On Snow Blowing and Blowing Hot Air Generally

I sure like the snow blower I gave myself as an early Christmas present.

Some relevant stats:

Last time I shoveled my 110 foot driveway, it took me the better part of three hours and left me with some significant lower back pain. For subsequent years, I hired my mechanic and his plow but every time he raised his prices it was signifcant pain in the tookus, which is located slightly south of the lower back.

One of Sears' Finest Craftsman blowers wasn't cheap but two things occur to me. If we have as much white stuff this year as last, it will pay for itself. And I haven't had as much fun in winter since I wore a little blue parka with mittens strapped in the sleeves.

Our governor seems to be having some great fun blowing hot air this winter. Quoting from Kipling, making a dramatic protestation of innocence and promising to "fight, fight fight" the charges, he's slammed the "lynch mob" that's after him. Honestly, if his attorney Sam Adam Jr. had used the word "honestly" one more time in Blago's newser the other day, I might have started to believe he was honestly trying to convince us he and the Gov are being honest with us. Then I remembered the old joke about how you can tell if a lawyer is lying to you: his lips are moving.

Several friends of mine think it's possible the governor will get whacked before he ever goes to court. What could he possibly spill that would be grounds to kill him?

I think Blago will be around for a long time. The books say psychopaths enjoy watching their victims writhing in agony.

Illinoisans? Prepare for a long winter of writhing.

Sign is Gone, Feelings Remain

I probably should have explained the picture I used in my last Blago Blog, for those of you who didn't see it first in the Chicago Sun-Times. If you click on the photo, you'll see that the sign posted on the utility pole says "Warning, Rats." The photographer captured a great image as our governor-for-the-moment left his home.

Now somebody, we can only guess who, has taken down the sign.

Too bad for Blago that they can't make the federal charges, or the audio tapes used as evidence in those charges, go away as easily.

He'd probably like Lisa Madigan to go away, too. She's our Attorney General who yesterday filed an unusual motion with the Illinois Supreme Court, asking the justices to determine Blago is unfit to serve or, in the very least, to strip him of the ability to appoint anyone to fill Obama's senate seat.

Madigan is petitioning the high court to have gubernatorial duties temporarily turned over to Lt. Governor Pat Quinn until either an impeachment hearing is held or Blago is found not guilty of the charges against him in federal court. It appears to be a gutsy move for someone who reportedly would like to run for governor herself in two years, although she told reporters yesterday that she has not been thinking about politics all week.

Of course not. Politics in a time of legal crisis never seen previously in the Land of Lincoln? Heavens no. Not in the Madigan family.

I'll bet she and her dad Michael, the powerful speaker of the Illinois House and the guy who has been talking up the idea of impeachment since spring, have only focused on what's good for Illinois in their discussions this week.

Asking the supremes to strip the governor of his powers is a legal maneuver that hasn't been attempted before in Illinois. The high court may agree but just as easily could refuse to grant Madigan's motions, thereby leaving Blago's fate in the hands of the legislature. I think Madigan's dad has wisely opted to see what will come of his daughter's efforts before he commits to calling for a vote that would initiate impeachment proceedings.

Why not wait? By doing so, he leaves Lisa in the spotlight. I thought she aquitted herself well in front of the cameras yesterday. Those clips of her wielding the sword of justice would play well if she chooses to run for governor in 2010.

She'll have to have something going for her. My prediction is that Pat Quinn will assume gubernatorial duties by mid-week, if not sooner. Failing any mis-steps of his own, I have no doubt he will ask voters to keep him in office after 2010. If he governs well, heck, Lisa's going to have a real battle on her hands to boot him out.

Which leaves us to ponder all of the other questions raised by the governor's arrest this week. Namely, did President-Elect Obama know about the sale of his senate seat and, if so, did he do anything to promote it?

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald says he is blameless. I hope that's true.

I hope there isn't a tape gone missing, or a witness yet to be heard, that would implicate him in Blago's Nightmare.

Could a governor-for-the-moment bring down a president-elect? Hmmm.

Late Breaking...

President Bush is quoted as calling Governor Blago's actions "astounding."

I wonder if he's reviewed anything Dick Cheney has done in the past eight years.

Oh, and Blago is reported to be in an "upbeat" mood today. Of course he is. Any day out of jail is a good day, right Rod?

More Blago Blogging

Friends from out of state are wondering what we have in our water in Springfield that turns our politicians into crooks.

My theory is that you have to be just a little crooked to even think about going into politics, especially in Illinois where the Statehouse is regarded as one large trough consistently filled with taxpayer money that's free for the taking. Or so it appears once the new pols first step through the capitol building doors.

Perhaps it's something in the air, not the water. You get elected and somehow you become more susceptible to the bribery/fraud/theft germs that swirl around Springfield. Maybe it's like Legionaire's Disease or that sick building bacteria. Maybe it's just what happens to politicians when they get too close to someone else's money.

So what to do about Gov Blago? What to do, what to do?

He won't resign. That's a given. He doesn't think he's done anything wrong.

He probably won't shoot himself. While convenient for everyone (except his kids) I'm not advocating that idea. Although a Dr. Kevorkian seen walking up to the front door of the Gov's home would make for an interesting bit of news tape.

Asking the legislature to impeach Blago is a little like asking a third grade class to do it. They'll run around and poke each other and make a lot of noise but, ehhhh, it ain't gonna happen. I think there's been one impeachment proceeding in the last hundred years in Illinois. Not quite a glorious track record. Plus our lieutenant governor thinks it would be "bad" for the state. I'm not quite sure how it could be any worse than having our sitting governor arrested but maybe Pat Quinn thinks that an impeachment proceeding might bring other wrongdoing out of the woodwork. Such things have been known to happen during criminal trials; who knows what other schemes might come to light during an impeachment hearing. That ups what cops refer to as the "pucker factor" quite severely in Springfield. And we certainly don't want any puckered politicos.

Another and more practical issue for the impeachment crowd to consider, like a trial judge, the legislators will need evidence. Where's that going to come from? Surely not from the FBI or the U.S. Attorney. Never known as willing to share their toys, they are busily building their own criminal cases against The Hair.

Which leaves the untested maneuver that Attorney General Lisa Madigan has spoken of to all in televisionland who will listen; she could ask the Illinois Supreme Court to rule that Governor Blagojevich is unfit to govern. That might actually work but let's think politically for a moment. It's rumored Madigan, daughter of the Speaker of the House and perhaps the wisest man in Springfield, would like to be Governor herself someday. By getting rid of Blago, she places Pat Quinn in the office until the next election, giving him two golden years of experience he could use against her in 2010. Is she willing to place the state's well-being before her own political wishes?

Personally, I agree with my friend Mel that we guide our governor into a field somewhere and allow anyone who wishes to do so to throw rocks at him for an afternoon. Perhaps a couple knocks on the head would realign his brain cells into some semblance of order.

Other than that, we'll just have to wait and see. Who knows, there may be a real statesman out there who will come up with just the right idea.

In time for Christmas, perhaps?

Arrogant, Stupid or Both?

About six this morning, Robert Grant, the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI office in Chicago, called Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich to tell him there were two agents outside the door of his Chicago home with a warrant and that he should let them in.
Minutes later, the man whose hairstyle should have gotten him arrested years ago was in custody, charged in a seventy-six page federal complaint with, among other things, conspiring to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President Elect Barack Obama.

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald says the Feds moved now rather than waiting until their case was pristine because of the damage that could have been done to the state and to the senate .

Those of us who live here have known it for years, but could Illinois politics appear any dirtier to the rest of the world? Our former governor in prison for corruption and the man who was elected as a reformer facing charges. As SAC Grant put it, “"If Illinois is not the most corrupt state in the country it is certainly one hell of a competitor."

Grant says even the most cynical agents in his office were shocked and revolted as they listened to wiretaps of the Governor, among other things, allegedly plotting to force the Chicago Tribune to fire those editorial board members who called for Blago's impeachment.

Wow.

A Brad Thor or Vince Flynn novel couldn't be any more compelling.

I think a remark from the judge in the recent O.J. Simpson trial sums up ol' Blago pretty well. She said something about Simpson to the effect of, “At the beginning of the trial I wondered if you were arrogant or stupid. Now I realize you’re both.”

Could any politician appear any more arrogant than to try and sell the highest profile U.S. Senate seat or more unbelievably stupid than to be caught on tape saying, “The whole world is listening,” and then go on to discuss other allegedly felonious schemes designed to amass great personal wealth and power?

Our governor has been redefining the meaning of the word “arrogance,” since the beginning of his first term when he turned his back on his father-in-law Dick Mell, the old time Chicago pol who helped him get elected. Since then, he’s alienated not only the Illinois legislature but the citizenry, which shows in the paltry thirteen percent approval rating he scored in a recent poll.

Even now I doubt he’ll do the humble, honorable thing and resign. No, Ol' Blago won't fall on his sword for anyone. I predict his megalomania will lead him to attempt to fight the charges against him while retaining his office . . . unless the Illinois legislature votes to impeach him. It wouldn't even surprise me if he tries to fill Obama's senate seat, although legislators are reported to be drawing up a bill that would keep that from happening.

Whatever the case, this is all fascinating to me, especially in light of Blago and Senator Dick Durbin’s recent call for President Bush to pardon former Governor George Ryan, now imprisoned for influence peddling.

Hey, considering the overcrowding in U.S. prisons, maybe that’s not a bad idea.

Even better, move over George. Make room for The Hair.

Ken Pierce/ 1949-2008

My best friend for eighteen years was a guy named Ken Pierce.

For eight of those years, Kenny P. and I worked together. He was a lieutenant and then a captain on the sheriff's office (and later retired as Major). I was a deputy. We also lived in the same apartment complex where he found us each poolside accomodations for providing security.

On the street, we served the occasional felony warrant together, with him stepping in once to prevent me from arresting the wrong guy (note to self, written at the time, "remember to look at the age stated on the warrant face. Don't arrest the father by mistake. Especially when father is campaign contributor. Sheriff gets really pissed.")

We also got into a brawl or two. I remember Kenny had a downstairs neighbor who spun records on the overnight shift for a local radio station. The problem was, "Soulful Sunny, Yo' Midnight Honey" liked to pump up the volume of his tunes while at home as well. One evening, while Kenny and I were entertaining female company, "Soulful" must have broken off the volume knob. Kenny and I went downstairs, I thought, to politely ask Soulful to turn the music down.

We knocked on the door.

Soulful answered.

Kenny broke his nose.

Soon after, Soulful developed a love of Robert Goulet and Henry Mancini and Frank Sinatra.

In our early years on the sheriff's office, Kenny worked a second job at a local Pizza Hut. I was hanging out with him one night (though I could never get a freebie out of him) when a very drunk fellow decided he wasn't going to pay for his order. When Kenny insisted, the man muttered he was going to go home and get his gun and come back. At which time, my good friend produced his own pistol, a classic .357 Colt Python, from under the counter and offered it to the guy.

"Here, use mine. It'll save you some time and I'll be able to beat you to death with it when I take it away from you."

Bill paid without further argument.

Dean Forster, who was closer to Ken than any of his brothers, eulogized Ken by telling the story of how, when he was fifteen, he was already interested in law enforcement. He ran a protection racket in high school, charging fifty cents each to walk the weaker, younger kids home and protect them from the bullies. Of course, if a girl wanted him to walk her home, his "business" would be temporarily suspended.

Kenny was the kind of guy who would say anything or do anything he pleased and usually get a laugh. He's the only guy I know who could be caught in a gambling raid and talk his way out of it, all while munching on the chicken leg he told the agents was his sole reason for being in the joint in the first place.

He was my mentor in many ways. As a young guy, I never used the best judgment in the clothing I chose to wear. After six months of being referred to as "Koko the Clown," I agreed to let Kenny offer me some fashion advice.

"You can never go wrong with earth tones," he said. "And for god's sake, always line your tie up with your belt buckle." Advice I follow to this day.

I can think of more than one occasion when something he taught me, either in training class or on the street, probably kept me from getting hurt.

"Never give up your cover!" was one of his mantras. Not bad advice for day to day living, either, when you think about it.

He also taught me to laugh at some of the most inappropriate things and at some of the darkest moments. One of them was during an especially gruesome autopsy when he pretended to drop a piece of gum he was chewing into the cadaver, only to "retrieve" it and go on chewing.

Ken suffered from diabetes. In recent years, doctors amputated two of his fingers and part of his left leg (leading him to tell people afterward that he was planning to work for Long John Silver's restaurant as a pirate). He underwent heart surgery and required kidney dialysis three times a week ("Gives me more time to read," he told me).

Ken wasn't a great man by any means. His womanizing was legend and probably led more than one furious husband or boyfriend to claim Ken wasn't a particularly good man either. Although, for more than twenty years, he always returned to one woman. Deb Nordt was the "love of his life." I put that in quotes because he never said as much to me but he not only used the phrase in both of their obituaries but had it printed on their tombstone as well.

Debbie was as much a fighter as Ken was, in fact. For more than twenty years, she battled half a dozen forms of cancer until it finally took her down in 2006. If Kenny ever had a single regret in his life, I think it was that he never married her.

But Kenny Pierce was his own man in every way. In fact, a lifelong Sinatra fan, one of his favorite pieces was "My Way."

I was surprised no one thought to play it at his funeral. Then again, Ken chose his own music for the service. How long has it been since any of you heard, "Rock of Ages" or "The Old Rugged Cross" sung in church? Yep, that's what Kenny wanted. He also requested our friend, Joe Zima, to be sure and loosen his tie in the casket before the funeral so he wouldn't go through the afterlife choking. True story! And in the quiet, after the visitation, Joe complied.

At the graveside, I was again surprised to see just a simple tombstone. Ken always told me he wanted, "Pardon me for not standing" engraved there! I wasn't surprised, though, when, after the bagpiper played "Amazing Grace" and the bugler got through "Taps," that one of his fellow officers cranked up the University of Kansas fight song. Kenny was a huge fan of KU football and basketball.

I haven't shed any tears for my friend and I probably won't. Waste of time. He enjoyed just about every moment of his life and now, with Deb at his side once again, I'm sure he's having one heck of a time in death.

Go with God's Hand on your shoulder my old friend. St. Peter never had a better ass-kicker to help him keep things in order up there. And you've got the best seats ever for KU games!

The Limo Driver Who Did The Right Thing

So, as the story in the Chicago Tribune this morning goes, a bunch of Highland Park kids headed out to Homecoming hired an SUV limo driven by this guy named Lionel of the AnyTime Limo service in Addison. One of the kids asked to stop at his house on the way to the event, and got back into the car with a bag full of booze. When the driver found out, he tried to call the parents who were not available and, finally, after the kids' attempts to bribe him failed, Lionel the Driver called the cops.
And created quite a stir.
Let's see now. We have the "let's lower the drinking age" folks weighing in. We have parents saying, "Oh, come on it's homecoming." We have parents calling the owner of the company and threatening to sue.
So I called the owner of the company to offer him a pat on the back.
Turns out he's getting a lot of calls from people like me. Mixed in amongst them, of course, are the ones from the mouth-breathers and gutter slime who insult his and Lionel the Driver's Hispanic heritage.
It also turns out that Lionel the Driver is a former cop in Mexico City. Talk about a tough beat. For him to come here, take a job driving a limo, and then be the subject of outrage for following not only the rules set by his company but state law, jeez, that's got to feel like a real stick in the eye.
Except some people who call are offering him money because he did the right thing. Some people, like me, will now use Anytime Limo in Addison any time they need limo transportation.
Some people respect him for standing up for whats right and being a good example, not only to the kids he turned in, but anyone else who needs a role model.
Interestingly enough, this story hits at the same time as another college fraternity house death is being blamed on booze.
What's to say Lionel the Driver didn't prevent one of those by making his phone call?
Here's the bottom line as far as I'm concerned.
Parents who don't like what Lionel the Driver did can do the driving themselves next time. Why not? Most of them own SUVs just a little smaller than the ones provided by most limo services. Pile your kids and their friends into the back, give them whatever booze they want (hey, a couple in Deerfield only got a slap on the wrist for providing booze to minors last year and two kids died in that case) and you try to concentrate on getting where you're going.
Oops, sorry. That might mean you'd have to miss a cocktail party of your own. We wouldn't want that, would we?
Oh yes, don't let me forget one last point. Some folks argue that at least the kids decided to call a limo service instead of drinking and then driving themselves. Yep, a good choice and I can't fault 'em for it. And in this case the lesson they might learn, if they take a moment to think about it, is that the person they asked to take responsibility for them did so.
It's a shame we can't say as much for their parents.

What We Have Here...is An Incredible Career

I always wanted to meet Paul Newman. Of all the actors of my generation, he was my favorite. But it wasn't until just now, when I sat down to write this, that I realized I owe him one.

He's indirectly responsible for my love of reading, and writing, crime fiction.

Newman was the essence of cool. I first noticed him in Harper(1966), the cinematic take on Ross Macdonald's PI Lew Archer from Macdonald's book, The Moving Target. It was the beginning of that film, when he wakes up, finds no fresh coffee in his apartment and digs in the trash for some old grounds, that made Lew Harper human for many viewers. That opening, and Harper's affability, carried the movie for me.

Watching Harper led me to read The Moving Target. I was 13. It was the first adult novel I'd come across and much of the psychological meanderings didn't make sense but I liked the character. Lew Archer was dark, wisecracking and cynical. A noir-ish good guy who took as many lumps as he dealt out. I stuck with the Archer series, moving on to others when Macdonald died, and a lifelong love of hardboiled private eye mysteries was born.

I never read an Archer novel, however, without seeing Newman's face and hearing his voice delivering Archer's best lines.

What made Newman unique to me was his approach to character. I disagree with critics who claim Newman was always Newman in movies. That's how I regard Kevin Spacey or Tom Cruise or even George Clooney. They are always actors, portraying a role. Sometimes they carry it off. Sometimes not.

Newman always nailed the part, but never as an actor in front of a camera. He became Harper for me (both in Harper and when he reprised the role in 1975's The Drowning Pool). He became Cool Hand Luke and Butch Cassidy and John Rooney (the mob boss in Road to Perdition, 2002). He was Judge Roy Bean and Henry Gondorff and John Russell (with his arm crossed behind him as Hombre, 1967). And they were all fascinating because he was at their essence.

Some critics point to The Hustler's Eddie Felson or Butch Cassidy as his most memorable roles.

Others loved Cool Hand Luke ("What we have here . . .is a failure . . . to communicate!).

My favorite was Twilight where Newman is an aging private eye who takes on a case that twists in some of the same fashion as Harper but with far more likeable characters, including Gene Hackman as a dying friend and the incredibly lovely Susan Sarandon. As with the opening scene of Harper, Twilight introduces us to Harry Ross in most memorable fashion. It is a film about people and their base motivations, probably why I liked it.

So, I'm in mourning today. I always liked the world more with Paul Newman in it. I would have liked to buy him a beer. Or, at the very least, a salad.

Go with God's Hand on your shoulder, Paul. You gave us a remarkable life.

Upper left: Floodwaters from Salt Creek in front of a house in Addison. When I arrived they were within ten feet of the house. When I left, they were at the basement windows.

Middle left: Kids play on sand hauled into Addison neighborhood for bagging.

Middle: A Prospect Heights woman tried to drive through the floodwaters in her neighborhood and discovered she couldn't make it.

Bottom: Fire equipment at Sunset Meadows Park in Arlington Heights as fire divers recover the body of a man who went swimming in the floodwaters. The park had become a twenty-foor deep retention pond.

I took some water in my basement. Not worth photos. Just a lot of damaged carpet and a leak that seems to be hidden behind some built-in bookshelves. A little work for me, more work for a carpenter who will have to dismantle the shelves!

Welcome Back to Blogger World, Doug!

Been a little longer vacation from blogging than I planned to take. For those of you eagerly awaiting an installment, I apologize. I'll be adding a bit about some of the stories I covered over the weekend as I rejoined WGN to cover the Great Chicago (and Suburban) Floods.

Other promised blogs will take a little longer but we'll be back in business soon.

On the book front, sales of Every Secret Crime continue and several book signings remain. I'm particularly excited about my Wednesday appearance at the Book Cellar in Chicago and Thursday's visit to the Lake Villa Public Library. If you happen to be nearby, I hope you'll stop in and chat.

Photos coming shortly.

Want to Build a Great Website?

A funny thing happened when I started promoting Every Secret Crime. Everyone started complimenting me on my website. Hardly a book signing goes by that someone doesn't stop by to say they looked at the site and were impressed.

I had absolutely nothing to do with it.

My site is entirely the creation of Beth Tindall, web maven to the stars, at Cincinnati Media.
I asked Beth to stop by the blog and answer some basic questions about website creation. Herewith...her thoughts:

Beth Tindall (http://www.cincinnatimedia.com/) started building websites in 1996 while still working in her longtime non-profit career. She started to specialize in author websites as part of her plot to get free books. Now she gets enough free books to keep her to-be-read stack huge, but she no longer has enough time to read them all! She's happy to talk to potential new clients provided that they do not have a pub date between July 15 and August 15, or they plan so far ahead that they won't need to talk to her during those times. She's kidding about that pub date thing. Kinda.

1.What are the advantages to having a professionally designed website?

I do have one author client who is very fond of saying "I didn't design my own book cover, so why should I design my own website?" I've seen her sketches and it's probably a good thing she leaves the designs to the professionals!

There's a lot of good reasons to turn your website over to a pro:

A professional webmaster will design a website for viewing by all internet visitors. We are aware of the different website browsers, platforms, size restrictions, fonts, etc. that are standard internet protocols. Many amateurs make the mistake of designing websites which look good on THEIR computer, but don't work for people on Mozilla or on a Mac or on dial-up internet connection, for example.

Also, we'll help you match up your website to your marketing goals -- do you want to interact with your fans? do you want to build an e-mail list? should you have a coordinating blog? How can you get traffic to your website from individuals who have not yet heard of you? These are all topics which should be discussed before building your website.

Another reason is that we can help you get your website noticed on search engines, and help analyze statistics to refine your website content, let you know what contests have worked for other clients, and so forth.

Your website is your online calling card. It should represent you and your writing. Authors spend hours and weeks and months writing and re-writing their books. Spending more hours and weeks building your website is time taken away from your primary craft -- writing. Spend your time writing your content for the website, and find a good website designer to help represent you online.


2. How do I choose a good website designer? What criteria should I use?

Find websites you like. Visit a lot of author sites especially. Write down what you like, what you don't like… see who does the websites that you like. Don't just look at the pretty pictures, but read the content as well. You might like BigNameAuthor.com but really only have a FirstTimer.com budget -- does the designer have a variety of sites in his or her portfolio? Do you visit the author's site and get an immediate sense of who that author is, or what he/she writes about? Can you find your way around the site easily? Does the page load quickly?

Ask other authors which website designers they have used, and what do they like about their designer? What is their weakness? Does the author love his or her webmaster? Is he or she responsive? Are deadlines met? Is the price structure adequately explained? Does the designer offer you options, involve you in the process as much or as little as you want?

3. Should I insist on a contract? Why?

Business is business -- you should have, in writing, an agreement of what services are covered, what services are not covered, what the charges are, who pays for the domain names, who owns the website content, where is the hosting, who initiates content changes, how is payment to be made -- these topics should at least be discussed via e-mail, if not spelled out specifically in a proposal or contract.

And, please be sure to keep a copy of your website log in and password, your domain name purchase location (if you bought it) and log in and password, your hosting account info, etc. That information should be printed out and in your business files.

4. What are the elements of a well-designed site?

First and foremost, you should love it. It should be something that you look at and say "(the designer) got it."

Visitors to the website should learn something more about you than they get from reading the book flap. Maybe it's a different photo of you, or a personal essay you've written, or more information about your characters or book location… but there should be some reason for a visitor to come to your site. Moreover, there should be some reason for the visitor to come back. Do you put up photo galleries? When is the next one? Do you have a book tour coming up? When is the next free short story going to be posted?

Visitors should be able to easily find information about you and your books, including the publication order and a brief description of each. I'm not a fan of using the same exact info as is on Amazon or Barnes & Noble websites -- I prefer authors write something new and brief about the books if time allows. It's the kind of thing I would want to know as a reader checking out a new or favorite author.

5. What unrealistic expectations do people have of their websites and their web designers?

The days of "if you build it, they will come" are over. Websites have moved from a novelty to a necessity. People are busy and want to get information online, at their own convenience. That being said, you can't just put a website out there and expect people to come to it. Your website has to be on the search engines for people to find it, unless you have ReallyUniqueName.com and people guess the right spelling of it.

Publishers market books, webmasters market websites, authors should market both. At the same time. Make sure you put your website address on your business cards, on the book jacket copy, if you do bookmarks, have the website address there. I can't tell you the number of times I see marketing materials without that basic information on there.

I suppose the only unrealistic expectations I run into are that I'm up on every client's publication date and should just automatically put the new book on his or her website. It's just not possible for me to do that. The author has to provide me with the information that he or she wants on the site.

I have run into situations where people have said they've contacted me with updates or inquiries into me building a site for them, and I've never received the e-mail. It's the internet -- servers burp, spam filters take on a mind of their own, I get delete-key-happy -- it happens that sometimes e-mails just aren't seen. I respond to every serious inquiry within 48 hours. I make updates as quickly as I can, hopefully within 48 hours.

A website designer who specializes in authors should be able to let you know if your website traffic is on track with similar authors. I wouldn't reveal specific numbers of any client, but I have tools to help me get traffic info on a variety of websites, including those not my own. If you're spending 3 hours a year on your website, your traffic isn't likely to grow very much. If you're spending 3 hours a week marketing online, you better be seeing a lot of increased traffic each week. If not, you should ask your webmaster to help you figure out why.

6. How much should I expect to pay for a professionally designed website?

I love this question. It's like asking, "How much does a car cost?" Well….. do you want new, used, full-sized, economy, leased, buy-a-beater, luxury, sunroof and spoilers?

Seriously, a website can cost as little or as much as you want to spend. The best option is to look at your goals, what content you want to put out there, how you want it to look, how often you want it updated, and so on. I've done websites for $300 and for $10,000, and everything in between. If you only have $500 to spend right now, but if you get a new contract and you can put in another $700 next year, tell your designer upfront. Or, ask what you can get for the low end of your budget and what you can get for the high end of your budget, and then make up your mind. I don't have any stock websites that I sell, and I don't have any stock prices that I charge. It's all based on what the client and I discuss on our initial consultation, what services are needed, and then it's all spelled out in the proposal.

Thanks for joining us, Beth. I suspect you may have some questions to answer over the next few days!

Heading North

If you happen to be in the beautiful Wisconsin North Woods this coming Weds, Aug 27th, head on over to Cottage at Cardinal's on Trout Lake north of Woodruff. I'll be signing books there from 1-3. Please join me and my host, Joanna Cardinal!

Emphatic Denial

I categorically deny that Senator John Edwards was the inspiration for my senator in Deader by the Lake and further deny that my senator's hooker mistress was based on Edwards' mistress.

Gosh, I hope some reporter somewhere will pick up on that first paragraph and blow it out of proportion, thus garnering me the same sort of publicity, albeit in reverse, that Jay McInerny won on CNN online this morning. (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/).

I deny it because, with my luck, if I claim to have based my characters on Edwards and his mistress they'll sue me. Although, since the book was published in '03 and Edwards' dalliance apparently didn't occur until '06, could I get some Oprah-couch time if I claimed prescience? Hmmm. The psychic angle. Have to talk to my publicist about that.

Whether I deny or admit, I'm afraid nothing at all is going to come of this, darn it.

A couple months back, after Barbara Walters published her tell-all and confessed to an affair with a black senator, I denied that I was her break-up lover but no one picked up on that. I even denied it loudly and vehemently in a downtown Chicago restaurant ("I never had sex with Barbara Walters! How could you say such a thing!"). I was hoping someone in the vicinity might dime me out to a sleazy newspaper columnist or maybe even Matt Drudge but . . . nothing.

I can't even get my publicist to issue a written denial. Come on, Carol, jeez! Used to be, in the old days in Hollywood, publicists issued denials all the time. When I asked her to do it she just smiled the way people do when their stomach is bothering them.

Wait a second. As I write this I'm remembering another CNN headline today about George Clooney denying he's been texting back and forth with future President Obama. I didn't read the article because it seemed pretty lame but maybe I can use this to my advantage. Maybe I can claim I designed Obama's entire approach to gun legislation (always a scathingly hot topic), sent it to him via text but never got the credit!

Author Claims He Laid Out Obama's Anti-Gun Stance! "He never acknowledged me," Doug M. Cummings says, "And I texted him every talking point!"

It needs polish but it might work.

Kansas City/Topeka Tour Pics

Upper left: my college buddies Bill and Randy, who I later covered when

they became prosecutors and started putting away bad guys.

Upper right: The KLO Computer Center and his lovely wife who, if it hadn't been for me and a certain drinking establishment, he would have never met.

Lower left: Rebecca Hale, author of How to Wash a Cat. Come to think of it, I forgot to ask her for any tips. Socks is probably better off.

Book Tour Update

It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks here in book tour land. But never better than in Kansas City and Topeka over the last weekend.

Many thanks to my friend Joe Zima for standing nearly two hours at the front of the Barnes and Noble store in Zona Rosa handing out bookmarks and talking people into stopping by the signing table. I'm not sure how many books I sold as a result but he sure did a great job. It was delightful to meet a fellow mystery author, too. Rebecca Hale has written How to Wash a Cat and started her own publishing house to bring it out. It was fun to have a dual signing. I also got a chance to visit with my longtime broadcasting mentor, and the best radio reporter I've ever known, Dan Verbeck and his lovely wife Sylvia.

In Topeka on Sunday, oh my gosh. It was like old home week. Friends I haven't even talked to in more than twenty years turned out and, at one point, I was surrounded by probably a dozen people. Joe was again on duty and ushered at least half a dozen people over to buy books.

There are few better reasons to go on a book tour than to renew friendships. Thanks to everyone who stopped by. I'm just sorry I couldn't spend more time visiting. Two and a half hours really speed along when you're having a great time.

Upcoming Schedule

Coming up in the next couple of weeks, a few new things here on the blog:

Beth Tindall of Cincinnati Media will discuss website design and how to evaluate a professional web designer so that you get what you need.

My publicist/events planner Carol Haggas will offer some thoughts on promoting yourself and your work.

Thirty-year Illinois State Police veteran and former small town police chief Mike Sliozis will tell you all you need to know about the art of making traffic stops.

And I'll continue the series you have all been following with breathless anticipation...the Every Secret Crime Book Tour...including some unanticipated glitches with the publisher's distribution system that had one book store owner furious!

All here on the Every Secret Crime blog.

Stay tuned...

My Number One Most Terrific Fan

Miss "Froggy."

No, she is not my granddaughter!

'Nuff said.

Where Doug Sold More Books Than They Had in the Store

As easily as some of you can sense the mood of the room as you walk into a meeting at work, or even a party at the neighbors', an author can gauge a store's attitude toward book signings.

Two clues were apparent as I walked in the door of the chain book store an hour from my house this afternoon.

Nothing to announce the event. No books displayed. Not one of my books on the shelves in the mystery section. One sign on an empty table near the front of the store proclaimed, "Author Book Signing Today!" with no indication whether it was to be Oprah or . . . me.

A fellow came toward me carrying my books like they were something smelly left on his desk by mistake. At 5'6 and probably 250 pounds, super-size belly pushed out in front of him, chips firmly attached to both shoulders, he was Fat Pat the Store Manager. Hard little beetle eyes signalled Fat Pat was a man who was Not Taking Any Guff.

"Here. We got all your books available in the entire country." Plunked them down on the "Author Book Signing Today" table.

"Wow. Nine whole books? I was told you ordered twenty. Did you sell the rest?"

"No. This is all. You should be thankful we got these," he said. And then with a triumphant little twist he added, "If had a bigger publisher, maybe they'd have more books for you."

"I have a few in the car, if we run out shall I bring them in for you to sell..."

"No. Can't do that. We can't buy books from you. Company policy."

The business of selling began.

First there was the lovely lady who I thought wanted to buy a book but who really just wanted to use my table to wrap a present. When she was finished, she held out her trash. "Throw this away, will you?"

"Sorry," I said. "No waste basket."

"Well, there should be somewhere I can put it!"

"I'm sure there is, but it wouldn't be very comfortable for you."

Then some friends stopped by and my attitude improved. And people started buying books. One bought three and so on until I was sold out.

But people kept coming. One brought the article from the Chicago Sun-Times about me and asked me to autograph it. Others said they'd heard me on the radio. Two asked about my first book and why the store didn't have it available, too.

Feeling like a street corner crack dealer, keeping an eye out for Fat Pat, I sold one book for cash. Sold another. Sold a third. After all, he'd said he couldn't buy books from me to sell...but had said nothing about me selling them myself.

Final tally: total books in store...9. Total books sold...12.

Readers rock, you know that?

The Every Secret Crime Book Tour Blog Part One

I get a kick out of book touring.

It's fun to talk about books, about writing and about my background. Selling is fun, too, especially when the buyer is a little reluctant at first. And you never know what sort of character is going to show up . . . or work in the store. For a writer, meeting characters is always a hoot.

So my launch event was terrific. The owner of the (independent) bookstore is just a great guy and a huge fan of writers. Friendly, helpful, professional and eager to sell books, he was ready to do whatever it took to back me up. There was great store signage as well as pre-signing publicity about me in the local newspaper. People who had seen the article came as well as others who remembered me from my radio news days.

The best part? After I thought we were finished, the owner got two phoned-in book requests. He was just tickled about that. Said it had never happened before.

The second book signing, at another independent, was just as much fun and I sold more books than I expected including several copies of my first novel which I'd brought along. The bookstore owner had devoted an entire window display to my book and made up small cards promoting it to hand out at the register. Her staff was friendly and helpful and just fun to be around. They obviously love books and get even more pleasure from knowing and helping their customers.

Ah yes, the third signing. Yet another independent but one with an attitude. Just out of curiosity I checked the store an hour before I was supposed to show up. Found minimal promotional signage, no display of my book in store or in the window. The owner was gone and the person assigned to assist me did so with all the enthusiasm of a correctional officer escorting an inmate to court. The table for the signing was in the back of the store, typical for their signings, and they'd put out eight chairs, obviously expecting a huge turnout. What was fun was watching my escort constantly running to add more chairs every time another person showed up. I think we ended up with about twenty people there, most of them buying books. What a great time.

On the way out, I realized the lack of signage was nothing personal. Martha Stewart will soon be appearing in the store yet the only mention of her was on a small card at one of the registers. When I remarked about it, one of the booksellers laughed and said, "We're looking forward to her visit. She's coming a day early...to clean."

On a high from those first three signings...I arrived for my fourth at one of the large chain stores an hour from my house. Talk about a surprise...and characters!

More on that tomorrow.

Random Thoughts From a Morning Bike Ride

I'd regularly ride my bike on the sidewalk as my city mandates if:

All drivers backing out of their hidden-by-shrubs driveways would honk before reaching the sidewalk;

All pedestrians would keep a heads-up attitude so as not to leap into my path in fright when I call out, "Passing on the left!";

Other bikers would pick one side of the sidewalk or the other and not choose the middle;

The city would mandate tree branches be trimmed to above head level;

All pedestrians walking their pets would keep a heads-up attitude so their dog doesn't leap into my path in fright with teeth bared when I call out, "Passing on the left!";

Pet-owners would not let their dogs leave "gifts" in the middle of the sidewalk;

Sidewalks were free of root-heaving and the grass alongside was trimmed so the drop between grass and cement was visible;

Drivers would yield to bikers in crosswalks;

Drivers would yield to bikers in crosswalks without dropping the F-bomb;

Drivers intending to turn into their driveway would keep a heads-up attitude and notice when I am in the middle of crossing said driveway;

Children would learn that walking three abreast in front of me when I'm pedaling at 15 mph will result in them becoming the human equivalent of bowling pins in front of a strike-bound ball;

Parents who are walking with children holding ice-cream cones would discourage their children from attempting to share said ice cream "as a surprise" with a passing biker.

All of the above?

Priceless.

One Hankie, Maybe Two

If you love animals as much as I do, this may well make your day.

Just a suggestion: keep a tissue handy.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adYbFQFXG0U

Does That Scanner Make My Butt Look Fat?

Reading in the Chicago Tribune today about the full body scanner the government will soon have in place at O'Hare to check travelers more completely for hidden weapons and/or explosives. Fully body scanner. Wow. Sounds like something out of Star Trek, doesn't it?

The writer describes the machine's function as providing a "virtual strip-search," of passengers, though he says the face of the person being scanned will not be visible, nor will the images be retained in the system. From what I can tell, the machine is designed to detect weapons and explosives hidden in body cavities or elsewhere difficult to search by other means. This machine, the article says, will update technology from the 1970's which is still in use.

The article indicates the scans won't be done in front of a leering audience of other travelers (which could actually be a welcome diversion for those waiting in the security line) but in a booth where only TSA personnel will be watching.

Illinois ACLU officials and a number of people interviewed at O'Hare and who posted their thoughts in the comments section fear the machine and call it an abridgement of their rights. They apparently don't like the idea of being naked in front of strangers.

Okay, let's see if I have this straight.

The idea is to update equipment that's been outdated for thirty years and, thus, keep airline travel safer. Presumably the body scans will also speed up passage through the screening procedure for at least some travelers.

The downside is that some folks will be embarrassed to have others see their flabby bellies and butts and . . . so forth. Yet, TSA says the old fashioned frisk will still be available for those who are afraid the screeners might guffaw at their virtual image (and perhaps illicitly save the images for trading . . . like baseball cards).

And the alternative might be . . .what?

Without the machine, someday, somewhere, the highly trained expert security specialists of the TSA might miss an explosive device that an immodest terrorist has hidden, shall we say, where the sun don't shine. Which then would result in an explosion and all those body parts people want to hide being strewn all over the landscape for hapless evidence collectors to dig out of trees and the sides of houses and so forth, leaving the ones the CSI's miss for animals to gnaw on.

Hmmm. Which would I prefer to encounter in my travels?

A screener who, after the first half-dozen scans will care less if the flier has a double-D cup, is built like John Holmes or had surgery two weeks ago?

Or continued reliance on outmoded equipment that could allow The Bad People to blow my equipment and everyone else's into chunks of fish food?

All I can say is this. A couple of years ago, I bought one of those spy coats with fifty hidden pockets, some of them large enough to store a big screen TV and my entire Pez collection. I figured it would be great for those last minute items I always forget when I'm packing a suitcase. The problem is, some of those pockets are so well hidden that I've lost valuable stuff.

I think this new machine may be a Godsend for me.

This is a request from the moderator of the Murder Must Advertise group on Yahoo. MMA is a great resource for mystery writers/readers and I'm more than happy to do Jeff a favor. We all owe him one, don't you think?
---------------------
For those of you who don't know, I'm the moderator of MMA, the manbehind the curtain who tries to keep things going smoothly aroundhere.Normally I don't ask anything of anyone on the this group. I do thisfor my own pleasure and edification, but I was hoping to ask a favortoday. I've had to curtail a lot of my travel this summer for my newbook, due to a rather lengthy and painful ear infection. My earpopping is extremely painful, so obviously plane travel is out. It'smeant that I can't do many appearances for my new book, AnthonyBoucher (ISBN: 978-0-7864-3320-9).My favor and my hope is that you would request that your locallibrary purchase this book. The publisher McFarland is focused mainlyon library sales, so that would be sufficient for my sales.I'm also doing a postcard mailing to hundreds of libraries where I'vespoken in the past, but I'd also welcome other ideas to promote thebook without travel. I'm likely to miss B'con this year, but I havewritten an article about Boucher for their program book and websitewhich hopefully will generate some sales. If you cared to post thison other lists as well, that would be great..

Thanks
Jeff (aka the moderator)Jeffrey Marks
www.jeffreymarks.com

Signings and Such

Just a reminder that I'll be signing books at Lake Forest Bookstore in Lake Forest tomorrow from 1 to 3.

Sunday morning around 8 or so, catch me on Rick Kogan's Sunday Papers show on WGN Radio. That's at 720AM or live on www.wgnradio.com.

Wednesday the 23rd, I'll be signing books and chatting about the writing life at the Book Stall in Winnetka.

If you come to one of those signings and are the first to mention you learned about them here, I'll give you one of the fantastic Every Secret Crime t-shirts or an ESC ball cap.

Traffic Enforcement

As gas prices rise, we should all slow down.

And I like the effort being made by an 11 year old boy in Louisville Kentucky to keep his neighbors from flooring it as they cruise his subdivision. Photo credit Charlie White, the Louisville Courier Journal.

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-odd/20080716/ODD.Radar.Tracker/

Just Whose Fault Is It?

Because I nearly came close to doing the same thing when I was a brand new deppitty sherf, the headline of an AP story this morning caught my eye.

"Officer Wrecks Squad Car 20 Minutes into Job."

The A.P story, however, didn't match the headline. Turns out the car was parked in the hapless officer's own driveway when some goofball who "tested positive for drugs" ran into it and then hit a tree. The now car-less copper was not behind the wheel.

Reminds me of a story I reported several years ago. A woman was murdered in her home. Police actively hunted throughout the neighborhood for her killer and found him hiding under a house nearby. My anchor teased the story with, "Police managed to find a murderer today..." Like the officers had been sitting in a donut shop when the guy strolled in.

No wonder cops hate reporters. No wonder why a large percentage of the news-consuming public doesn't trust the media. The message is being managed so it best catches the eye. Accuracy? Pfffft!

Let's look at it in wider scope. How much of our country's financial nightmare is being caused by headlines that don't match the stories and, more important, stories that don't quite match the facts?

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a stock market expert. My economic forecasts will never make Maria Bartiromo's knees quiver. My checkbook is balanced only because Quicken, in Garrett Morris' eternal words, "been berry berry good to me."

But, damnit, I know hype when I see it. I recognize the symptoms of a media frenzy.

Every day we're bombarded with messages that encourage us to panic.

"Gas prices shoot higher than...", "Cars abandoned; more people walking and biking as gas prices rise..."

"Stomach wrenching drop to Dow."

I was waiting for comparisons to 1929 and they finally started a few weeks ago. "Worst month for stocks since the Depression."

Just as I'm not a financial guru, I'm also not the poster boy for a positive attitude. I realize we're seeing a, and let me turn on the pompous announcer voice, "significant economic downturn." Anticipating that my days spent in front of a keyboard are numbered, I've been practicing my Wal-Mart greeter smile and watching how the best cart-wranglers do their job. And, just in case it gets worse than that, I've got my spoon and a big bowl ready for the soup lines.

But, c'mon people, do we have to opt for headlines and stories that are written to terrify? As if the gas station price boards and the signs over produce carts and in the meat aisle don't depress us enough.

Each time the national media hypes the disappearance of civilization (and Starbucks) as we know it, we edge ever closer to the End Times.

Come to think of it, that's not a bad name for a newspaper I could start when we're all living in tunnels. After the stock market crashes and the asteroid hits.

Nice to Be Among Friends

I spent two and a half hours of major market radio talk show time last night and this morning...talking about Every Secret Crime.

Talk about a great promotional platform! I even got to plug the work of a few of my friends.

Sunday, the book launch at Centuries and Sleuths in Forest Park drew about a dozen people, mostly new friends who either read articles about me or heard me talking about the signing.

If you have the time, this Saturday I hope you'll stop by Lake Forest Books at 680 N. Western Ave in Lake Forest (1pm)and on Wednesday the 23rd, the Book Stall at 811 Elm Street in Winnetka (7pm).

Hope to see you there!

Have a Listen!

If you happen to be awake at midnight tonight (CDT), please tune in and listen to my guest appearance on the Steve and Johnnie Show on WGN Radio (AM720). WGN is a clear channel station which can be heard across the Midwest on a summer night, so if you live anywhere near Illinois, you may be able to listen on your radio. For those of you not so adventurous, WGN streams its audio signal at http://www.wgnradio.com/.

I'm not sure if call-ins are encouraged tonight but, if they are, please feel free to call and ask a question or make a comment at 312-591-7200.

Threat Assessment Part Two

My apologies for the late posting. Technical difficulties logging into the site.

Continued from yesterday...


by Susan Sciara

Violence is a process.

Most media portrayals of extreme violence would lead you to believe that people suddenly snap and become violent. Nothing could be further from the truth. Violence is a process that starts in an individual’s head. First comes the idea that killing would solve current problems, then the fantasizing begins, and eventually a plan takes shape. The thinking stage leads to active steps toward making it happen: buying the equipment, practicing with it and following and learning as much about the target’s routine as possible.

For example, consider the following sequence of events:

Joe believed his supervisor was picking on him. He felt that no matter what he did, it was never good enough. He began to believe his supervisor was out to get him. Others advised him to let it go or to transfer to another area of the company. But Joe wasn’t going to let “that SOB drive me off”. It wouldn’t be right; it wouldn’t be fair. And how would it look to the others? Joe was not going to let that supervisor win. Joe began to think of all the real and imagined slights that he had experienced from the supervisor over the years and began to ruminate about it. He had difficulty sleeping at night and began drinking heavily to be able to sleep. He often ended up hung over the next morning or overslept and was late for work. The final straw happened when the supervisor handed Joe a notice that he had been suspended for two weeks and told him if he kept it up he would be fired. Joe thought, “I ought to kill him for that”. He later told a buddy at work that he’d like to kill the supervisor. The buddy replied, “Wouldn’t we all?”

Thoughts of killing the supervisor became more frequent and Joe was convinced that he would be doing a good deed for the others in the work unit if he killed the supervisor. He started to think about how he would do it and when the best time would be. Sometimes at night, especially when he had been drinking, he could see the whole scene unfold in his mind and his co-workers were cheering him and telling him that someone should have killed the supervisor a long time ago.

Joe’s work began to exhibit more and more mistakes and he became belligerent when it was pointed out to him. His temper outbursts increased and his co-workers avoided him. Joe became more isolated and argued frequently with those around him.

Joe purchased some automatic weapons at a gun show and started target practicing in the woods near his rural home. He casually mentioned to a few of his co-workers that he’d like to give the supervisor what he had coming. Another time, he told a co-worker that the supervisor wouldn’t have that smirk on his face if he got a look at his AK-47. The co-workers shrugged it off and thought Joe was just blowing off steam.

Joe obtained the supervisor’s schedule for the week and decided that Tuesday, when everyone would be there, would be the perfect day. The night before, Joe practiced in front of the mirror, wearing his camouflage jacket. That morning, he shaved his head and appeared as though he was preparing for war as he loaded his pockets with rounds of ammunition, guns and knives. He got in his car and drove to work.

You can predict the end to this story and can clearly see that Joe did not suddenly snap. There were numerous clues along the way that indicated Joe was contemplating violence and moving closer and closer to it.

Action should not be predicated upon the presence of a threat.

Many security personnel and law enforcement officials do not take action until an individual makes a threat. Law enforcement professionals have traditionally been trained to respond to an event, not prevent one. Relying on the presence of a threat to take action is going to miss the majority of incidents. More recent research has indicated that the majority of those who commit significant episodes of workplace violence do not directly threaten their victim. For example, a study of 30 mass murders in the United States and Canada over a 50-year period revealed that only 20% of the perpetrators ever threatened their victims prior to the act (Hemple, Meloy, and Richards, 1999).

Another study of 246 incidents of workplace violence over a 30-year period found that only 27% of the violent offenders had previously threatened violence in the workplace (Southerland, Collins and Scarborough, 1997). Instead, they are more likely to reveal their intentions in ways other than making direct threats. They make cryptic statements, discuss plans with co-workers, talk about other acts of violence, and show other Pre-Incident Indicators.

6. Each situation is different.

Despite some “experts” who recommend automatic firing for all employees who pose or make a threat or advise targets of stalking to seek a temporary restraining order (or order of protection), there is no cookie cutter approach that works with all cases. One size does not fit all. Even situations involving similar circumstances will require far different types of interventions. The best way to know the type of intervention that will work is to thoroughly assess the case and continue to assess it for changes.

As Gavin de Becker stated in a presentation to the CIA, “There is no one answer. Anybody with only one speed should get off the racetrack, because they’re causing accidents.”


Thanks to Susan Sciara for her post. Please feel free to ask questions or comment.

Thoughts on Violence Assessment and Prediction

Susan M. Sciara spent 11 years working for an agency of the Federal Government that is commonly associated in the public’s mind with workplace violence. She headed the Threat Assessment Team, trained supervisors how to identify Pre-Incident Indicators, interviewed countless disgruntled employees with violence on their minds, trained the Postal Inspection Service on the psychology of violence and prediction and assessed over 1000 threat cases. She has spoken to numerous professional groups and was a board member of the Chicago Chapter of the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals. She consulted on and contributed to Workplace Violence Prevention: A Practical Guide, which is used by a number of Fortune 500 Companies. She also helped write the policies and procedures on workplace violence for a major airline.

Susan will be joining us here through Saturday. Please feel free to offer comments or ask her questions.



The assessment of threats of violence is an evolving practice – a blend of art and science. When the field of threat assessment first emerged in the early 1990’s, there was little research and much of what was believed was based on anecdotal information from few cases. Since the early days, a great deal has been learned through research and by thoroughly studying crime scenes and looking for commonalities. The fact that over the years there have been more crime scenes makes for a better understanding of what is still a relatively rare event – the workplace mass homicide. The following compose what is the current thinking in the field of threat assessment and prevention.

Profiles are not particularly helpful.

The year 1986, for all intents purposes, put workplace violence on the map as far as most Americans were concerned. That was the year Patrick Sherrill killed 15 co-workers, injured six others and then killed himself in the Edmond, OK Post Office. Prior to this, the majority of Americans felt safe at work. The idea of the person who works next to them turning on them and killing them was a foreign concept.

In the years that followed, Americans were inundated by media stories recounting violence at one workplace after another. We were told workplace violence is the fastest growing crime; that workplace violence is the number one killer of women at work. “Experts” were quick to rise to the occasion and develop profiles of the typical perpetrator of workplace violence. He was described as a middle-aged, white male with a military background who is a loner and chronically disgruntled. Thousands upon thousands heard this portrait in the media, in corporate trainings and from the experts themselves. Unfortunately, while this profile may fit some or many of the perpetrators of past violence, it is not helpful in the least in determining if someone poses a threat to anyone.

As the research into mass homicides in the workplace improved, more information emerged that identified the kinds of behavioral cues that individuals exhibit prior to the act. Gavin de Becker, a national expert on the prediction of violence, calls them Pre-Incident Indicators or PINS. I will discuss PINS in more depth in an upcoming essay. The important thing to remember is the predictors of violence are behaviors, not individual characteristics or demographics.

Violence is situational.

Many articles, books, and videos have discussed the “potentially violent” individual. The problem with this thinking is that there will never be a group of personal characteristics that one can use to determine if someone will become violent at some future time. Violence is situational and we all have the capacity to become violent depending on the circumstances. There is a big difference between the potential for violence and the intent for violence.

Violence is the product of the interaction among three factors:
- An individual who sees violence as a means to an end,
- A setting that permits, facilitates, or does nothing to stop the violence, and
- A precipitating event, or “final straw” in the perpetrator’s life.

Without all factors there is no violence. Any one of these can be manipulated or intervened in to prevent the violence from occurring. Focusing solely on an individual without looking at the setting and the stressors being brought to bear is incomplete and unlikely to be successful.

One-time assessments are not useful.

An assessment of the risk of violence is not and cannot be a one-time event. Since the risk is based on situational factors, those factors can change, along with the risk. Each situation must be continually monitored to determine what is changing in the individual’s life. Are the factors that are likely to escalate the violence increasing or decreasing?
What about the factors that are likely to mitigate against violence such as steady employment, financial resources, a marriage and children? A subject can appear to be low-risk only to have that risk quickly escalate when the spouse leaves, is suspected of having an affair, employment is terminated, and/or heavy drinking clouds the judgment. Real cases are never static but always produce an ebb and flow.

Susan’s posting continues tomorrow…

What Your Car Tells People About You

I’ve been writing about violence the past couple of days.

I offered the thought that victims often contribute to their victimization. Sometimes by what they do. Sometimes by what they fail to do.

The woman who lives alone and leaves her blinds open, inviting a would-be serial rapist to have a glimpse of her life.

The person who ignores warning signs of violence in their spouse-to-be.

I suggested embracing the intuitive ability we all have to stay alert to potentially violent situations and I provided Jeff Cooper’s Color Codes of Mental Awareness as a way to hone those intuitive skills.

I even mentioned how my cat, Socks, helped me learn to stay at Cooper’s condition Yellow.

It helps if you can program yourself to think like a predator.

When I was a deputy sheriff, a wise corrections officer warned me to keep something in mind whenever I worked in the county jail. He said, “You can spend eight hours a day in here trying stay safe but the prisoners have twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week to figure out ways to f___k you up.”

Crooks look for the exact same opportunities on the outside, too. Here are some ways they might use your car as a resource:

• Do you have vanity plates with your name on them? (Getting you to lower your guard while approaching you, a predator could say something like, “Hey, Lucy, I haven’t seen you since high school…”).
• Is your address on any slip of paper, envelope or box to be shipped that can be read from outside the car? Do you leave letters to be mailed face up on the seat or dash?
• Do you ever leave your car with a parking valet? With a mechanic? Is your house key on the ring with the ignition key you provide them?
• Is your garage door opener in the car (they have codes that can easily be read and duplicated)?
• Is your home address on anything in your glove box or under the seat? How about in your briefcase?
• Are there pictures of your children inside your car? The name of their school?
• For that matter, do you ever leave your car running with your child inside for “just a minute” while you duck into a store?
• Do you ever leave your car unlocked?
• Do you look in the back seat before entering your car after it’s been parked for awhile?
• Is there an emergency release in the trunk for the trunk lid?
• Do you carry your cell phone on your person at all times or leave it in your car?
  

Expand this list and look through a predator’s eyes at your home, your daily activities, and your children’s lifestyle.

Consider the chinks in your armor. Unlocked doors, open windows, unknown key-holders (do your kids’ friends have keys? Neighbors who moved away? Former employees?).

Analyze the every day things you and your family do and say that could put you at risk. Do you talk about family vacations or mention your kids’ schools or the teams they play on to people who have no need to know?

If you’re a single parent dating on the internet, did you include pictures of your children on your profile?

Do you walk with your head up, body erect, your eyes watchful, listening to the world around you?

Do you trust your intuition?

For the next couple of days, Susan Sciara will be writing here. A past board member of the Chicago Chapter of the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals, she spent eleven years heading the Threat Assessment Team for “an agency of the Federal Government that is commonly associated in the public’s mind with workplace violence.” Show of hands, class… now which one could that be?

Hope you enjoy.

My Cat Socks And How To Become Color Coordinated

I covered crime in the Chicago suburbs for more than seventeen years. In interviewing neighbors of homicide victims, I never once heard the comment, “Oh yeah, we expected one day someone would be shot on their front lawn right here on our street.”

Instead, just like reading from a script, the most common reaction was, “You never figure that kind of thing is going to happen here.”

You don’t have to expect it to be aware that violent crime can touch you anywhere you go.

Before I was a reporter, I worked as a security consultant. I often had to fight with the families of corporate CEO’s about simple things like varying their routes to and from work, installing alarm systems and not announcing their travel plans on the society pages of the newspaper. Their most common reaction?

“I don’t want to always be afraid something will happen to us.”

You don’t have to live in fear to raise your threat awareness level from Jeff Cooper’s White to Yellow. Basic precautions are a good beginning and will give your instincts a chance to get up and stretch.

I walk my cat, Socks Monster the Feline Action Hero, on a leash (okay, okay I’m a wild man, what can I say?). One thing I notice before we go out is that he spends about five minutes peering through the screen door before he ventures onto the patio. His ears are perked and his gaze takes in everything. He’s scoping out his environment.

Now I do it, too. Before I walk outside, I look through the window. Five or ten seconds worth, not five minutes, but I’m not hoping to spot dinner, either.

After twenty years in this house I know the neighbors, their cars, and the landscaping services they use. I know the postal carrier, the trash collectors for this route, the meter dudes and the Orkin man. I know which families have kids. I know what time their bus stops, school in winter and camp in summer. More importantly, I know who parks on the street at night and who is out walking their dogs or otherwise moving around. I am aware of my surroundings.

Anything or anyone I don’t recognize takes me from Yellow to Orange even before I step out the door.

When Socks goes outside, I notice his ears keep flipping back and forth and he stops and stares under bushes, up in the trees and into the distance. The other day I was cleaning the car and he was leashed to the wall of the house. He suddenly made a beeline for the back door. I let him in, went back to what I was doing, looked up and was staring at a fox standing six feet away at the front of the car. Mr. Fox was no more startled to see me than I was to see him. Socks went from Yellow to Orange and so did the fox and I.

Animals don’t blunt their senses the way humans often do.

Think about it this way. If you saw two friends walking down the street and wanted to jokingly throw a scare into one of them, which one would you choose? The one with her head down watching the ground, posture slouched, iPod earphones in both ears? Or the girl walking tall, head up, listening to the world around her, eyes roaming, who spotted you well before you saw her and gave you a great big smile because she knows the kind of prankster you are?

It’s hard to recognize Yellow, much less move there, if your eyes are closed, your ears are blocked and your thoughts are focused on the dinner party you’re throwing tomorrow night.

Tomorrow, some ways to anticipate threats and avoid becoming a victim.

Later in the week, my guest will be Susan M. Sciara, who spent eleven years as head of the Threat Assessment Team for, as she puts it, “an agency of the Federal Government that is commonly associated in the public’s mind with workplace violence.” She’ll discuss threat assessment and prevention and debunk some of the myths we hear and read about.

Shameless...

I'll continue the series of posts about personal safety and the prediction of violence later today but thought I'd post this for anyone looking for a little light reading (about me, of course!):

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=215185

I should mention that, if you're the first to tell me you've read the Herald article, I'll send you a t-shirt.

Keeping One's Head Out of One's Posterior

I went for a bike ride today and nearly got hit by a car. I wasn’t thinking ahead.

I assumed the car was going to stop. It not only didn’t, but speeded up, as though going faster meant it wouldn’t be in the intersection long enough for a cop to see the violation.

I didn’t anticipate. Fortunately, I have good brakes and, at the last moment, I spotted the warning signs.

How often do we assume things to be true when they really aren’t?

I’m okay walking down this street after dark because I’ve done it twenty, thirty, one-hundred times before. I don’t lock my doors because I live in a safe neighborhood. I’ll get into an elevator with someone who my intuition tells me might be dangerous because it’s too embarrassing not to do so. Cars always stop at stop signs.

Gavin deBecker, the author of The Gift of Fear trilogy and an international expert in the prediction of violence, believes we should listen to our intuition, our gut feeling, our instinct:

“The truth is that every thought is preceded by a perception, every impulse is preceded by a thought, every action is preceded by an impulse, and man is not so private a being that his behavior is unseen, his patterns undetectable.”

We all have intuition. Some of us are better at paying attention to it than others. Unfortunately, as deBecker points out, some understand what their instinct was trying to tell them only after something happens. The point is to be open to not only hearing that little warning voice in our heads, but heeding its advice.

Perhaps Jeff Cooper’s color code system can help. Cooper was the father of what’s called the “Modern Technique” of shooting a handgun but you don’t need to own a weapon to give your instincts a regular workout.

Cooper’s system of four color codes of mental awareness (which have nothing to do with the Homeland Security defense codes) is explained thus:

1. White: Relaxed, unaware and unprepared. Basically you have your head up your butt and have no idea danger is approaching until you’ve already been overwhelmed.
   
2. Yellow: Relaxed alertness. As Cooper puts it, “Your mindset is, ‘today could be the day I may have to defend myself.’” Your head is up, your posture says you’re alert and you’re using your eyes and ears to actively observe the world around you. You are prepared to take action if necessary.


3. Orange: Specific alert. You’re noticing something wrong in your immediate environment. A person looks suspicious. A noise gets your attention. A van is parked too close to yours in the parking lot late at night. Someone is glancing at your child in the park a little too often. It’s the middle of summer and a customer in the back of the convenience store is wearing a coat.


4. Red: Fight trigger. You’re thinking, “If x happens, I will do y.” You have already prepared yourself to react, whether to step closer to your child, avoid going to your car in that dark parking lot, or even to scream and be ready to fight off an assailant.

Many of us spend our lives in White. I sure was in it on my bike today! We know the world can be a nasty place but we assume our world is safe. Sometimes we take it a step further, figuring not only our world is safe but, if things suddenly change, there are people who will take care of us should danger approach.

Anyone who has been the victim of a crime will tell you that assumption is false.

I’ll offer some thoughts about moving from White to Yellow tomorrow.

Ignoring the Warning Signs...And Paying For It

Yesterday, I wrote about the seemingly innocent actions people take that may walk them into a world of hurt.

Dana King's comments, posted after yesterday's blog, are right on point. Take a look. They're worth reading.

While we have the right to do many things, leaving our blinds open and parking wherever we choose among them, that entitlement comes with a price. Predators consider our innocence as opportunity. Where we see an unlocked door as a family convenience, they see an invitation to enter and steal. Or worse.

Crime is not random. It follows a pre-cast set of circumstances. We play right into that by ducking our heads and not watching the world around us.

Domestic violence often occurs for the same reason.

I'll use a college friend's experience as an example.

Sheri began dating a guy who all of us thought was terrific. Within weeks of meeting, bang! they got enagaged. They scheduled the wedding a few months later. Every time we got together, he seemed to be the life of the party, though they partied with us less and less the longer they remained a couple.

The night they returned from their honeymoon, he beat her and threw her down a flight of stairs, blackening both eyes, breaking three of her ribs and leaving her with a concussion.

We were shocked. He must have just snapped, we said. Must have been drunk.

Turned out, he wasn't drunk and the warning signs had been there all along. In our innocence, even though many of us were cops and prosecutors, we missed them. He was a clever predator; none of us saw through him. Except Sheri.

She told me later she sensed the storm approaching but just didn't take cover. She thought the lightning and thunder would pass.

She said he started acting strangely right after their engagement.

He insisted she stay at home rather than spending time with her friends and family. That she drop off her dog with her parents and leave it there. That she leave grocery shopping, and even answering the phone, to him. He shoved her away when she noticed a picture of his ex-girlfriend in his wallet. During an argument, he broke a ceramic figurine she loved. He took sexual roughousing to painful extremes. On their honeymoon, he was verbally abusive to the hotel staff, to the point of chasing a maid out of their room when she walked in as they were having sex. He snapped at Sheri when she told him he was acting unreasonably.

Sheri said nothing about her fiancee's behavior to anyone else because he always apologized after every nastiness. Brought flowers and other gifts for her. Left a huge tip for the room maid and the restaurant servers he regularly abused.

She thought something was wrong but convinced herself she was crazy.

One of the nation's leading experts in predicting violent behavior, Gavin deBecker, offers the example of a woman who sees an edgy looking guy on an elevator she wants to use. He makes her very nervous but she gets on anyway, thinking herself foolish for being fearful.

Warning signs ignored. Precautions not taken. Trouble's approach denied.

Do we draw from this that Sheri is partly to blame for what happened to her? Of course not.

No more than the drunk guy who parked in the bad neighborhood should be blamed for being beaten up and car-jacked. No more than the woman who gets on the elevator.

It's not about blame or fault or guilt or even "paying the price of stupidity" as some would argue.
The penalty for marrying a manipulative and abusive jerk should be divorce, never two black eyes and broken ribs.

It's about warning signs ignored. Precautions not taken. Trouble's approach denied.

Later this week, I'll offer some thoughts on becoming more alert to the warning signs of victimization and violence and how to, as my friend Dana pointed out in his comments yesterday, "think the extra steps down the road when making a decision."

I've also invited a guest blogger to discuss the elements that need to exist for violence to occur.

Stay tuned!

Are We Really So Helpless?

I shared some good conversation over dinner tonight with a nationally acclaimed expert on the prediction and mitigation of violence. It got me thinking.

As a nation, we tend to avoid responsibility. Denial is one of our most inherent traits. If bad things happen, we don't like to admit fault. Better that it's the other guy or the collective "them."

We insist, "Those greedy oil companies are keeping gas prices high. Me and my Hummer aren't the problem."

"The cops should arrest those drunk drivers before they kill someone. It's not my place to take their car keys away."

"It's not my fault that I got beaten up and carjacked. All I did was drink a li'l too much and walk to my new Mercedes convertible down a dark alley in a questionable part of town. The carjacker was the one with the gun for cryin' out loud!"

And, of course, shame on the thoughtless, sexist bastard who would ever suggest that a woman who is sexually assaulted may have done something to precipitate it.

Consider this, however. We know that sexual predators frequently begin their careers by prowling homes and peeping in windows. Should it then come as a surprise that convicted rapists report choosing their victims on the basis of who keeps their blinds open?

Think about what a creep might see when peering in a woman's window. Not just her nakedness. The fact she lives alone. The layout of the place, allowing mental preparation for a later home invasion. The lack of a security system or a dog. The placement of telephones or the fact the woman uses only a cell phone which she frequently forgets to charge. Perhaps even the location of potential weapons such as kitchen knives. The list goes on.

So, is it "wrong" to leave blinds open? Is it "bad" to drive a Mercedes? Can we be "blamed" for having a few drinks in a questionable neighborhood?

Of course not. But we need to be aware that each of these innocent actions may contribute to later victimization.

Crime doesn't "just happen."

I don't believe domestic abuse does either.

More tomorrow.