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character How many characters would I need to make this scenario plausible?

H

harmonica44

In my story, it's a thriller with a situation that involves a witness in witness protection until her court date. However, in order to make this plausible, how many cops would I have to write that would be protecting her?

If I go with one, then the reader might think that's not how cops realistically operate and they would assign more, or if I go with five, the reader may think that the police have too much money to spend in the department.

I want to write it so that the cops who are protecting her, are actually working for the criminals that want to keep her from testifying, so therefore she is in danger from them.

If I write it so that three cops who assigned to protect her are working for the gang, is that too many to the point where it is too far fetched? I saw a movie that did something similar to this but they used two crooked cops, so I wonder if three is too many to be believable? Even if the reader believes, it will the honest cops believe her, if she reports that her protectors were trying to kill her? All three that is?

Or would the police not assign more than one or two realistically? I could even write it so that one cop protecting her is after her, but I thought it would be more exciting with three.

I already contacted the authorities, and they said they would not have the budget to protect a witness until trial, as that could take 1-2 years. If a witness is subpoenaed to testify, they are on their own they said. But I am not about making my story totally realistic, I am just asking what is believable to the reader, when it comes to making things up, such as the cops having the budget for witness protection.


What do you think? Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it.
 
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I think three is believable but maybe not all at the same time. It wouldn't cost any more from a budget stand point to have the three rotate in and out. Three corrupt cops all assigned to witness protection though, is a little far fetched. However the gang could be trying to buy them after they've been assigned, so in that case, sure. That could potentially create some interesting tension however, since they are not all "true believers" and are basically being bribed.
 
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Okay thanks. Would audiences believe it better if I had five though? Would it be more realistic than three then?

I could write it that way. Basically one of the cops has to save the witness from the others so he would have to believe that all the rest were dirty and not have it be far fetched to his character as well.
 
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From a work shift point of view: 3 8 hour shifts of 2 :P

I'd say: whatever gives you the best story.
You are getting caught up in procedures (again), so maybe the field of law enforcement has too many rules and regulations for you to be able to focus on story?
 
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From a procedure stand point 5 will work fine. 5 dirty cops could work as well. If say three of them were already "dirty" gang members and two weren't. The gang then tries to buy the other two. They successfully bribe one but the other is resistant.
 
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Okay thanks. In my story though the woman was kidnapped and she is testifying against her captors. She figures out that the cops were bad by recognizing one's voice or something like that. Would it be too far fetched if she recognized all their voices, from the kidnapping, especially since the kidnappers would naturally try to keep her from hearing them?

Perhaps I should just make it one dirty cop then as that might be more plausible, then five kidnappers giving themselves away, now that I think about it. What do you think?
 
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She is going to recognize all 5 of their voices? I don't think I could effectively recognize voices of people I know. That would be a little out there. Recognizing one would make more sense, that doesn't mean you can't have 5 and have them all be dirty. If she knows 1 of them is dirty, she's going to suspect they all are, or at least consider the possibility.
 
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If one cop or gangster finds out where the protected is located the cops attacking can be as many as they want. Already three cops starts drawing attention and why would they want that? I'd say that the credibility comes from how they found the protected and how they plan to strike. As they pretty much will have to attack as a surprise who cares how many they are? Except, three cops almost makes it a comedy already.
 
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Okay thanks. What I could do is just write it so there are two cops watching, her and she recognizes one's voice. But I want her to warn the good cop, that his partner is one of her captors, so would she logically do that, or would she suspect the other one to be bad as well?
 
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