Episode 351 - How Tech Is Changing Crime Fiction with Patrick O'Donnell
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How has technology changed the way crimes get committed, investigated, and solved, and what does that mean for the crime fiction writers trying to keep up? In this episode of The Indy Author Podcast, host Matty Dalrymple talks with retired Milwaukee police sergeant Patrick O’Donnell about the arc of policing technology, from hand-written reports and analog radios in the 1990s to today’s doorbell cameras, drones, ShotSpotter, and AI.
They cover how a single garage camera cracked open Patrick’s first homicide case, why smaller departments sometimes had better equipment than big cities, the surprisingly mundane reasons squad cars idle in parking lots and back into parking spaces, the legal gray areas around drone surveillance and social media monitoring, and where Patrick believes AI can genuinely help detectives, and where it never will. Whether you write police procedurals, thrillers, or any story where a character needs to get caught, or get away with it, this conversation is packed with real-world detail to make your plots more plausible.
Patrick O’Donnell is proof that there is life after retirement. He was a City of Milwaukee police sergeant with 25 years of street experience, where he supervised various special units and investigated major felonies. He’s the author of eleven books, including his newest Police Stories: The Rookie Years https://a.co/d/08a5IRlp. He hosts the popular Cops and Writers Podcast and founded and runs an 8,500-member Facebook group for crime writers that was featured in the Wall Street Journal. He has also hosted true crime television documentaries and has consulted with crime writers for their books and screenplays. O’Donnell lives in Wisconsin, where he enjoys working out, riding his Harley, and spending time with family.
Episode Links
Website with social links: https://copsandwriters.com
Podcast links: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cops-and-writers-podcast/id1553717643https://open.spotify.com/show/7LIkW87ZQL34n3vXXrIOKK?si=15ff218ac36f408c
Twitter/X: https://x.com/Patrick80094998
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/odauthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/patrick.odonnell.526438/https://www.facebook.com/groups/copsandwriters
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@patrickodonnell7928
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@piddyod
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