Mike Befeler's Blog, page 74

Citizens' Police Academy Finale

For the final session of the citizens' police academy, we learned about the communication center. Callers can be located when they call 911 from land lines or cell phones. The one problem is voice over IP (VoIP). If someone moves and doesn't change the physical address in the VoIP account there is no way to find the new location when 911 is called. As an example if someone moves from Denver to San Francisco without changing the address, a 911 call will be picked up in Denver and not San Francisco. When a 911 call comes in from a cell phone, a signal can be sent back to the cell phone to triangulate its location if the cell phone is on and the battery is operational. One of the problems with cell phones is that the communication gets many false 911 calls when the call is accidently activated from a pocket or purse. The dispatcher has to listen carefully to determine if this is an accidental call or has been placed by someone who doesn't want a perpetrator to know that a call has been placed.

Citizens' Police Academy Latest

At last night's session of the citizens' police academy we learned about police communications, felony car stops and SWAT. In Boulder County a simple code system is used rather than the more complex systems in some parts of the country. For example, Code 0 is danger and code 2 is a traffic stop. Felony car stops involve arresting one or more people in a car who are suspected of committing a felony. Three police cars are placed in a triangle formation to cover the suspect's car. One at a time people in the car are order out, handcuffed and placed in the back of a patrol car. Members of SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) go through extensive initial and ongoing training (approximately 240 hours a year). In dealing with a hostage situation the priorities of life are in this order: 1. Hostage, 2. Witnesses/bystanders, 3. Other officers and support personnel, 4. SWAT members, 5. Suspect.

What a difference a day can make.

Tuesday was sunny and warm with the autumn colors shining in Boulder. Wednesday a blizzard hit with a foot of snow. Quite a contrast.

Memory

We all start encountering interesting blips of memory as we get older. Here was one that happened to me. I was in my home office updating my financial records with mileage traveled for an author event presentation that day but couldn't remember the mileage, so I went out to the garage to look at the odometer. When I came inside, the phone rang and after taking the call, I returned to my office and began working on a writing project, completely forgetting about the mileage (this is what my wife and I refer to as the intervening thought). Twenty minutes later I saw my expense folder and recalled that I needed to update the mileage. But by then I had forgotten the mileage amount I had seen on the odometer, so I had to go back out to the car a second time to look at it. At least this time I recorded it while I remembered and before another event interrupted me.

Citizens Police Academy - next round

Last night at the citizens' police academy, we heard from a crime scene investigator. One interesting tidbit—a DNA profile can now be determined from as little as ten cells from a suspect. The second speaker covered animal control. An owner of a dog can be cited if a dog attacks or approaches in a menacing manner even if it doesn't bite. The third speaker was a school resource officer. She described the importance of knowing the schools and the students. She deals with teenage drama all the time. A minor can be interviewed as a witness or a victim without a parent present, but there needs to be a parent present if a minor is a suspect and rights are read.

Break from Writing

I took a break from writing to go visit our son, daughter-in-law and two grandsons in Iowa. We visited an apple farm, bought goodies, went on a tractor ride and got a picture of the family with pumpkins. Now it's back to writing in the morning.

Citizens' Police Academy Part 2

Last night at the citizens' police academy we learned about Drinking Under the Influence (DUI) from a Drug Recognition Expert (DRE). Some tidbits. Colorado has an Express Consent law, which means that by agreeing to have a driver's license, we consent to taking either a breath or blood test if there is probable cause indicating we are driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The instructor went through roadside tests performed if you're stopped for suspected DUI which include tracking a light with your eyes, walking a straight line placing heal to toe and balancing on one foot with the other foot out in front. A suspect can choose either the breath or blood tests, which have to be conducted within two hours of first contact. For the second half of the session we learned about the K-9 unit, and two handlers and their dogs demonstrated catching a suspect and conducting a drug search.

Citizens' Police Academy

I started taking another citizens' police academy. This is my third, and I learn new things every time. The session focused on use of force. There are very strict guidelines on the type of force that can be used in different circumstances. Police officers must make an instantaneous decision on what level of force to employ to protect themselves, members of the public and the person they're dealing with. There are different levels of control the police can apply including:
- officer presence
- verbal direction
- soft empty hand control (physical contact to cause pain but not bodily injury)
- hard empty hand control (including baton, pepperball, taser, beanbag shot from shotgun)
- deadly force

We saw a video clip of officers in training being hit with a taser, and then the instructor demonstrated a taser on a mockup. A taser completely incapacitates the target person, but once it's turned off the individual returns to normal. I can assure you, I don't ever want to be the recipient of a taser shot.

Bouchercon

I'm still recovering after returning yesterday from the Bouchercon Conference, the largest mystery conference in the US. Here are some of the sound bites that I enjoyed:
- When a bullet riddled body was found, someone in law enforcement commented, "I think he lost his will to live."
- Dan Hawkins stated, "Humor, magic and mystery have in common that things go in one direction and then you're yanked in the other direction."
- Author Hank Phillippi Ryan commenting on her news investigation career mentioned an intern who asked, "Can you tell me how to skip the boring parts and just get to being famous?"
- On a panel about evil, a panelist commented, "You can choose the sin but not the consequences."
- A panelist quoted Agatha Christie in saying, "An archeologist is the best husband; the older you get, the more interested he is."
- A term I had not heard before: Thrillzy for a combination of thriller and cozy.
- A book publisher stated, "Amazon will find it a little more difficult to be a book publisher than they expected."
- Author Brad Parks stated, "Writing is performing on the page."
A great conference, but after conferences two weeks in a row I'm ready for a break. Oh yeah, I'll need to wait one more week since I'm doing two book launch events next weekend.

Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Conference

This last weekend I attended a wonderful Rocky Mountain Fictions Writers Conference. I'm very loyal to this conference because I sold my first novel as a result of a pitch session there in 2005. Awards banquet speaker Bernard Cornwell gave an entertaining presentation. Here are a few sound bites. He gave a list of interesting book titles. These two caught my attention: Memoir of an Amnesiac and The Romance of Proctology. He quoted another author, "What a writer thinks of critics is like asking a lamppost what it thinks of dogs." He also quoted James Joyce's wife as saying to her husband, "Why don't you write books people can read?" Farewell luncheon speaker Allison Brennan said she writes to entertain not save the world. A line that got a chuckle from the crowd was a quote from a psychologist, "Stories avoid insanity and dysfunction." She quoted Stephen King, "Fiction is truth inside the lie." She also stated that stories make us human. The conference provided an opportunity to attend workshops to hone my writing craft, catch up with friends and make new ones.