Author Topic: Police Organizational Question(s)  (Read 5788 times)

Offline Ren

  • Seriously?
  • ***
  • Posts: 14240
  • AKA: Renmonster The Horgymeister
    • View Profile
    • The Forbidden Dojo 3-D Art
Police Organizational Question(s)
« on: December 22, 2010, 04:09:39 PM »
I don't know if anyone on the board is a police officer of any kind or has working knowledge of Police Organization.
So I've started working on a new story that is a Detective-series set in Miami but with a supernatural angle. The main character is a Miami PD Detective who works in Special Investigations, though in his case he is regularly assigned to investigate the really "Special" cases i.e. the Supernatural Stuff that no one believes in or wants to believe in. This is a world in which the Supernatural World is still unknown and the mortal world prefers it that way.

Now my questions(s) stem from his Particular role in the Department. As a former Oceanographer and Scientist he has a certain very unique skill-set to bring to the job, but I don't want to make him a lab-geek as I'm not up on CSI terms and lingo etc...and figured SI would be the best fit for him.
The question is, given that unique skill-set and duties, would he have a partner? For that matter do all Officers and Detectives have Partners? If so, what kind of partner would he have?

I eventually plan to have him team up with a local National Park Service Ranger (Assigned to the Everglades Primarily) and future love interest. which brings me to my next question; would it be within the realm of possibility to have an SI detective, or any kind of Detective, team up on a long-term basis with an NPS Agent? I'm trying to work out how and why the characters meet and start to work together, whether he should have an assigned partner and what their relationship would be like and such to make their working together more believable.
"Brain Makes My Math Hurt" - me

"Eeyore is my Totem Animal" - me

"Pants are overrated!" - me

Offline Paynesgrey

  • Bartender
  • Seriously?
  • ****
  • Posts: 12131
    • View Profile
Re: Police Organizational Question(s)
« Reply #1 on: December 22, 2010, 05:02:26 PM »
Might want to make him Dade County sherrif's department, he'll have a wider jurisidiction rather than being confined to the city limits he'll be dealing with stuff anywhere in the county.  Or, if you put him on some sort of interdepartmental cooperative task force, then that could loosen up jurisdiction issues while giving him teammates and assets from various departments, some of which might have varying  levels of cooperation.  That would also be a handy device to make him get saddled with the weird stuff that everyone wishes was someone else's problem. 

"Did you hear about the guy with his head chopped off last night?"

"Yeah, but I figured 'so what, that's Jersey."


These days it seems cops typically don't have a specific partner unless they're beat cops, and even that's iffy with budget cuts.  A detective is more likely to be on a team or task force, and assignments will float around depending on who has what on his plate.  "Johnson, you still working those smash and grabs?  Oh, court date?  Alright, Jones, you help out Todd here with these warehouse breakins."  You'll have guys who habitually team, but formal "partnership" seems more to be a training device for rookies to learn the ropes. 

Offline Ren

  • Seriously?
  • ***
  • Posts: 14240
  • AKA: Renmonster The Horgymeister
    • View Profile
    • The Forbidden Dojo 3-D Art
Re: Police Organizational Question(s)
« Reply #2 on: December 22, 2010, 05:37:42 PM »
Hrmm Sheriffs office is possible, maybe a government agency? Oh heck...I could just make him a Ranger himself...that would make more sense...just wonder if they have different departments as well...have to go research that!

On second thoughts I like having him with some concrete authority, or at least with the authority to investigate crimes against humans. FBI may be a possibility though the X-Files has been done. Dunno what other agencies would be appropriate. Though about having him be a consultant as well, but that smacks too much of the Dresden Files and I like to at least try to be original...8P
« Last Edit: December 22, 2010, 05:52:38 PM by Renfield »
"Brain Makes My Math Hurt" - me

"Eeyore is my Totem Animal" - me

"Pants are overrated!" - me

Offline Paynesgrey

  • Bartender
  • Seriously?
  • ****
  • Posts: 12131
    • View Profile
Re: Police Organizational Question(s)
« Reply #3 on: December 22, 2010, 05:56:19 PM »
Making him part of a state's "Fish and wildlife" would give him statewide authority, although the limits vary greatly from state to state.  Some states have them pretty much hogtied in what they can't doe, others not so much. 

In pennsylvania, for example, there was a major stink a few years ago when it came out that Fish and Game regulations gave them (or so they thought) a ridiculous amount of extralegal power.  Agents were conducting midnight, warrentless searches with no probable cause, random and arbitrary confiscation of goods and property, "indefinately detaining possible witnesses by locking them in cars in august with the windows rolled up", shooting people's dogs because "it looked like it might possibly be a wolf hybrid" without actually proving the animal was a hybrid.

By the PA legal code they actually were granted, or, more accurately, not prohitted from thos actions due to sloppy, sloppy wording.  Meanwhile, representatives of the agency actually claimed that they were exempt from not just the State but also the Federal Constitution because neither referred directly to that agency specifically.  (Let's just say there have been some reforms in recent years.)

Point being, in a statewide agency, you could invent a lot of wiggle room for jurisdiction and authority for him if he's in a state wildlife, environmental, or "land management" agency.  You can splash around an awful lot of grey paint without hitting the sides if you go that route, particularly if it's a slapped together, "interagency task force".

Don't forget that indian reservations will fall under the Federal government's jurisdiction. BLM and FBI.  Florida also has a goodly number of old military installations and training ranges which while abandoned, are still DoD property.

Offline Ren

  • Seriously?
  • ***
  • Posts: 14240
  • AKA: Renmonster The Horgymeister
    • View Profile
    • The Forbidden Dojo 3-D Art
Re: Police Organizational Question(s)
« Reply #4 on: December 22, 2010, 06:27:06 PM »
I did some looking into the Department of the Interior in general and the National Parks Service in particular. I think it will be fine if I leave him as an MPD Cop and have him acting as a Liaison to the NPS Ranger character so they can cover each others keisters in a variety of jurisdictions. DoD stuff he likely won't get involved in though I may add an NCIS agent or some other former of Federal Agent (Possibly US Marshall?) at a later date to cover some of that if needed. But it won't be needed for the first story.
"Brain Makes My Math Hurt" - me

"Eeyore is my Totem Animal" - me

"Pants are overrated!" - me

Offline buckeyestar83

  • Lurker
  • Posts: 1
    • View Profile
Re: Police Organizational Question(s)
« Reply #5 on: December 23, 2010, 03:45:10 AM »
If your character is an oceanographer and a scientist, why is he now a cop?  Wouldn't he be a batter fit for the Coast Guard?  This would put him in a setting that best fits his skill and offer many opportunities to encounter strange beasties, pirates, smugglers, mermaids....

Your character will be able to use his skills without becoming the geeky, lab rat stereotype.

Offline Snowleopard

  • Needs A Life
  • ***
  • Posts: 27961
  • Small but sneaky.
    • View Profile
Re: Police Organizational Question(s)
« Reply #6 on: December 23, 2010, 04:25:29 AM »
Not all Scientists are geeky lab rats.

Offline Ren

  • Seriously?
  • ***
  • Posts: 14240
  • AKA: Renmonster The Horgymeister
    • View Profile
    • The Forbidden Dojo 3-D Art
Re: Police Organizational Question(s)
« Reply #7 on: December 23, 2010, 10:52:33 AM »
Part of the catch to the character is that he had a boat accident and near-death/near-drowning incident that has made him terrified of the Open Water much less under the water. Tough being an oceanographer when you can't set foot on a boat without getting violently ill and shaky. He chose to become a cop to investigate the disappearance of his own mother several years previous,, well that's aprt of the reason anyway, still working out the rest.
"Brain Makes My Math Hurt" - me

"Eeyore is my Totem Animal" - me

"Pants are overrated!" - me

Offline Paynesgrey

  • Bartender
  • Seriously?
  • ****
  • Posts: 12131
    • View Profile
Re: Police Organizational Question(s)
« Reply #8 on: December 23, 2010, 02:06:46 PM »
Marine Biologist could be a good job set for him.  Not so much studying the ocean as the critters that live there.  Also extends to cover salt marshes and similar bodies of water.

Offline Ren

  • Seriously?
  • ***
  • Posts: 14240
  • AKA: Renmonster The Horgymeister
    • View Profile
    • The Forbidden Dojo 3-D Art
Re: Police Organizational Question(s)
« Reply #9 on: December 23, 2010, 03:17:14 PM »
There's a back story that involves him growing up as the son of a world-renowned Oceanographer, Activist and Treasure Hunter. Basically he's got it in his blood, and in more than one way. I wanted him to have a lot of training with Oceanography and Marine Biology and suddenly not be able to do what he loved to do so he pursued a different path while he recovered. I wanted him to be a police officer to deal with the land-based component of the story as well as the marine aspect. His fear of open Water keeps him off the Seas, but he is able to put his skills to use in helping deal with the odder marine-based cases that come up and the first case is a zinger!
There is going to be a fair "supernatural" aspect of it but more super-nature than where in many of the things that seem like magic are really based on a different understanding of natural science (Chemistry, biology, electromagnetism etc...), mental abilities (Some Telepathy, Telekinesis, Precognition etc..) as well as making us of super-psychological abilities (Prana, Psychosomatics, Fakhir training etc...) and possibly some Pseudo-science (Read, 'fringe' science). The story is going to also involve a certain long-hidden and ancient culture, possibly several of them, returning to the world stage after several millenia of dormancy.
"Brain Makes My Math Hurt" - me

"Eeyore is my Totem Animal" - me

"Pants are overrated!" - me

Offline Paynesgrey

  • Bartender
  • Seriously?
  • ****
  • Posts: 12131
    • View Profile
Re: Police Organizational Question(s)
« Reply #10 on: December 23, 2010, 03:40:54 PM »
Ah, Dirk Pitt's boy I see.   ;)

Have you ever read John D MacDonald's Travis McGee series? 

Offline Ren

  • Seriously?
  • ***
  • Posts: 14240
  • AKA: Renmonster The Horgymeister
    • View Profile
    • The Forbidden Dojo 3-D Art
Re: Police Organizational Question(s)
« Reply #11 on: December 23, 2010, 04:27:15 PM »
Never heard of John D. MacDonald or his series, is it worth looking into?
I hadn't really thought of the Dirk Pitt comparison, I was actually going more for Jaques-Yves Cousteau (A personal hero of mine). Heck I even named their ship "Calliope"...8)
Though I could see some of the Dirk Pitt angle in their except instead of being heroic as well as working with a Government Organization the father is more of a Treasure Hunter for greed's sake than for posterity or world-saving etc...trying to make characters that are more human and less super-human, or at least super-trained. main character is a cop and very athletic, but he's got his flaws just like everybody else and everyone around him.
I really loved the depth of the characters in "Terriers" and love to be able to write with that kind of depth...and humanity. We'll see how it goes.
"Brain Makes My Math Hurt" - me

"Eeyore is my Totem Animal" - me

"Pants are overrated!" - me

Offline Paynesgrey

  • Bartender
  • Seriously?
  • ****
  • Posts: 12131
    • View Profile
Re: Police Organizational Question(s)
« Reply #12 on: December 23, 2010, 04:59:05 PM »
Travis McGee is a classic rascally antihero, along the lines of Repairman Jack, Indiana Jones and Han Solo.  Those characters all probably drew a bit from Travis.  The books run from the 60's through the 80's.  Travis is basically a self described "beach bum" who lives in a houseboat, makes a living as a "salvage consultant".  Somebody gets conned or ripped off, can't get thier money back legally, Travis fixes that in return for half of what he recovers.  The books are a mix of private detective, sting/con games, and good old fashioned ass whipping.  The writing style is surprisingly advanced, more like Raymond Chandler than "an action book."  For example, the writer lays out the personality and psyche of a rather predatory young woman with the following bit:

Quote
“She sat up slowly, looked in turn at each of us, and her dark eyes were like twin entrances to two deep caves.  Nothing lived in those caves.  Maybe something had, once upon a time.  There were piles of picked bones back in there, some scribbling on the walls, and some grey ash where the fires had been.  “Jane Doe will do just fine,” she said.” 

Darker Than Amber John D. MacDonald.

Travis is no super hero, he takes his lumps and isn't always the guy who wins a fight.  He's clever and sharp, but still gets outwitted from time to time, even gets played himself once in a while.  The books are very, very, politically incorrect though, as they were written starting back in the 60's.  The series also paints a fine picture of Florida That Was, in a writing style that lets you taste the food and drinks, smell the sea salt.

Offline Ren

  • Seriously?
  • ***
  • Posts: 14240
  • AKA: Renmonster The Horgymeister
    • View Profile
    • The Forbidden Dojo 3-D Art
Re: Police Organizational Question(s)
« Reply #13 on: December 23, 2010, 05:53:30 PM »
That name does sound familiar thinking about it. I'll have to look into the series assuming I can still find it. Though it does sound like the kind of odd character I'm trying to write...may still do the consultant angle, but then I would have to figure out what else he does.
"Brain Makes My Math Hurt" - me

"Eeyore is my Totem Animal" - me

"Pants are overrated!" - me

Offline Paynesgrey

  • Bartender
  • Seriously?
  • ****
  • Posts: 12131
    • View Profile
Re: Police Organizational Question(s)
« Reply #14 on: December 23, 2010, 06:01:04 PM »
Hit any decent used bookstore and you can net quite a haul.  They're usually kept in the "myster" section.  Author is John D MacDonald.  (Also the guy who wrote Cape Fear.)  All of the Travis McGee books have a colour in the title, like "The Lonely Silver Rain" or "The Girl in the plain brown wrapper", and "A Tan and Sandy Silence".  They're popular enough you can usually find new copies in a Barnes & Noble or Borders.