I included “Crime Takes No Holidays” in this book because it is a perfect example of the type of “one of those days” that cops experience so often. This chapter could have been written about a hundred other crime scenes over the years that were worked by me or any of my co-workers.
When your career begins, these type of scenes mean something. They provide you with that sort of heart-pounding excitement that you knew policework would be all about - bullets flying, bodies dropping, screaming and crying bystanders, all those things you mistakenly think are cool when you’re a rookie. Homicide scenes are the places police recruits dream of when they’re in the academy. Alas, that novelty of dead bodies, blood and bullets fades quickly when you work a city that has 15, 20 or 25 homicides a year, and sometimes two or three in a single day (See the chapter titled “Ride-A-Long” for an example of that).
This homicide was a bit different in that it came on the heels of an excruciatingly long and violent Fourth of July shift the day prior. And, because I was gathering fodder for my book at the time, I tried to pay special attention to the details of this scene to recall later when the inspiration to write about it struck. Noting how one of our rookie officers was left at the edge of the crime scene to face dozens of angry bystanders was, I thought, of some interest. Also, the reaction of one of the ambulance crew staff - the one who would “freak” if she had to pick up a dead body - was an aside that I may normally have shrugged off. But in this case, I thought it would be of interest to readers . . . slackers don’t just reside in retail and office work environments, they thrive in many forms within the realm of public safety as well. Some are more noticeable than others, but I thought a paramedic who was afraid to touch a dead body was especially amusing - and frustrating - all at once.
One other important bit of detail, I felt, was pointing out that, prior to placing the victim into the body bag, a detective stopped us and removed a handgun from the victim’s pocket. This was later a point of interest in the trial of the suspect. More important to my writing, however, was displaying the irony of an otherwise innocent-looking teen having a handgun in his own pocket at the time he was shot and killed. It speaks volumes about the society in which we live, and the reality police officers deal with every day - the reality that quite often today’s victims are tomorrow’s suspects.
For those folks who stop by to read this blog, I will try to keep up with recapping another chapter every 7-10 days, although I have an idea swimming around for a new fiction book that I would like to start soon. That may delay my blog entries just a tad, assuming I actually find the energy to start writing this new book (think Joseph Wambaugh takes a wring turn and visits Saginaw). By the way, thanks to Jackie Cresswell of West Branch for driving all the way to the Saginaw Police Department last month to drop off a copy of Wambaugh’s The New Centurions. I read it in 2 weeks and just bought his most recent book, Hollywood Moon. Thanks also for pointing out what a cretin I was for not being familiar with the works of such a great police writer. Your words and the book motivated me to read more, and have given me the idea for my next book, which will be my first stab at fiction writing.
Jackie, if you happen to read this piece, please sign the guestbook section of my website. I’d love to know that you received my thanks.
Thanks for stopping by.