Hi all,
I figured we could all use a thread to post links to helpful sites. I'm starting off with a Yahoo group that's VERY popular with mystery writers. Crime Scene Writer is run by a retired police officer. Writers pose questions and experts from law enforcement answer them. (Oh, just a warning, don't read it while eating unless you have a strong stomach. You never know what's going to be under discussion.)
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/crimescenewriter/
Marie
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Okt 6, 2007 - 17 51
Here are two good research links:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/state_statutes2.html#criminal%20code
A very detailed description of criminal laws, categorized state by state.
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu
A huge library of online books
50,979 / 50,000
Okt 10, 2007 - 05 27
My favourite research site is http://www.answers.com
You can type in any question, and get a whole lot of articles about it.
Most recently, I entered "how do you clean a sword?" and got 2 pages of articles about sword care.
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Okt 17, 2007 - 01 24
Thought I'd share this since I needed to know what sort of training one of my characters would have experienced.
From the FBI, training that a special agent recieves at the academy:
http://www.fbi.gov/hq/td/academy/sat/sat.htm
One must: pass 9 academic exams, covering things like forensic science and interrogation, with a score of 85%+, 3 physical training tests, a defensive tactics test, qualify TWICE with an FBI issued handgun, once with a shotgun, plus demosntrate familiarity with a Bureau sub-machine gun, firing 3,000-5,000 rounds of ammunition over just 17 weeks. Plus, you know, learn to investigate stuff.
So I guess my character is going to be smart, fit and very comfortable with a firearm.