English Police and how they deal with crime

ponderlou

Hello everyone,

I'm Ponderlou, my very first book is about a female serial killer in England. All the sites I have visited are about men and American, not very helpful. I have written to Scotland yard but have had no reply as yet, or an invite. Does anyone know of any web sites, books, or anything else that I can look at, visit or write to. Plus how the english police and forensics work in general in such a severe case?
Any hints or help most welcome.
Hope your writers going well.
ponderlou

TaffetaPunk

Hi ponderlou, welcome to Talkback. Sorry, I can't give you advice about this as it's not my area, but someone on here is bound to have an answer. Enjoy.

Jay Mandal

Hi, Ponderlou. Welcome to Talkback. Why not introduce yourself on the Welcome Writers discussion/thread? Also, there's this month's One Word Challenge to take part in - no pressure!

We have some police officers on Talkback - not sure if they're serving or retired. They may be able to help.

Best of luck with the book.

Stirling

Hello Ponderlou, welcome to Talkback.

I can't be specific, but I do write Crime. I would recommend that your first stop should be your local library's true crime shelves. I have seen various titles about female serial killers, maybe Myra Hindley would make a good starting point. Also there are hundreds of books about forensics, which work on the same principals the world over. One of my favourites is A Dummies Guide To Forensics to get a writers perspective. Also, there was a series a few years ago, written by a Police Officer, specifically for writers, I had one which was called 'murder one'. Also, it might be worth looking at it from a psychology perspective. Val Mcdermid's Tony Hill novels are a good example of this.

I think the best advice I can give you is to read as many crime novels as you can get your hands on!

Oh yes - newspapers are a terrific resource too. My second novel's plot came straight from a newspaper.

flyingtart

Hi Ponderlou and welcome! :-)

Celtic C

Hi Ponderlou - sorry, can't help with your query - welcome :)

Carol

Hello Ponderlou, welcome. Not my area. Try the search box as I know there have been a few discussions on this area in the last year. :)

Alik

Hi Ponderlou! Have you tried your local nick? They may have more time to be helpful and you might find a useful contact there. :-)

mcbemused

Welcome, Ponderlou! There are a couple of ex-police on the site - as Carol says, try the search box - good luck :)

scratch

Hi there, Ponderlou,
Sterling advice from Stirling! :) (and Alik) I am one of the ex-police mentioned above and reckon for serious crime that would be the best way for you to get to grips with as much information as possible. Unfortunately (for writers and research - not victims) major serial killers are not in every bobbies repertoire. Major crimes are investigated by the CID (Criminal Investigation Department (Creeping Insects Dept :) ) so us 'ordinary' police don't usually get the opportunity to be involved.

I'm sure that a visit to your local police station would be good - just explain what you are trying to find out and I'm sure you'll get some good information.

Puddie

Hi there, I am a serving detective and will help if I can. Your query is a bit general, because it is such a huge topic, which I could ramble on about forever. Do you have any specific questions about forensics? One thing I can think of which might help is that all Forces now complete a form following a serious crime. The information goes onto a central database, so in theory we should pick up serial killers who move around the country. Stranger rapes and murders are still rare thankfully. Serial killers even more so, but as you can see from the news they do crop up from time to time. The principal issue in relation to any crime scene is the recovery of a fingerprint or DNA evidence. The chances of this happening depends on many variables. If a criminal is forensically aware they will try to cover their tracks and destroy evidence. The time delay in finding and securing a crime scene can have a big impact. A Crime Scene Manager from the Scientific Support dept. would co-ordinate the recovery of evidence from a scene. A Home Office pathologist would also attend along with the SIO, which is a senior detective in charge ot the investigation, usually a Superintendent. Crime scene evidence in serious cases is prioritised and results are often fast tracked. Not sure if any of this helps, as I say, if you have specific questions that might be the best way I can help. Good Luck!

HisanoXelax

Welcome to TB, Ponderlou.

Mutley

Welcome Ponderlou, there really are some great people here and selflessly they are always willing to help.

Soobdoo

Welcome Ponderlou.