Cops not waiting for backup. Cops accepting help from amateurs. Detectives going in ahead of the SWAT team. Cops deciding to disregard orders/procedure.
You’ve hit all of mine, Terry. Civilians “assisting the police with their inquiries” drives me up the wall, particularly when they pocket evidence from the crime scene. If some stranger knocked at my door
to ask me questions about a crime under investigation, I would ask to see their law enforcement identification. No badge? Just say no and close the door.
Badges can be faked. I've spent a lot of time interviewing a defense attorney about cop abuses for my book Assault With a Deadly Lie and you do not need to open the door unless they have a warrant. You do not ever need to talk to them. You open the door and they can end up accusing you of a crime based on something they "think" they see.
Ha! You always know that person is going to be dead any second now! The only time that worked for me is when I read a story where the detective made a kind of joke about it, saying they'd be dead if they waited, and they needed to tell him now. They didn't, of course, tell him and they did die. But I feel the writer made the effort, acknowledging it.
Exposition in dialogue. I will bail immediately.
It makes anything sound like a daytime soap.
I can't stand the "we have to hurry", followed by 15 minutes of jabbering....
Yes, and often it's exposition.
Cops not waiting for backup. Cops accepting help from amateurs. Detectives going in ahead of the SWAT team. Cops deciding to disregard orders/procedure.
You’ve hit all of mine, Terry. Civilians “assisting the police with their inquiries” drives me up the wall, particularly when they pocket evidence from the crime scene. If some stranger knocked at my door
to ask me questions about a crime under investigation, I would ask to see their law enforcement identification. No badge? Just say no and close the door.
Badges can be faked. I've spent a lot of time interviewing a defense attorney about cop abuses for my book Assault With a Deadly Lie and you do not need to open the door unless they have a warrant. You do not ever need to talk to them. You open the door and they can end up accusing you of a crime based on something they "think" they see.
Right now, there are too many instances of things not going the way the law's supposed to operate that it's a scary time.
Amen.
I guess it's good I'm keeping a low profile these days.
Ha! You always know that person is going to be dead any second now! The only time that worked for me is when I read a story where the detective made a kind of joke about it, saying they'd be dead if they waited, and they needed to tell him now. They didn't, of course, tell him and they did die. But I feel the writer made the effort, acknowledging it.
Was the whole story a satire or was that just the joke?
To you as well.
I have no idea. It was a funny story, but I remember literally nothing else about it, except that.
That's what I was trying to get at--the tone of the story. Happy New Year!