Where do our police characters come from?

[J. F. Juzwik]

How do we, as crime writers, come up with cop characters? My first novel focused on a particular detective, but the setting was a small town, with less than modern investigative tools available. The local police were very resentful at the prospect of calling in outside agencies, and believed they could solve anything by themselves. My detective character turned out to be very well rounded from a personal standpoint, but there wasn't a lot of procedural detail involved, nor was it necessary to the story.

How do the rest of you research out your cop characters? Do you base them on officers you know or have seen in movies or television? Do you base them on people you know and just add the 'cop' part to them? I'm always curious where other writers get the basis for their character types.

[William Bushman]

Some characters that I have created before represent a certain feeling or viewpoint, but personally, I just imagine typical everyday people and then picture how they would react as police officers. I try to make them human, versus infallible do-gooders.

[J. F. Juzwik]

It has always been said to 'write what you know' and I think that's a great philosophy. I agree with you. Placing real people in our various scenarios and creating their reaction, that's the kind of stuff I like to read and the kind of thing I figure my readers would like as well. If I want a superhero, I'll read a comic.

[William Bushman]

Ha ha! Exactly!