That's why we make the annual trek to CrimeCon: That annual convention dedicated to learning skills and hearing reports of various aspects of "catching the criminal".
This year, CrimeCon has been in New Orleans. I'm probably the last person you'd expect at CrimeCon in New Orleans.
Upon our arrival, we visited the Museum of Death (not nearly as overwhelming as its name suggests), visited the Bourbon Street and the French Quarter and found our way to one of the local restaurants for my obligatory tastes of seafood (a Po'Boy's sandwich of fried gator). That was an experience the 17 year old me would have loved, but the forty-something in me is glad it was a one-off.
Then CrimeCon began. On the first day, I've heard Jeff Rinick recount his time as an FBI agent, the toll that trauma takes on agents and families, and the way interviews/investigations either add to or diminish suspects and victims. His presentation was doubtless the one that has had the most impact on me this year so far. Enough so, that I ordered his book In the Name of the Children while sitting in the presentation. To hear a seasoned investigator say that only love, care, insight and understanding can bring healing for victims and perpetrators reaffirms so much of what I've suspected about "American law enforcement" for a long time. (And like Rinick, please don't let me on my soapbox about the Reid Technique.)
Next, a presentation by Anne Redding on the "Black Dahlia" case. For those unfamiliar with the details: On January 15, 1947, the tortured, bisected body of a 22-year-old woman was discovered in a vacant lot in Los Angeles. Arguably America's most famous unsolved murder, Redding used her 30-plus years of experience researching this case to separate fact from fiction by focusing on the Victimology of Elizabeth Short (for reasons that became apparent in the presentation I'll never call her "the Black Dahlia" ever again) and analysis of Erotophonophilia (lust murder). Redding drew from official, original documents, helping the audience to set aside all the trappings of "whodunit" that typically plague crime audiences for a factual account of the life and tragic death of Ms Short. My take away? The Short case will most likely never be solved simply because law enforcement in the late 40s engaged in various forms of "character assassination" that undermined their ability to find the killer. How we treat victims matters.
Then a presentation from Tom Lange (the detective on the phone with Simpson during the notorious white bronco chase in '94). Lange gave a first-hand account of the material in his Evidence Dismissed (also ordered while we sat in the presentation), concerning the evidence that didn't make it to the Simpson trial. There's less doubt in my mind than ever that OJ did it, but that doesn't diminish (as Lange was quick to point out) that LAPD has gotten so much wrong over the years. It's not an either-or situation, and so much critical thinking is required about how we think about "law enforcement" in the US.
We also heard about the "Owl Theory" on the Peterson murder case from Durham, NC, in 2004. It's a cautionary tale about the human rush to prejudgment that occurs so often in criminal cases.
There have, of course, been a variety of times that Kendra has "fan girled" presenters and celebrities in the hallway. And the delight in her eyes at securing that "bucket list" selfie with Kelly Siegler. Those are the moments that make CrimeCon an annual must for me.
I may seem like the last person you'd expect to find at a convention like this. But I'm hearing so much fodder for critical thinking about law enforcement that I couldn't imagine not coming every year.