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The Top Ten Common Mistakes In Crime TVNumber 1 - Crime Scenes
I believe everyone who is working in a profession that is shown on TV/Film identifies all the differences with their real-life career to that portrayed with some frustration. I am sure A&E staff watch Casualty and say, “that’s not right”, firefighters with London’s Burning and soldiers with Our Girl. The pure number of crime related shows/films multiplies these faults for Police Officers as they are repeated time and time again. I have therefore put together a top ten common mistakes to put the record right. Whilst I understand that productions are made to entertain and that a certain amount of artistic licence is always to be expected the creators must be careful not to step over the line to much or the quality of the TV show/Film will suffer as a consequence. The following blogs will detail these common mistakes with examples and a description of what really happens and why.
Number 1 - CRIME SCENES
TV Portrayal - It seems an apt time to raise the subject of crime scenes and protective equipment. It is now common place to see on the streets or on the news channels people wearing protective equipment in some format be it masks or gloves and yet crime shows still persist in the main characters walking around a scene with no protection on at all. Presumably this is due to the fact the shows producers do not want their stars hidden away behind protective equipment. Surely they could at least make an effort in showing they are aware of forensics and how sensitive material such as DNA is at crime scenes. Below is a scene from Luther. Clearly from the evidence markers you can see that the forensic examiners have already conducted their enquires at the scene allowing Luther and his sidekick to view the crime location themselves. The problem is that neither of the officers are wearing any type of forensic protective equipment. The victim/body is still at the scene and as such the area will still need to be treated with full forensic awareness and care. There will be a post mortem which is aimed at gathering further evidence about how the victim died and what exhibits can be gained from the victim to help identify the killer. DNA is so sensitive now any material such as hair could fall from the officers onto the victim and contaminate the scene and the evidence as a whole. Full suit and mask for you two I'm afraid.
Real Life – Below is a photograph of a real-life crime scene. As you can see even though this is a street crime and all the elements of nature are in play the forensic and investigation team are all in full protective equipment outfits. You will note this includes a suit covering the whole of the body, over boots, face mask and gloves. Gloves will often be “double gloved” meaning two pairs are worn and taped to the protective suit preventing any chance of cross-contamination.
Main reasons for protective equipment –
- As stated cross contamination either from the examiner/officer onto the scene or from the scene onto the examiner/officer.
- Protection from hazardous material from the scene i.e. contaminated blood, gases, fluids, etc.
- Integrity of the scene. If the scene is treated poorly then this will reduce the value of any evidence recovered from it and may damage the chances of a successful prosecution as a later stage.
