Writing Tips: Getting your law enforcement characters right!
/The tires on the unmarked, midnight black Ford Mustang locked up, leaving twin ebony streaks along Fifth Avenue and filling the air with the pungent odor of burned rubber, in front of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Colton Bane leaped from the car, his blued steel .44 caliber Smith & Wesson Model 29 in one hand and his NYPD detective badge in the other. He approached the group of uniformed cops standing outside the entrance. “Who’s in charge?” he asked gruffly. “I am, sir,” a sergeant responded. “I’m taking operational command,” Bane replied. “Give me a sit-rep.” “A terrorist is holding the Cardinal and several parishioners hostage in the sanctuary. ESU is responding, but they are a half hour out.” “No time to wait,” Bane scowled, “I’m going in. Give me your MP-5.” The sergeant handed Bane his weapon. “Secure the perimeter,” Bane said. “I’ll handle this.” “Yes, sir,” the sergeant replied, redirecting his cops. Bane racked the weapon’s slide, chambering a round, and entered the darkened church.
Thrilling, yes?
Realistic,………..?? Absolutely not, yet it is something that plays out in a lot of books and movie / TV shows.
As an author I get it. You want to create these dramatic events, or elevate the ‘badassery’ of your protagonist, but there is an inherent risk that you will also turn off a large segment of your readers / viewers and that is the last thing you should want.
Why do I say this?
While it is often acceptable to take some literary license with your work, the above paragraph completely ‘jumps the shark.’ If someone were to write the above paragraph it would conclusively show that they have either done zero research or they don’t care. It’s one of the reasons my family will not watch a NYC themed movie with me, because I pick stuff apart for their sloppiness.
In the above case, let’s point out the problems:
1. NYPD does not assign unmarked Mustangs.
2. NYPD does not use .44 caliber revolvers and the nomenclature for a badge is a ‘shield.’
3. Rank is respected and a sergeant, who is a superior officer, would not refer to a detective as ‘sir,’ nor would they relinquish control of a scene if they were the ranking officer present.
4. A sergeant would also not be the ranking officer at such a high-profile incident like a terror attack. You would have everyone from the P.C. down at the scene, and certainly an ungodly amount of chiefs present.
5. Normal uniformed patrol officers do not carry heavy weapons, which an MP-5 would qualify as, and they would not relinquish it to anyone else.
6. ESU would be on the scene within several minutes and they, not the lone detective, would be the ones making entry.
7. MP-5’s don’t have slides, they have a cocking lever, but cops don’t carry their weapons without a round in the chamber.
Unless you are writing within the supernatural genre, fiction should fall within the realm of plausibility. Working within the lines of a particular subject, such as police work, establishes credibility with the reader. Then, when you have to dip slightly outside those lines a bit, in order to further your plot, they are less likely to be as critical. Take my character of James Maguire.
Do I take some literary license with him? Yes, I do. In my twenty-years with the NYPD I can’t say I knew too many 1st Deputy Commissioners or Police Commissioners who were as hands-on as he is, but prior to that I established who he was. First, he had been a sworn officer (detective) and second he has a background in special operations (Navy SEAL). So he isn’t the typical civilian political appointee. When it comes time to do an interrogation readers accept that he has the ability from his time as both a SEAL and a detective, or when he bursts through a door it’s because he was a sworn officer, so his response is seen as normal.
That being said, when a raid on a terrorist location is conducted, it is not Maguire going through the door, but ESU. Why? Because, even though it is something Maguire has done, it would be grossly inappropriate. A closer examination shows that he is more involved in the planning / investigative side. When he steps outside this bubble, it is beyond his normal role, such as searching for someone outside the confines of New York City.
As writers, we owe it to the reader to get it right. This means taking the time to research the topic so we are proficient in it. It’s hard to believe that, in the 21st century, we have access to unlimited information and resources, yet we continue to get it wrong. I remember when I was doing research for my debut novel, PERFECT PAWN. I made sure I got the correct radio call-sign for the New York State Trooper. Why? Because I didn’t want someone familiar with the state police to read it and go, ‘Oh, that’s bullshit, that’s the troop code for Farmingdale, not Batavia.’ Remember, the devil is in the details.
One of the glaring mistakes that turn me off a series occurred on the popular television show: BLUE BLOODS. Tom Selleck plays the lead character, Police Commissioner Frank Reagan. This is an NYPD show, yet we see Frank not only wearing a uniform (remember, the police commissioner is a civilian mayoral appointee), but he wears 4 stars which are equal to the 1st Deputy Commissioner or Chief of Department. The show effectively demoted him.
Sorry, Frank, that’s not how this works,…………….
There are other issues, but I don’t want to ruin it for fans.
If there is one piece of advice that I can give to authors, it is to know your subject. Never assume that the same rules in LA apply for a cop in NY. If your book involves a detective in Miami, make sure you take the time to learn as much as you can about how the Miami-Dade police operate. Don’t lose the reader because you screw up the terminology or something as seemingly insignificant as the gun they carry and never, ever, have detectives issuing orders to ranking officers. Remember, detectives are (almost) always an appointed position. A big difference when compared to promoted. They might give ‘orders’ to police officers at crimes scenes for which they are responsible for, but try that with a sergeant and above and I guarantee they will get an ass-chewing.
Do I get it right 100% of the time? No. Are there times when I have to be flexible to push a story-line? Yes. But the key is to keep it real as much of the time as you can. A book that takes longer to write because you spend the time doing research will always be much better than the quick one with glaring errors.
Happy writing!
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