I did my research and the only consultants I could find were ex-senior officers who claimed that they could offer experienced advice on any police matter that their client desired. Was this where it was going wrong? Was the simple fact that the entertainment industry was being misinformed by these so-called experts? How could one person give advice on everything a police officer dealt with? They could not as the variety of roles within the service and the fluid way in which these roles change so often made it impossible. Another factor I considered was how could an officer who spent their career working for a police service in a major city such as London or Liverpool give advice on a rural police service or vice versa? They could not, as someone who served in both a city; London and a rural area; Dyfed-Powys Police, I was acutely aware that at times these police services were like completely different jobs. The final consideration I made involved the rank structure and the fact that many of these consultants were senior police officers. This meant these were people at Chief Inspector level or higher. To be an officer of this rank you would have spent many years dealing with policing issues at a strategic level. Whilst this is useful to offer advice on police strategy it is unrealistic for that person to claim they are aware of what it is like for current patrol officers or officers who interview witnesses or suspects. Maybe I was now getting to the truth about these common mistakes in crime writing.

I decided Consulting Cops needed to be something different. It needed to be somewhere that the entertainment industry could turn to for help in any policing area confident that they would get the right advice from the right person. This, as I explained could not be one person, it needed to be a team. A team that had a variety of experience in rank and roles. It needed to be diverse in colour, sex and location. It took a while and the process is ongoing but a team was assembled and at the end of 2019 Consulting Cops became a reality. 

What do we offer? Well as part of my research I noticed that there are many officers and ex-officers on social media platforms. These could be approached and supply a person with information I am sure. I also noticed though that everyone on social media was a great police officer with a great attitude and resolve to deal with crime. I looked back to my own experience and thought if only this was the case. Police officers like the general public are a mix of all personality types. There are many lazy can’t be bothered ones and there are many brilliant hard-working ones. There are also, probably the majority, average ones. There are bad leaders and good leaders. The fact is not everyone is or was great as a police officer but they all are on social media. I want to offer the writer a clear message about the advice they receive from Consulting Cops and that is that it will be genuine. It will be from people who have done the role that they want advice on. It will be from people who have experienced making the decision or doing the action, again depending on what the writer wants. 

The writer’s choice is how much support they would like to receive to help them with their project? Do they want a question answered? Do they want a chapter or scene checked? Do they want their whole project reviewed? Would they like a one on one discussion with an expert on an idea or a written project in development? Maybe they would like the same or a multitude of experts to support them over a prolonged period of time as they put their work together? The fact is that Consulting Cops offer the writer this choice. 

At the end of a project the writer should feel confident that their work is authentic and that the reader or viewer will believe what they are portraying to them.

Lyndon Smith (Ex-Homicide Detective Sergeant New Scotland Yard)   

ConsultingCops.com