Learn the beat

• Become familiar with police terminology and policies. Contact a retired training officer for a briefing. Arrange for a "ride-along" to learn more about procedures in your area. Ask a homicide detective to walk you through an old, unsolved case. Consider getting hands-on instruction from a firearms instructor, a polygraph technician, a forensic scientist. Ask lots of questions at crime scenes to better understand how police reach their conclusions.
  
  
• Get to know the coroners, the pathologists, and the prosecutors. They're going to turn up at crime scenes and can be great sources. Get to know the chiefs of police and their top assistants. Schmooze the office help at police stations and fire departments. They hear things and see things and tend to know what's going on.
  
  
• Compile a list of Neighborhood Watch captains, association activists and victims' groups. Many will have email lists you can subscribe to that can help you spot crime trends. Check in with the rest periodically.

Establish trust

• Your performance on the street will be evaluated and tested by every officer you meet, Sosbe says. They will tell you something in secret just to see if you can keep your mouth shut. Once you've passed their trust test, maintain that trust, but don't ever cross the line and become their pal. Get them to respect you for the work you do: be fair in your stories, accurate in your facts and professional in your conduct.
  
  
• Some departments or officers may have had a bad experience with the news media in the past and refuse to provide even basic information. If that happens, ask why making the information public could be a problem for the investigation. Appeal to their professional interest by making the case that information can help the community protect itself.
  
  
• Think long term. Build relationships with beat cops, detectives, and ranking officers so you aren't so dependent on PIOs for information.

Dig for context

• Check for data that can put crimes in context. Begin at the Bureau of Crime Statistics Web site, at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/ But don't limit yourself to the annual federal report on crime statistics. Ask what your police department has to report to the district attorney, the county, state and federal governments. Check with each division to see what statistics they collect and what they're willing to share.
  
  
• Build your background knowledge. Property crime is far more common than violent crime (9 out of 10 crimes are against property), but that's not what you'd think from watching TV news. The average take in a bank robbery is $200. The average bicycle theft nets at least twice as much.
  
  
• Know the budgets of the departments you cover. How many cops are patrolling the beat? How much money is spent on Internal Affairs investigations, on overtime, on equipment? What are the K-9 dogs used for? Motor pool information can be a gold mine.
  
  
• Think like a detective in planning your coverage. For example, divide a murder story into categories: VICTIM, SUSPECT, CRIME SCENE, WITNESS. Make check lists of what you need to do to thoroughly cover each part of the story.

Scan the scene

• Once you've shot the flashing lights and the police tape, take time to really look at the scene. Do a complete 360-degree turn and see who and what catch your eye. You may find something or someone to shed light on what really happened and why.
  
  
• Step back to look for connections between crime scenes. Rossmo gives the example of a series of home invasions, all of which targeted elderly residents. Every crime scene featured a home in need of maintenance, with a wheelchair ramp.
  
  
• In covering a continuing investigation, go back to the scene at the time of the crime, on the same day of the week, in the same kind of weather. Detectives often do. Or take an expert with you to point out factors that may increase the likelihood of crime in a particular area.