police investigative procedures

GeneralNovel writingStory Details

Forensic fun with fingerprints–Part 1

From Scott: The television show CSI has moved fingerprint investigation into the forefront of many stories of crime fiction. It seems like on every episode of the popular TV series, the investigators magically uncover a fingerprint, and thirty minutes later

Read More
Novel writingStory Details

Police procedures at death scenes–Part 5

From Scott: Last time, our discussion on death scenes included suicides, accidental deaths, and natural deaths. In this week’s blog, we’ll take a look at questionable deaths and homicide scenes. The questionable death scene is a difficult one. Often, there

Read More
Novel writingStory Details

Police procedures at death scenes–Part 4

From Scott: At the end of the previous installment, I discussed various methods for determining how long a person has been dead. This time, we’re going to take a look at the manner of death: suicide, accidental, and natural. In

Read More
Novel writingStory Details

Police procedures at death scenes–Part 3

From Scott: A commonly asked question, both at real crime scenes and at those from the world of fiction, is this: how long has the victim been dead? A variety of tools is available to investigators who are looking to

Read More
Novel writingStory Details

Police procedures at death scenes–Part 2

From Scott: Last time, I talked about the functions and duties of the Coroner’s office, including the work done by the Forensic Pathologist. In this installment, I’ll move forward into police procedures when investigating the death scene. First, I would

Read More
Novel writingStory Details

Police procedures at death scenes–Part 1

From Scott: As a police officer and a crime scene investigator, I often find errors in the depiction of crime scenes in thriller novels. In prior blogs, I’ve discussed the mistakes I’ve seen writers make with weapons, such as Tasers

Read More