know I would have enjoyed it immensely. I’m sure that you all posed questions that wouldn’t have occurred to any of the others.
by Mare Fairchild
on May 11th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
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Beth, Loved the post. You do a nice job of illustrating how important this type of research is. I did a ton of it for my book about a rural drug task force, and was so pleased with the response from the county sheriff. I have never taken the classes, but have done extensive interviews, ride-alongs, and other research to get the facts straight.
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Well, here is something that I luck out on, Beth. My spouse was a cop. retired as a Capt after 23 yrs and now works in the emergency services software field. He ends up in police, fire and jails all over the country. (that sounds funny). I feel that those citizen acadamies are great and a wealth of information.
good for you for taking it on.
by bluspider
on May 11th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
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I certainly learned a lot reading this blog today! Maryann, you must have so much of value and interest from your husband to write about!
Beth, it sounds like you have done a terrific job on research. I interviewed several policemen but never went on a ride-along. Citizen academies sound like a great way to get direct knowledge for authors who want authenticity.
Jacqueline Seewald
THE DROWNING POOL, Five Star/Gale
THE INFERNO COLLECTION, Five Star hardcover, Wheeler large print
by Jacqueline Seewald
on May 11th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
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Beth, I went through the Civilian Police Academy given by the Orlando Sheriff’s Office, and it was a terrific experience. I, too did a ridealong with a patrol officer and it’s amazing how many roles they must play during a single shift.
Once you’ve completed the course, you can go back and repeat any classes of any future courses. Plus, you’re automatically a member of the Alumni and can volunteer — we’ve been allowed to participate in major DUI checkpoints and volunteer helping at the International SWAT Roundup held in Orlando every year.
The best, though, I think, is making contact with the deputies, who are all very receptive to answering questions (although it helps if you buy them beer.) One detective has been absolutely great at keeping my police procedures in line with the county’s policies — and he’s been doing some writing of his own. Every Friday, I share some of his exploits on my blog. I encourage anyone to check them out Search for “Homicide - Hussey” (his name, not his personality). He’s got an amazing sense of humor. There’s a link to my blog on my website.
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And here’s a teaser of a coming research attraction:
I was recently notified by Brian Skupin of Mystery Scene magazine that they accepted my “New Book” piece and it will appear in the June issue. The article is about the research I did in winter sports for TO HELL IN A HANDBASKET and includes a photo of me on a snowmobile.
I think research is sooo important to lend that air of authenticity to a book, so the reader can actually feel the experience along with the characters. And if you get something wrong, one or more of your readers is bound to correct you! I remember hearing C.J. Box speak about how tired he is of hearing from readers about guns and the mistakes he’s made in his fiction about guns. And they’re not big mistakes–he did his research!
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Great blog, Beth. I agree wholeheartedly. Writers should always consult with the experts before writing. Guessing, or using what you see on television just doesn’t cut it.
I also recommend the Writers Police Academy that’s held in Hamilton, Ohio. This is a hands-on event that’s designed just for writers. We feature tours of the police department and of the county morgue, along with classes on firearms, interrogation, handcuffing, fingerprinting, and arrest techniques to name a few. We also have fire department and arson investigators on hand as well as prosecutors, defense attorneys, canine demos and demonstrations using real police equipment and vehicles. There’s nothing else like it anywhere. And all the police instructors are also authors.
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And going to Lee’s Writers Police Academy is on my list of things I’d love to do once I make some real money at this mystery writing business!
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Hi Beth
Welcome to the little blog.
Got to warn you about this character who comments on the blog named Orroz. He/she’ll probably enter a comment that he/she attended a bunch of Academies while he served out his/her prison term in Sing Sing…or something along those lines.
Zz
by Zorro
on May 11th, 2009 at 8:45 pm
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Beth, your Citizen’s Police Academy was a lot more thorough than the one I completed last fall. Ours was a first for our small township, and I really enjoyed it AND learned a lot. They warned us we had to attend at least five of the six sessions if we wanted to graduate and get the four-hour ride-along. Everyone graduated - it was that interesting to everyone from college students to retirees.
by Norma Huss
on May 11th, 2009 at 11:33 pm
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Interesting, Beth, and obviously very useful. real, practical, rather than theoretical research. Here in the UK I found our own local police headquarters very helpful. Just rang to see whether anyone was prepared to answer my daft, naive questions about police procedures. Two senior members of the CID squad taught me more in an hour than I’d learned from all my previous reading.
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Hey, Lee! Nice to see you here. I attended Lee’s most recent Writer’s Police Academy at the Mad Anthony Conference in Hamilton. Lots of great info, terrific presenters and we had fun, too.
Thanks for sharing your experiences on the Little Blog, Beth. It’s always great to have guest bloggers with interesting stories to tell!
by Casey
on May 12th, 2009 at 7:41 am
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It sounds like fun. Hands on, practical research is certainly more adventurous than all the historical research I do; just dusty books and bygone eras for me.
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I’m more familiar with California Sheriff’s, having volunteered, taken CJ classes and ride-alongs in that state. So I wrote up a story as told to me by a deputy and submitted it to an editor for review.
I received a critique by some reader who said that because of his experience in law enforcement, he knew that nothing like that event would ever happen.
So…Different departments, different worlds?
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That’s the problem with real-life stories, Laura. Often they are way more outlandish than any of us writers would dream up in our imaginations! I think in those cases, you have to say in your query letter that the story is based on something that really happened and was told to you by a deputy. I’m constantly reading the “stupid crook” stories in my local weekly paper, The Independent, and am amazed at what people think up! All good fodder for our fiction stories, though.
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Beth, I’m going to look into seeing if my local police here in Indiana offer any kind of citizen training. My stories don’t go really deep into police procedures and so on, but it would be nice to be able to do that accurately in the future. Thanks, as always, for being so informative.
by Joyce
on May 12th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
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I’ve done the Citizen’s Police Academy here in Grand Rapids–great fun!
I also interviewed a detective back in NJ when I lived there. I promised to take less than an hour of his time, but he wasn’t busy and didn’t want to stop talking. Gave me the grand tour of the police station and even followed me down to my car (ostensibly to grab a smoke) while still talking…
by peg
on May 12th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
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That’s so cool. I didnt know they did that. I am definitely going to be looking to see if its offered around here.
by Donna S
on May 12th, 2009 at 11:31 pm
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Beth, My research is historical, so ride-alongs aren’t as helpful. However, I’ve studied a lot about police procedures in 1880’s Denver. I was most surprised to discover that fingerprinting was used extensively.
Your interviews with police officers sound great.
by Holly Y
on May 14th, 2009 at 8:04 am
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