I know it is crime fiction, could they not be accurate for once

See the Wikipedia article on the CSI effect. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSI_effect The dubious science, along with much else puts unrealistic expectations in the minds of jurors who have to deal with real court cases involving real evidence.

[Red October1984]

Hard to find good crime fiction IMHO.

Never was into CSI, NCIS, Law and Order, etc.

[August]

My wife loves those kind of shows but I can't stand them. Too dark and depressing.

[fireftr18]

There are many artistic licenses needed to make a show doable. The characters are experts in everything to keep the cast small. They abbreviate proper procedure so that the show will flow and work in the time frame. You see the cast as first persons on the scene because it's about them, not initial patrol responders, paramedics, fire, etc. It's just assumed they were there and did their thing, then CSI shows up. Then visual items. An example is blood. In the shows, the blood is always bright red. In real life, it soaks into materials and the redness gets lost, pools of blood actually turn brown and get crusty. I figure this is done so that the viewer can identify the substance as blood.
The viewer needs to simply imagine that administrative and procedural tasks are done.
Your question about real life CSI. Every police officer is educated in basic crime scene investigation, every fire fighter is trained in basic fire scene investigation. Both are trained in scene and evidence preservation. Beyond that, it depends on the jurisdiction. Larger cities will have there own specialists, while smaller jurisdictions will rely on state specialists. As the complexity of the incident increases, the level of specialization of the investigators increase.

[Sailor Steve]

The above complaints are true of every single show about people doing their jobs. I was acquainted with a pathologist who absolutely hated all doctor shows. She knew nothing about police procedures, so she was fine with those shows.

I was a big fan of JAG, though it was mentioned once that the big case they solved every week was about as much as a real Judge Advocate saw in a decade. Most jobs are boring if you just watch the people going about their business.

The last cop show I enjoyed was Hill Street Blues, mainly because they had a big ensemble cast and so much going on that it wasn't uncommon to see a detective spend three episodes on a stakeout only to be told that the guy they were looking for had been caught in another precinct.

As for depressing? I once tuned into an episode of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit just to see what the fuss was all about. It started with the murder of an eight-year-old girl. I switched the channel and never gave it another look.

[Oberon]

Ah yes, Sports Utility Vehicle, yeah, probably not the best entry point into the series, does tend to deal with the rather...nastier side of crime.

Still, Steve has a good point, I mean how many of us have torn apart an episode of any series which has a submarine or naval activity in it?

[Herr-Berbunch]

I'm in awe of the way ever American on TV instantly, without looking, despite time of day, despite the weather, knows their direction of travel, and how it's always perfectly aligned to the major four points of the compass.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by AndyJWest

See the Wikipedia article on the CSI effect. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSI_effect The dubious science, along with much else puts unrealistic expectations in the minds of jurors who have to deal with real court cases involving real evidence.

True that. In the case I was on, the police ran into a hitch when the defendants solicitor produced betting slips which were used to explain the money he was found with about a month or so after the defendant was arrested. The police went to the betting shops but found that the tapes were only kept on a weekly basis and were overwritten after that. They'd have never had that problem in CSI.

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by AndyJWest

See the Wikipedia article on the CSI effect. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSI_effect The dubious science, along with much else puts unrealistic expectations in the minds of jurors who have to deal with real court cases involving real evidence.

Not just juries. Ask anyone working in the Intelligence business. Even members of congress are getting the "CSI effect"

[mapuc]

As I wrote I love the SCI-series, except when other stuff comes on TV

Some days ago ZDFINFO had a documentary about the days before the German invasion of Poland-Das Nervenkrieg-In that case I know what I chose.

Markus

[fireftr18]

I have seen the show "Rescue Me." Some of the firefighting scenes were so realistic, I couldn't help but bust out laughing. That's because some of the same things happened to me or I did.