Tag Archive for: Guns

We need to talk

/in /by

by: Joelle Charbonneau

This might not be a popular blog post.  Normally, I make an attempt to be
lighthearted.  Face it, there’s too much
unhappiness and tension in the world. 
However, today, I’m having a hard time being funny.
Yesterday there was another high profile shooting spree—the third
in a matter of a few short weeks.  Colorado.  Wisconsin.  Texas.  Three different parts of the country.  Three different reasons for taking a weapon
and firing on his fellow man.  Three
people who should have never been allowed to have a gun.  But because they had one (and in fact they
had many) people died.
After the Wisconsin
shooting, friend and fellow writer Chuck Wendig tweeted that the time was fast approaching
for us to start a serious conversation about guns.  Perhaps in some part we can start that
conversation here.  We are writers that
love humor.  We love mysteries and often
use guns in our writing, but, in real life, guns are a serious business.  We need to find a way to get people talking—really
talking—about what should be done about them.
There is a slogan that says “Guns don’t kill people.  People kill people.”  It is hard to argue the fact that a gun by
itself will not pull its own trigger. 
But take the gun out of the hands of a man whose own parents say was out
of control and several people who died yesterday would still be alive. Their
families would not be grieving or asking questions to which there will never be
answers. 
Guns kill people. 
I’m sorry.  No matter
how literally correct that slogan might be, I believe guns kill people.  Does that means that I believe that people
would not kill if they didn’t have access to guns? No.  But I think the numbers killed would be
smaller.  The choice to kill would be
harder. 
Maybe I’m wrong.  But
yesterday a man with a gun killed people by shooting out of the window of his
home.  In Wisconsin, a gunman opened fire in a
church.  In Colorado, people watching a movie were
gunned down while eating popcorn. 
Men killed those people. 
So did the guns those men used.
Three horrific incidents in 22 days. 
I’m not writing this post because I know what the answer
is.  I don’t.  Not a clue. 
But I do know that something has to change. 
The constitution reads: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of
the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. 
I have found 4 definitions of militia:
1.  A body of citizens
enrolled for military service, and called out periodically for drill but
serving full time only in emergencies.
2.  A body of citizen
soldiers as distinguished from professional soldiers.
3.  All able-bodied
males considered by law eligible for military service.
4.  A body of citizens
organized in a paramilitary group and typically regarding themselves as
defenders of individual rights against the presumed interference of the federal
government.
The second amendment was written at a time before the
national armed forces were created. 
There wasn’t an Army, Navy, Air Force or Marine Corps.  The National Guard didn’t exist.  The only chance for the country to defend
itself was if every day citizens answered the call of the government to fight
off whatever threat was eminent to the nation. 
Once the national government founded the branches of military, the need
for a militia was dissolved.
Does that mean I think citizens should be forbidden from
owning guns?  Again, I have no idea.  But I do think the second amendment doesn’t
provide the answers that some people would like it to.  This debate would be easier if it did.  It doesn’t. 
The answer lies with us…the American people.  It is time to have a debate that doesn’t wield
the second amendment and catchy slogans like a bulletproof shield.
Guns kill people because people use guns.  End of story. 
Not all people commit murder with them, but enough do that we need to have
the conversation.  We need to table our
emotions about whether we love or hate guns. 
We need stop asking what the founding fathers would do because I guarantee
you they never imagined the possibility of a movie theater let alone the horrendous
mass murder that would occur there. 
I have no answers. 
Only questions.  But I believe
that what we are doing now isn’t working. 
We need to find better answers because I think the one thing we can all
agree on is that the people we love in our lives are more important than the ownership
of a gun that might one day be the cause of their death.
And to the families of all of the victims…my heart and
prayers are with you.

PIs, Car Chases, and Squealing Brakes

/in /by

****Update: The winners, picked at random from the individuals leaving comments on PIs, Car Chases, and Squealing Brakes. are: Chester Campbell and Chelle. Each is eligible for either a “Writing PIs” T-shirt or one free class from www.writingprivateinvestigators.com Please e-mail The Stiletto Gang using the “Contact Us” link on the right side of this blogsite so we can tell you how to claim your prize. Thanks.

The Stiletto Gang

_____________

I noticed your guest blogger last week was Lisa Lutz, who has a very funny car chase prologue that kicks off her wonderfully entertaining book The Spellman Files (the first in her Spellman series). I laughed when I first read the prologue, laughed again when I read it to my husband (who’s also my business partner in our private investigator [PI] agency), then laughed all over again when I read it to his teenage daughter (who, with a PI dad and a PI stepmom, is similar to the protagonist in The Spellman Files). Suffice it to say, we’re a real-life PI family who are fans of the fictional PI family, the Spellmans.

But what about such car chases in real life? I mean, besides the Spellmans, think about all those groovy car chases and squealing, burning brakes in every one of those old Rockford episodes (for those uninitiated to this classic PI series, do yourself a favor and check out The Rockford Files, a ‘70s TV series starring an ex-convict turned laid-back PI, played by James Garner, who also did his own car stunts in the show).

Fortunately, those exciting, nail-biting car chases only take place in fiction. In the real-world, PIs drive more safely and have guidelines for mobile, also called rolling, surveillances (meaning, surveillances conducted while driving a car or van). I thought I’d discuss some mobile surveillance techniques for fans of The Stiletto Gang blog as some of you are also writers and might find them useful for your stories.

First of all, let’s debunk the myth that mobile surveillances are one-man (or one-woman) shows.

One-Person Mobile Surveillance: Recipe for Failure?

There are investigators who swear that a one-person mobile surveillance is a recipe for failure (one PI gives a 5% success rate). In our agency, we can vouch that a one-person mobile surveillance is tough. You’re watching traffic and pedestrians and intersections and traffic lights and regulatory traffic signs and your subject is weaving and gunning it through rush-hour traffic and…

You just lost him.

We now counsel prospective clients that a two-person surveillance significantly increases the chances of success. Our preference is two investigators in two vehicles, but even two investigators in one vehicle improves the success rate of a mobile surveillance (one investigator can focus on driving while the other takes video/photographs, checks directions, stays focused on where the subject’s car is turning, etc.)

Nevertheless, at our agency there are times where one of us ends up doing a solo mobile surveillance. Sometimes by accident. For example, both of us were surveiling a felon a while back. We were in two cars, communicating with each other by walkie talkies. We’d researched the area, knew all the streets, and we prepared to do a two-person mobile surveillance. When the target turned on a side street, I followed, but my husband got caught in a rush-hour traffic jam. Miraculously, I did a one-person mobile surveillance through three counties, all the while tracking the felon, and ultimately tagging the location he ended at (which had been our goal). But I’ll tell you, both of us still shake our heads over that one—we still can’t believe we pulled off a one-car/one-investigator mobile surveillance through three counties. For those of you writing a sleuth story, maybe he/she knows the stakes are against him/her in a lengthy one-person mobile surveillance, but goes for it anyway.

Tips for Conducting a One-Vehicle, One-Investigator Mobile Surveillance

If your fictional sleuth is stuck, such as I was, in a one-vehicle, one-investigator mobile surveillance, think about using some of the following techniques:

  • Have him/her stay in the right lane most of the time. If that’s not possible, use the center lane (that way, your PI can respond to either a right turn or left turn at the last moment).

  • If it’s a night surveillance, have your sleuth disable the dome light. Some real-life PIs put black tape over any miscellaneous interior lights as well (digital clocks, radio dials, etc.).

  • While following, have your sleuth try to keep one car between his/her vehicle and the vehicle being following.

  • Rather than stop directly behind the subject at a red light, see if there is a parking lot your sleuth can pull into until the light changes.

  • If your fictional PI has an associate riding shotgun, besides taking photos, reading maps, etc., that person can also jump out for foot surveillance if necessary.

Tips for Conducting a Two vehicle/Two investigator Mobile Surveillance

Much better odds with two cars, two PIs. Below are some tips for this scenario:

  • If your fictional PI has a good idea where the subject is going, he/she might travel in front of the target’s vehicle (be the lead) while the second PI travels behind the target’s vehicle.Using radios, the lead unit stays fairly close to the subject (no more than three or four cars in front). If the trailing unit sees the subject signal for a turn, he can radio the lead unit in time for it to make the same turn ahead of the subject.

  • Play leapfrog: If the trailing unit gets cut off by a missed light or some other obstacle, he/she can radio the lead unit to drop back and behind the subject. The cut-off unit can then, by following the instructions radioed by the still in-contact unit, cut through side routes and place himself in front of the subject a few blocks down the road.

  • To avoid suspicion: The lead and trailing units swap places while following the subject. First, the lead unit drops back behind the subject and just in front of the trailing unit. The trailing unit then speeds up and places him/herself in front of the subject.

  • Think about using these techniques in your story. Have your PI mull over his/her options, discuss it with his associate. It’ll add plausibility to your characters and your story for them to discuss such tactics, their anticipated success rate, and use such jargon as “rolling” or “mobile” surveillance.

  • And then, when they’re out there on the road, think about your readers and how much they love the prologue to The Spellman Files, or the way Jim Rockford could spin his car on a dime, and throw in some squealing, burning brakes.

Colleen is offering 2 giveaways to 2 names randomly picked from all who comment: 1 “Writing PIs in Novels–Keeping Sleuths Real on the Page” T-shirt (size L, sorry it’s the only size left), and 1 free registration to class of choice from Quick Studies on the Shady Side: Tips and Techniques for Writers Developing Sleuths: http://www.writingprivateinvestigators.com/

Names to be picked on Sunday, July 26! Check back here for winners and information on how to collect your prize if you win!

Colleen Collins (http://www.colleencollins.net/) is a multi-published author and professional PI. She and her husband run a detective agency in Denver, Colorado, and post articles about investigations on their blog Guns, Gams, and Gumshoes (http://writingpis.wordpress.com/). They’re currently teaching a series of classes for writers: “Quick Studies on the Shady Side: Tips and Techniques for Writers Developing Sleuths” at http://www.writingprivateinvestigators.com/