Bill Powers
Detective Lieutenant Bill Powers has spent the past fifty years working in one capacity or another in the criminal justice system: thirty-three years as a sworn police officer with a majority of that time working as both an investigator and an academy instructor, and later as an assistant professor teaching classes on investigation and courtroom testimony to students in a forensic science program at a Boston medical school.
Now, with decades of experience, an overflowing satchel of institutional knowledge and formal education behind him, Bill has turned his attention to writing, teaching and hopefully, showing the human side of policing. He has written two books and produces a podcast about his experiences and current issues in policing.
Excerpt from Murderous Rage
I rarely fly to a crime scene with blue lights and a blaring siren because normally the detectives are already there and the scene is preserved and under control. This time was different. It wasn’t normal. I could hear the tension and concern in Duke’s voice. Seven victims in a workplace shooting exceeded anything I had ever heard of in Massachusetts. In fact, to the best of my knowledge, the largest mass murder in the commonwealth was five, and that was more than twenty years earlier inside a closed Boston bar in a gangland-style massacre.
I drove as fast as I could while trying to manage non-stop incoming calls. I was doing seventy-five and police cars from other cities and towns passed me as if I was standing still.
Duke called three times while I was talking with Johnny McEvoy, who was also heading to the scene. Like me, he was trying to gather help from his side of the office to report to the scene to help in locking it down, assessing what happened, and starting to formulate a game plan.
I figured something was going wrong if he was that persistent. “Yes, Duke,” I answered. “I’m getting off 128 now and should be there in about five minutes unless traffic is all backed up.”
“Can you make it any faster?” he asked, “The NEMLEC SWAT team is here, all suited up and getting ready to go in. I’ve told them no and to wait for you, but they aren’t listening to me. I really need you here.”