| I flew in early to Denver in order to take
the KOD Tour (Kiss of Death — Mystery and
Romantic Suspense Chapter of RWA®). The tours
they present are an annual pre-conference event
and well worth it. The purpose of these tours
is to give those writing, or just interested in
writing, romantic mystery/suspense the opportunity
to do hands-on research in order to help make
their stories more authentic.
The tour took us to the Arvada Police Department
headquarters in Arvada, Colorado, where the City's
Chief of Police Ronald C. Sloan treated two busloads
of people to a very warm welcome and a rundown
of how his Department operates.
We were then put into groups and taken through
a number of demonstrations and talks given by
the men and women who serve the Arvada area. Two
dispatchers told us about the intense training
they receive and we listened to several calls
demonstrating how the dispatchers handle a variety
of incidents. A stressful job by all accounts.
Next the group listened to a talk by a detective
working in the Drug Task Force. He explained a
typical day and also told us of the many and varied
drugs available on the market, how they spend
their time searching for grow operations, recruiting
informants and shutting dealers down.
Next we were given a demonstration of a High
Risk Patrol Stop. Two patrol cars are used and
the stop is orchestrated carefully. Teamwork is
necessary in these high risk stops, where one
officer takes control and the other follows his
lead. In case you didn't know, all officers are
required to wear bulletproof vests, and their
standard belt contains gun, handcuffs, ammo for
handgun, radio and baton.
Next we met two officers who were part of a SWAT
team and they talked about the Team Concept. A
Team consists of Operators, Negotiators and Communicators.
The type of training they endured is extensive
and we were shown various guns and instruments
used in a SWAT situation.
One of the officers had been on the first SWAT
team dispatched to the Columbine High School.
He was not allowed to talk about the incident
but we found out later that he'd been awarded
several commendations for his efforts that day.
The second SWAT member was a sharpshooter, trained
to take out a perpetrator — should this
be deemed necessary — in a kidnapping or
a hostage situation.
We were also treated to a demonstration by a
K-9 handler. Interestingly enough, this department
goes all the way to Germany to find the dogs they
deem worthy of the intense training required to
become part of the program. These dogs are trained
to sniff out a variety of substances as well as
taught to track and attack criminals. The god
lives with his handler and the handler's family
and as you can imagine there's quite a bond between
dog and handler.
During the lunch break (Subway sandwiches) several
offices were set aside where officers and detectives
(some retired officers/detectives came in especially
for our tour) in different areas of crime made
themselves available for general or specific questions.
We also met a young woman who'd been a victim
of a horrendous crime. She'd agreed to come in
and retell the incredible story of survival. At
the age of 17 (she's now 25, I believe, and married
with two children) she'd been raped, stabbed and
had her throat cut by a man who was working at
a donut shop. She'd stopped late at night to buy
coffee and a donut and he'd attacked her. Afterward
he'd deposited her into a trash bin outside the
donut shop. She escaped only to be found by him
again. He returned her to the bin and this time
put a heavy object on top to stop her from escaping.
She escaped a second time. Needless to say, her
survival was an amazing tale and she talks to
victims and helps others deal with similar tragedies.
The afternoon was set aside for the groups to
listen to a Criminalist, a civilian who is brought
in to analyze crime scenes. He's the man who deals
in the forensic side of tracking down and catching
crooks.
We were also taken to a room where a crime scene
had been set up and with a little background information
we had to try and figure out what happened.
The two CSI officers who'd set up the scene were
impressed with how much the group noticed at the
scene (sometimes too much — like no ashes
in the ashtray, even though there were cigarette
butts). The simple explanation was that the officer
who'd put the scene together didn't smoke.
At any rate, the entire day was a tremendous
learning experience thanks to the generous men
and women of the Arvada Police Department. Next
year in New York KOD Chapter is planning an even
more exciting day...if that's possible.
Moyra Tarling is a member of GVC, a past Co-President
of KOD, and a Silhouette Romance author. Information
on how to join KOD Chapter can be found on their
website.
Articles may be reprinted in RWA® chapter
newsletters, attributed to the Spotlight.
Non-RWA® newsletters may not reprint articles
without the permission of the authors.
Back to top
|
