Television Detectives Vs. Real-World Detectives

Television shows such as CBS's Criminal Minds or NBC's Law & Order provide entertainment, excitement, and a successful ending to solving yet another crime. These shows have been a big hit, thanks to the fact that the crimes being portrayed are presented from beginning to end with all the stresses and suspense of the detectives' lives being some how intertwined within the show itself. If all it took was an hour or a few days to solve criminal cases, the real life detectives would not be under all the stresses and pressures that accompany the job. There are vast differences between television's portrayal of the job of a detective and what actually takes place in the detective division. Today, I will provide examples of how television has turned real life detectives into crime-solving, thrill-seeking, superheroes and how television has provided such distorted views of the detective's role within the police department.

One of the biggest misconceptions of detective work that has shown up in television would be the portrayal that uniformed officers are inferior to the detectives (Shafer, 2005). Instead of being inferior to detectives, uniformed cops and detectives have two very distinct roles when it comes to crime fighting. The detectives are in charge of investigating crimes on their own terms. The detectives choose the time, place, and plan of arrest thus limiting the amount of danger they may be in unlike that of television detectives (Shafer, 2005). The duties of a uniformed officer are that of the danger, swift-decision making instead of just a detective's assistant as television would have them be (Shafer, 2005). Along with detectives being placed on a pedestal, in television, they are also these molded individuals who can do everything from basic police work to detective work to crime scene investigations and so on (CNN, 2005). The television producers fail to accept that a detective's work is very monotonous and time construing as opposed to the fast-paced, crime solving machines they have made them out to be on the screen (Jones, 2003).

Another big difference between a real-life detective and that of a television detective is the office atmosphere. In television, we see the detective sitting at his desk and maybe answer a phone call from the captain. In real life, detectives very rarely have their own desks and do far more than answer a phone call every now and then (Shafer, 2005). For example, in the Chicago Police Department, there are detectives coming in day in and day out of the same big room with a big conference like table trying to complete the paperwork from the day's activities (Shafer, 2005). Television forgets to show the painstakingly process of filling out documents related to the case. Most real-life detectives are working multiple cases at the same time, thus leading to mounds of paperwork to be done. Television forgets to add the most grueling details of a detective's work life because these details are not "glamorous" enough for Hollywood's small screen.

The final misconception that I would like to discuss would be that of the tools that are used to investigate crimes and that are used to solve crimes. Television does a good job in demonstrating the types of machines that police use to solve crimes, but television has altered these machines and are very inaccurate when the results are displayed (Wicks, 2006).In real-life, DNA databases and fingerprint searches do not pull up a picture of the suspect and very rarely a name in DNA cases (Wicks, 2006). Television just does that to provide quicker results that fit their time constraints for solving the crime. Television tries to be creative with the types of gadgets used to solve crimes such as an artificial "nose" that can smell and tell the investigators exactly of what the substance consists (Wicks, 2006). Such gadgets do not exist and more than likely will never exist.

In conclusion, it is very important that everyone working or those who wish to work within the law enforcement field know exactly of what the job consists. If the basis for wanting to go into a specific field, whether it is criminal justice or medical, is going to be television then s/he may want to consider doing extensive research as television cannot seem to get it right. Television is not a reliable source in aiding in investigations or educating individuals in the types of tools used to solve crimes. I urge anyone who uses television shows as a source of advice to ask himself or herself "is this really accurate"?

References

CNN. (2005). The Real CSI. Retrieved 6 Jan 2006 from

http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/05/05/murder.overview/ .

Jones, Elka. (2003). Reality vs. fantasy in occupational portrayals on the small screen.

Retrieved 6 Jan 2006 from http://www.bls.gov/opub/ooq/2003/fall/art01.pdf .

Shafer, Charlie. (2005). Never happen: the real deal on TV cops. Retrieved 6 Jan 2006

From http://www.thrillingdetective.com/trivia/triv198.html .

Wicks, Vicky. (2006). Realities of forensic science: machines can't do it all. Retrieved

6 Jan 2006 from http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2005/08/28/news/local/news03.txt .