In discussion with Police Procedural Advisor and Author, Graham Bartlett

On the 25th May, the wonderful Graham Bartlett joined us for a live webchat Q&A to discuss all things police procedure and crime, mystery and thriller novels to tidy up those all-important police plot points. If you have any further questions, make sure to check out Graham’s blog, particularly his blog on common crime fiction mistakes!

Our questions for Graham 

Sarah asks: What is the official process for when someone falls off a cliffpath? Would the police always be involved at some point, whether it was deemed accidental or not?

Graham says: ‘The police would always be involved in any sudden and unexpected death as, even if it’s not criminal, they investigate on behalf of the coroner. So the coastguard will probably arrange the recovery of the body but the police won’t be far behind!’

 A commonly asked question: What are the main differences between England and Scotland police procedural processes?

 Graham says: ‘The investigative procedures are almost identical but they have different titles for the various offences and, once a person is arrested, the custody, charging and court procedures differ. Some of the differences are subtle, others are more fundamental. I have two former Scottish officers on my team of advisors who I use when authors are writing north of the border!’

Georgina asks: In the case of a dead homeless person, what is done to try and find his identity? What happens if the person cannot be identified?

Graham says: ‘The police would use everything at their disposal to identify the person. DNA, Fingerprints, local police knowledge, shelters, other homeless people etc. They would continue until all avenues have failed but I’d say that could be six months or so. It would be for the coroner to decide when enough was enough. If murdered, then the police would still investigate the murder and charge the suspect, even if it was a John Doe.’

Julie asks: What is the procedure for identifying a body which has been buried, particularly those found after 100 years?

Graham says: ‘it would be recovered by a forensic archaeologist and forensic anthropologist then a post mortem would be carried out by a forensic pathologist at the mortuary. The relatives would be allowed to see it for what it’s worth. The UK police would not launch a murder investigation given the age as the presumption would be the killer is dead too so it would be for the coroner to hold an inquest and determine how and when the person died and who they were.’

Holly asks: ‘I would love to know what factual inaccuracies you think are acceptable? E.g. I know that with court cases there is often loads of waiting around, but that’s boring to read so making things go a bit quicker are probably forgivable!’

Graham says: ‘As a rule of thumb, my advisors and I differentiate between what could and could not happen. It’s not really what would happen, but is it possible. If it is we will find a way to make it so. Also, cut to the action is good advice. Interviews (and court cases) are interminable but if you focus on the 10% which is exciting you don’t have to worry about the rest.’

Emily asks: How do you make sure that your dialogue accurately depicts the professionalism of law enforcement without it becoming dry or stilted?

Graham says: ‘I’d watch as many fly-on-the-wall documentaries as you can as they will show you how police speak. Try to remember it’s a workplace so we just speak to each other as colleagues and friends with a certain about of rich banter.’

And finally, after some Line of Duty themed questions, we found out what Graham really thinks of the show: 

 ‘I must admit I can’t watch it as it is so inaccurate. In fairness I don’t think it tries to be anything otherwise. It’s obviously good drama although I gather the ending of the last series was not popular!) but it’s as far away from policing as you can imagine. My sons were watching it the other day (one is a police officer so shame on him!) and I picked up four errors in one line of Hastings’ dialogue then another two minutes later. They made me leave the room!’

So, on Graham’s advice, Line of Duty-esque plot lines won’t be making it into our novels any time soon. At least it makes for good viewing, though! 

Huge thanks to Graham for such an interesting webchat and for answering all of our crime-themed questions! For questions that require a more in-depth answer, or any more questions that you may have thought of, don’t forgot to contact Graham on his website.

About Graham Bartlett 

Based in Sussex, Graham has been a police officer for thirty years, mainly policing the city of Brighton and Hove. During his rise to police commander for the area, he was a homicide senior investigating officer and led on managing domestic violence, child protection and hate crime and dangerous offenders. He also led the policing of many armed operations, large scale protests and sporting events, as well as qualifying as a strategic firearms and public order commander. 

Since retiring, Graham has become a police procedural and crime advisor, helping scores of authors and TV writers (from Claire McGowan to Peter James) achieve authenticity alongside their drama. He also runs a series of hugely popular online courses and workshops under the banner of Crime Writing: Making it Real’. He is also a best-selling crime writer, with two non-fiction books – Death Comes Knocking and Babes in the Wood – to his name and a crime novel in the pipeline.