Hundreds of crime/mystery writers swamped Green Bay August 11-14 for the eighth annual Writers’ Police Academy. They came from all over the United States and other countries. One author came from Bangkok. I almost feel guilty that I only had to drive thirty miles. Almost.
On Friday morning, the Eagle III rescue helicopter appeared to transport the injured from an accident simulation. We were able to see how EMS react to a deadly collision.
We viewed a “deceased” person on the hood of a car and live bodies pulled out after the jaws of life was employed.
On Saturday morning as we were in the lecture hall for announcements, we heard someone screaming for assistance. He had been stabbed and soon other people were also attacked. We were in the middle of a simulated mass assault. Luckily there was a rescue after police were called. They came in with guns and had us keep our hands locked on our heads for what seemed like a long time. They needed to make sure the perpetrator was not posing as one of us. Even though I knew it wasn’t real, my heart pounded harder and it was interesting to understand what is done in that situation.
The entire conference was a learning experience as I attended many sessions, but there wasn’t enough time to do all that I would have liked. Maybe next year? I bet they’ll have new classes that I’ll want to attend, so I’ll probably never get to them all. Not a bad problem to have.
What a wonderful experience at Writers’ Police Academy 2016!
