Mysteries

Lesson 1: Introduction

Subgenres of Detective Fiction - Part Three

In the first two sections, you learned about the different types of detective fiction. Now, you will learn about the duties of detectives, crime scene officers, and uniform police officers.

I wanted to interview a detective so that I could gather information for the stories and novels I wanted to write. Therefore, I had to do some research. These articles will provide you with the information you need to know about detective fiction stories or novels.

I called up a detective and scheduled an interview. Besides visiting with me on the different duties of uniform police officers, crime scene officers, and detectives, he took me a tour of the police station. He explained everything that happened at the station and who did what duties. That was a very interesting experience for me. As a result of that interview, I came up with three article ideas: "Uniform Police Officers," "Crime Scene Officers," and "Duties of the Detectives."

Suggested Reading Assignments

Here is the first article that I wrote about my interview. At the end of this article, you can click on the other links to read the other two articles.

Uniform Police Officers

This article is the first of three parts. I interviewed Detective Randy Mills from the Detective Division in Topeka, Kansas. He shared with me the duties of the uniform police, crime scene officers, and detectives. The first part will be about the duties of the uniform police officers.

When a crime has been committed the uniform police are called to a scene. After they arrive at the scene, people are quite anxious and out of control. The uniform police have to gain control of the situation and slow things down so they can proceed with their investigation. The suspects are apprehended and taken to the police station. At that time, the uniform officers do not have to read them their rights. This is done at a later time.

The uniform officers also administer first aid to anyone who needs it. After that, they separate the witnesses. They will either place the witnesses in separate rooms or in one large room with a police officer standing guard to see that they do not converse with each other. The officers need to know what each person saw without being influenced by another person's viewpoint.

When uniform officers enter the crime scene, they pick a path, which is usually next to the walls, and stay on that path coming and going. They choose this path instead of the path people normally take when they enter their house because they do not want to disturb any evidence that might be there. Yellow crime scene tape is placed around the crime scene area so that people will stay away from the area. A uniform officer will stand guard and write down the activity that is happening at the crime scene. When the uniform officer is relieved of his guard duty, then he returns to the station to write his report. The officer has to write down anything that is taken from the scene or brought into the crime scene as well as people who come and go. If there is not any activity going on at the crime scene the officer still has to write down that he stood there for a certain time period, such as two hours, and that no activity occurred during that time frame.

Crime Scene Officers http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/3056...

Duties of the Detectives http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/3056...

In detective fiction, the protagonist is the detective. The story is usually told in first person. However, some authors have used third person. Raymond Chandler has used both view points in his stories and books.

In crime fiction, you have to decide who your detective is going to be. You can use amateur sleuths, private investigators, police, detectives, or the semi-pro. After you make that decision, then you need to research their job so you can make them realistic.

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