I am writing my first mystery novel and i am still a little confused about how to make it realistic

Mysterywriter82

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Hi everyone

I am currently writing my first mystery novel and I keep getting confused on the jurisdictions. The situation is I have the main character who is a detective that works for the sheriffs department and a case comes up in another city and he is asked to work with detectives from that city's police department. What I want to know is that logical for that to happen. I tried asking my father who is retired police and sheriffs department and mentioned something about NCIC. Can someone elaborate on this for me?
Thanks in advance.
 

cornflake

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Hi everyone

I am currently writing my first mystery novel and I keep getting confused on the jurisdictions. The situation is I have the main character who is a detective that works for the sheriffs department and a case comes up in another city and he is asked to work with detectives from that city's police department. What I want to know is that logical for that to happen. I tried asking my father who is retired police and sheriffs department and mentioned something about NCIC. Can someone elaborate on this for me?
Thanks in advance.

Why is he asked to work with them? Your dad is saying the other dept. has access to the same info, for the most part, about someone, that the original dept. does.
 

Mysterywriter82

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Cornflake
The reason he is asked to work with another department is because the case that came up in the other city is believed to be linked to the cases he is already working
 

cornflake

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Cornflake
The reason he is asked to work with another department is because the case that came up in the other city is believed to be linked to the cases he is already working

That brings up another q, heh -- what kind of cases and are the cities in the same state?
 

cornflake

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The cases he is working on are murder/homicide cases and yes the cities are in the same state

Then you're probably not just involving local cops -- if you suspect there are linked homicides which (I don't know your story but I'm guessing) may be a serial killer, unless this is a large, experienced department, and even sometimes then, you're probably also calling the feds.
 

cornflake

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So should I add in the feds even though I'm 26 chapters into my book??? And yes the antagonist becomes a serial killer

I mean it's not like it's a requirement, but most departments, unless they've got the experience and manpower (with experience), will take advantage of the feds if they think they're dealing with a serial killer...it's also the easiest way to quickly find out if you're looking at someone from another area.

Someone moving cities is unusual to begin with, though it depends on the location and the actor, but that's what the feds are for.
 

Mysterywriter82

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Ok thank you very much cornflake I will definitely add in a federal Agent even though the killer does move from one place to another but generally likes to stay in one area
 

cornflake

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Not for nothing, and god knows there are kind of countless books and movies and tv shows and at this rate probably cartoons, heh, that get serial killers wrong, but there are those that do it right -- this requires research. If you're working on a procedural with a particular, specific type of crime and criminal, a lot of readers drawn to that type of book can know how stuff should be, even in broader strokes, so it's worth doing the research.
 

cbenoi1

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Many state police offices have a PR person that can answer that sort of question. Usually it's done through a web page and you leave your email. You get an answer within 10 days or so.

-cb
 

MaeZe

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Don't know about everywhere but the police here do work in different departments. Especially on drug cases but if there was a good reason to cooperate or share resources (including personnel) it is done in my area.

I do contract work for more than one police department and I have seen officers from other departments working a case together on many occasions.

It's become the norm to share resources between police and fire departments in this neck of the woods.
 

ironmikezero

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It would not be unusual for either local agencies (county sheriff's department and/or the municipal/city police department), since both should have access, to consult federal databases (NCIC, VICAP, USMS, etc.) for more information. Such consultation would not necessarily involve any further (active) participation by federal agencies, absent a specific/official request or a violation of federal law.

https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/ncic

https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/vicap

https://www.usmarshals.gov/investigations/most_wanted/index.html