Kait is one of the many writers who I met at the
Writer's Police Academy in Greensboro NC this year that I've never seen face to face before. There were quite a few others, too. This, I think, is the most exciting part of a conference.
WPA, my first this year, was everything people had said about it: informative, non-stop, exhausting, and wonderful. I'll let Kait go first because she has pictures. I know some people took mine, but I didn't have my camera with me! This is getting to be my theme song and I know I have to change it. Here's Kait!
Hi Kait Carson here. This was my first WPA. I knew as soon
as I saw the official program and schedule that it would not be my last. There is too much to do. Even though the
organizers tried to schedule everything at least twice, every time segment
presented multiple options I didn't want to miss. It was like trying to decide between dark
rich chocolate fondant and dark, rich chocolate mousse. As we say in my native
state, fugetaboutit.
WPA is like being dipped in writer's yeast, covered with warm
water, and left in a dark place to bubble. It's in the classes, and it's in the
company. I've never been surrounded by so many writers. It felt like I found my
tribe and I only hoped that no one would vote me off the island.
Our first day opened with a mass casualty simulation. The
bloody scenario was playing out in full view of the road. I can only imagine
what commuters thought seeing a destroyed car, scattered, bleeding victims, and
two hundred fifty of my closest friends jockeying for position to get a better
look. I grabbed a spot front, center, and as it turned out, next to the
incomparable CJ Lyons. The woman was an ER physician. As the action started, CJ
generously shared her insider knowledge with those around her. It doesn't get
any better. Right then, I knew I was coming back.
Surprising the writers with the unexpected is expected at
WPA. On Saturday as we were waiting for the buses, a sound like a shot rang
out. Heads swiveled scanning the scene ready to drop and roll, after we got our
detail. Turned out, some poor soul tripped over a 'caution wet floor' sign
sending it to the floor with a bang. Immediately the lobby buzzed with the
sound of writer's voices discussing what ifs. There may be thirty million
stories in the Naked City, that morning there were at least thirty in the
Marriott Lobby. Lesson learned - use
everything.
WPA is all about writers getting it right. Everyone gets
involved. Waiting for a crime scene and evidence class to start one of the
writers spoke up. In an accent as thick as Tupelo honey, she gave an impromptu
primer on the proper use of 'y'all' and 'all y'all.' Rapid discussion ensued on
the proper way to pronounce various words in the four regional accents of North
Carolina. The learning never stopped. I’m definitely signing up again next
year.
Kaye here, but I want to share a couple more of Kait's pictures.
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| This is the door blasting demo--really loud! |
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| The fight dummies--scary dudes. |
Kaye George's WPA sessions 2014
My ride along
I did this
Thursday night, as soon as I arrived. I was under the misconception that we
would do just an hour. We were, however, scheduled for 6 pm to midnight. I
missed the introduction to the academy and my first session with the Felony
Murder team, but am so glad I did this. I’ve done these in Austin and Wichita
Falls, TX, but this was my first in another state.
The cop I was
with, the young Office Kilmer, has worked for Greensboro for 2 years doing the
night shift. He was about to switch to days, although nights are his favorite.
His consideration was that his daughter and wife needed him to have hours more
similar to theirs. The ride was mostly uneventful. He said that in his whole
experience at Greensboro, that was the first night he didn’t get a single 911
call! We answered a couple of minor traffic situations and one major. The
details are all confidential, of course, but that last traffic accident kept me
out until about 1 am. The morning bus ride at 7 am came early!
I’ll detail a few
of the sessions I attended below.
Deep Undercover with William Queen
This ATF undercover
agent got inside the notorious Mongols motorcycle gang and stayed with them for
26 months. After 24 months he was ready to go, but took 2 more to make sure he
had enough to make the subsequent convictions stick to get prosecution for 54
of the men for murder, drugs, and gun running.
He readily
admitted that the personal cost to him was enormous and he would never have
done it if he had known.
A TV special was
aired in September of 2000, narrated by John Miller, of his life as Billy St.
John. The Mongol motto is “respect few, fear none” and Billy confirmed that
they lived like that.
They had been in
a 17 year war with the Hell’s Angels when he joined. He had to fill out a
detailed application and succumb to a background check. These deep undercover
operations don’t occur much, he said, but he did undercover work for 17 years.
Previous to his work with the Mongols, he’d been with the Hell’s Angels. There
was a little fear that he would be recognized, but he had changed his
appearance drastically and never was. Facial hair is a great disguise. (That
last comment is mine.)
Ninety percent of
the Mongols are Hispanic. They have an organized national hierarchy with
chapters, which have presidents, vice presidents, sergeants at arms,
secretaries, and treasurers. He was his chapter’s treasurer, where he could
keep track of all the dealings.
One of his books,
UNDER AND ALONE, is about this harrowing experience. He’s not afraid any
Mongols will read it. That got a chuckle out of all of us. He did not, however,
allow any pictures and doesn’t want any info about him online. He knows that,
if a Mongol met up with him today, they would try to kill him.
Felony Murder Investigation
It’s hard to put
down just what I learned doing these sessions. An arson and robbery of a
jewelry store was staged in a building used for Emergency Responders training.
An actual fire was set the day before we got there. The stench was incredible
and we all issued masks to enter the building and look for clues. We were told
that the owner of the store had been sleeping in the back room and had died in
the fire. We were given some suspects (actors) to question and were given lists
of evidence found, plus the ME’s report (eventually). These sessions took place
throughout the conference.
This is probably
the most useful information. A mistake our group made was in questioning the
suspects. We learned to mostly listen when doing either an interrogation or a
questioning. We also learned the fine points of when to read the Miranda
warnings and when not to. If a suspect has been apprehended and is being taken
in, no warnings are necessary, as long as the police officer doesn’t ask any
questions. Anything the suspect says at this point is admissible and is called
a “spontaneous utterance.”
Some good
questions to ask a suspect (after his rights have been read—and signed):
You know why we’re
here?
You’re a smart
guy (or gal). You know what’s going on here, don’t you?
What’s going on
with you?
These usually get
the person talking and you can slip in a cogent question later. Andy says there’s
no course in how to do questioning. He learned by watching the masters he’s
worked with.
Andy Russell, the
policeman in charge of this, stressed many times that our job was to follow the
evidence and not to make speculations on who might or might not be guilty.
Evidence, he said, is for the investigation; motive is only for the DA.
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| Me in jail by team member Mike Riegel |
Katherine Ramsland
I’ve read her
books and taken online classes from her, but this is the first time I’d met her
in person. Her lecture was not for anyone with a weak stomach. She went into
(with pictures) some of the aberrant behavior she has studied. Her list of
exotic crimes: necrophilia, sadism, dismemberment, cannibalism, bizarre
rituals, strange motives, and clowns.
She said she
gleans information from the news and from historical sources. In the case of
the BTK Killer, she has been corresponding with him for 2 years to write a book
about his twisted mind. Ms. Ramsland loves her work! She giggles when she’s
talking about some of the more ridiculous behavior she’s encountered. She also
laughed when she told about playing chess with the BTK Killer. He told her she
couldn’t cheat. Her answer was, “You’re a serial killer and you’re telling me
not to cheat?” She hired a Grand Master for her moves.
Lisa Gardner
She gave a
lecture at the end of day one that everyone attended.
Ms. Gardner
informs her writing in three major ways: books (secondary sources), doctors and
cops (primary sources), and hands on experience such as WPA and fire arms
training. She even told of doing research at the Body Farm.
Her formula for
getting information from police workers is to ask questions about what is their
funniest, scariest, and favorite cases. Also, what was the biggest surprise on
the job, the best and worst part of the job, what do books and TV shows get
wrong, and how would they commit the perfect crime.
She gave a
Hemingway quote that I liked: Learn the iceberg to write the tip.
Alafair Burke
She gave a
lecture at the end of the second day on Lessons From a Prosecutor. We learned
that 90 percent of trial cases are settled, or resolved with a plea. She
stressed that DAs and cops are not friends. They have separate duties and cultures.
The judges are yet another separate kinds of beings.
She talked about
the 4th Amendment, search warrants and seizures. The amendment gives protection
against unreasonable search and seizure, but leaves lot of leeway. 90 percent
of searches are warrantless. That is, if asked, most people permit the search
without the warrant. I may not have followed this correctly, but I think she
said that if a person exposes information to a third party and the government
gets that information, it’s not technically a search.
She also went
into many “exceptions” that allow seizure of material without a warrant.
Ms. Burke touched
upon the amendments she’s most concerned with in her work. Those are the 4th,
5th, 6th, 8th, and 14th. No, I haven’t looked them all up yet.
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