Writing a Psychopathic Character? The FBI Has Some Articles for You

Dear Clarice, I have followed with enthusiasm the course of your disgrace...

Remember that letter from Hannibal Lecter to Clarice Starling in the movie Silence of the Lambs?  Lecter, the psychopathic shrink with a fancy for human flesh, was chillingly, frighteningly memorable. If you're writing a psychopathic character, here's a handy, free resource for you:  The July 2012 issue of the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin is dedicated to psychopaths. The issue contains the following articles:

Psychopathy: An Important Forensic Concept for the 21st Century
Understanding the mind of psychopaths and assessing their personality and behavioral traits can help authorities design more effective interviewing strategies.

Looking Behind the Mask: Implications for Interviewing Psychopaths
With proper preparation, knowledge, and understanding of psychopathy, interviewers can recognize a true psychopathic personality.

The Language of Psychopaths: New Findings and Implications for Law Enforcement
A study using human coders found differences in the speech of psychopaths and nonpsychopaths.

All fascinating topics!  To read these articles, click here (article links are on right side of page).

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SECRETS OF A REAL-LIFE FEMALE PRIVATE EYE is a part-memoir, part-reference nonfiction book based on the experiences of a professional private investigator and writer. Audiences: researchers, writers, detective-fiction fans, armchair detectives and those curious about the real world of private investigators. 

"This is a real eye opener... full of surprises and unexpected resources!" ~ Amazon Top Reviewer

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Dogs and Evidence: Sniffing Out the Truth?

There's been some stories lately in the media about people being falsely accused of crimes based on "dog sniff" evidence.  These stories are interesting for writers, too, as some of us might be crafting a story with police dogs or an instance where a dog's sense of smell seemingly points to evidence.

Using Drug-Sniffing Dogs in Legal Cases

Police dogs are trained to detect certain odors, such as scents from the human body or the odors emitted by illegal drugs. However, there is a high possibility of a false positive because in a drug case, for example, the presence of an odor does not necessarily mean contraband was located in a targeted area. 

From a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court, the SCOTUSblog recently quoted an analysis of three years of data from suburban Chicago police departments, which stated that only 44 percent of alerts by dogs to vehicles in roadside encounters produced drugs or paraphenalia.

Using Dogs to Sniff Out the Guilty in Line-Ups

There's also been a problem relying on dogs to sniff out guilty people in police line-ups.  In 2004, the FBI warned that dog scent work "should not be used as primary evidence" but only to corroborate other evidence.  The New York Times story "Picked from a Lineup, on a Whiff of Evidence" tells the story of two men who each served months in prison based on a police dog selecting them from lineups despite there being no other evidence that the men were guilty of the crimes.  In one case, Ronald Curtis was "sniffed" out to be guilty of burglary although surveillance video of the crime showed that Curtis didn't at all resemble the burglar.

To see some wonderful pictures of police dogs (from the blog CrimLaw), click here.

The Bloodhound Nose

Several years ago, I took a workshop from a private investigator who specialized in bloodhound searches.  Here's a few facts about bloodhounds and their smelling abilities:

• A bloodhound can smell a 6-week-old human fingerprint.

• A bloodhound holds all records for trailing (a 17-day-old trail and 138 miles)

• Their drools and slobber help humidify and steam the scent, thus enhancing it.  Their nose membranes stay moist so scent molecules can reach olfactory receptor sites easily.

• Their long ears scoop up scent.

• Their loose skin helps get through underbrush and holds scent near the head.

• Their deep chest allows processing of lots of air by the nose.

Have a great weekend, Colleen

FBI Website: A Writer's Toolbox

FBI New Agent Training​ (courtesy of FBI)

Writing a mystery or thriller and want to do a quick study on the latest techniques for analyzing fingerprints?  Maybe you want to write a character who commits fraud, and you'd like details on a specific type of scheme.  Or perhaps you're writing a CSI-like story and want to learn more about crime scene surveys, forensic facial imaging, or  pick up a few key details about how an FBI special agent in training learns about identifying and excavating human remains.​

You can study these things and much more at the FBI website.​

For example, on their page "Scams & Safety," there's a listing of several dozen topics broken into categories such as "About Dangerous Criminals," "About Frauds," and "On the Internet." That first one, "About Dangerous Criminals," has an article "How to Spot and Report Espionage," that discusses how spies haven't gone the way of the Cold War, in fact, they're more prolific than ever.  Juicy stuff for stories--and you're researching your data from the source.

​Want details about the FBI swat team? There's a page for that, too, that includes a breakdown of the tools of the trade, from helmet and goggles to weapons.  Additional pages describe the work and tools of FBI divers and FBI bomb technicians.

​The FBI also provides downloads of photos, such as the ones on today's post, for free, no permission required.  Cool stuff for blogs, presentations, and of course that never-ending task for writers--research.

Happy writing!  Colleen​

FBI Agent 1939 (courtesy of FBI)​

FBI Dive Team Boat (courtesy of FBI)​

New York FBI SWAT Team member (courtesy of FBI)​

FBI Bomb Technician Vehicle (courtesy of FBI)​

A Private Eye Tool: The Smartphone

In the Not-So-Long-Ago Days...

I used to lug around all kinds of equipment for my investigations, such as digital and video cameras, cell phone, notebooks, pens, digital recorders, flashlight, magnifying glass, measuring tape and more. However, my smartphone now contains a lot of these tools as apps. Yes, even the measuring tape! I also have apps to do language translations, capture video if motion is detected, capture public data about homes, and much more.

Keeping Devices Charged

Back when I lugged around a bag or two of equipment, I had to always ensure some devices had been charged sufficiently so they'd have enough "juice" when I was out in the field. Just my luck if I hadn't taken the time to charge my cell phone or the video camera or any other item!

Winging It

When a digital camera, for example, ran out of power, I'd have to wing it. If I had a video camera with me, I'd use its photo feature to take still shots. But I avoided using the camera on my cell phone because the quality was so shoddy, and I didn't want to insert amateurish, cheap-looking photos into an investigative report. Good news is that today's smartphones take clear, usable photos and video.

These days I need to always keep the smartphone charged. Fortunately, we have battery chargers in both of our vehicles to help with this.

Smartphone Apps for Investigators

To read more about smartphone apps for PIs, click on the below article links. Some I wrote for my "sister" site Guns, Gams and Gumshoes; others are written by other P.I.s on their sites (in no particular order):

12 Essential Smartphone Apps Worth Investigating (Pursuit Magazine)

Must-Have iPhone Apps for the Private Investigator #3 (P.I. Advice)

Must-Have iPhone Apps for the Private Investigator part 2 (P.I. Advice)

Must-Have iPhone Apps for the Private Investigator part 1 (P.I. Advice)

iPhone Apps for Private Investigators (Guns, Gams and Gumshoes)

More iPhone Apps for Private Investigators (Guns, Gams and Gumshoes)

I still carry a pen and pad for taking notes, but I also take notes by typing them into my smartphone, which I can then email to myself/client.​

Welcome to My New Blog

​​Welcome to my blog, where I'll write about writing, books, maybe occasionally take a detour and discuss some aspect of private investigations (besides being a writer, I'm also a PI).  

If you click on the Index link, a gallery of pictures displays --these are a mix of book covers, upcoming books, other blogs, and an exhibition of photos of our beloved Rottweilers, Jack Nicholson and Aretha Franklin.​  Dog owners/lovers, I know you understand.

​​Before signing off, I'm going to plug a nonfiction book on writing that I'm currently reading: Story Engineering by Larry Brooks, a writing instructor and best-selling author of six psychological thrillers.  I've written 22 novels myself, but there's always more to learn about the craft of writing, and this book has been a wonderful resource.  I'm using its guidelines as I brainstorm the roadmap of my current story-in-progress.  Highly recommended!​

For those interested in how I created this blog

After creating several WordPress blogs, I read about squarespace and decided if it was as easy to use as people claimed, I'd go with it.  In my two-week free trial period, I discovered squarespace was intuitive to use and has many helpful features (such as making it ridiculously easy to insert Amazon widgets, a great tool for writers).  Another cool feature: You get almost immediate responses from their  24/7 support, even during the trial period.

If you're like me (a minimalist techno type), and you'd like to create a blog/site without paying a hefty sum to a webmaster (who you continue to pay for updates), or if you're not up to spending days and days wrestling with WordPress to create a site, I highly recommend squarespace.  

Just finished March 2013 book: The Next Right Thing

Done!

​This past week I finished my first Harlequin Super Romance (The Next Right Thing, release date March 2013).  It was one of those stories that was truly fun to write, probably because my real life is close to the main characters' occupations (the heroine is a PI, the hero is a lawyer). Although the book is primarily a romance, there's a legal case brewing in the background, which comes to trial at the end of the story.

A brief intro to the characters

Cammie Copello: Thirty-two years old.  Private investigator.  After being put on probation by Marc, her  boss, for "crossing the line" in an investigation at his Denver law firm, she restarted her life in Las Vegas as a solo private investigator.  So the last thing she expects is for him to show up in Sin City, imploring her to resume work on that very same case.  Except it's not the same -- darker reasons now compel him to seek her help.

Marc Hamilton:​ Thirty-five years old.  Trial lawyer. After being set up by false accusations to lose his law license, Marc needs the expertise of his former lead investigator Cammie to clear his name.  But after not only ignoring her warnings a year ago when she first learned the source of these accusations, he created a no-win situation that resulted in her leaving his firm and his life.  He's willing to close that gap, but is she?  Especially after he shares the other secrets that now shadow the case.

The Next Right Thing: Available March 2013

I'll be running contests and giveaways as the release date approaches, so check back!