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Young Forensic Scientists Forum Newsletter - January 2001 CBS'
Hot New Drama CSI...The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly |
| As the fall television season approached, one of the most anticipated new dramas, at least according to CBS, was
CSI - Crime Scene Investigation. The previews showed a dramatic portrayal, complete with the dramatic music, of the daily work of crime scene investigators. I am a crime scene investigator, and since the show first aired, whenever I tell someone what I do for a living, they say "Ooooh, like CSI," instead of "Aaaah, like Quincy." Frankly, I never watched Quincy (as you might have guessed, since this is the
YFSF Newsletter) so I did not have the knowledge of how to respond to this sometimes compliment and sometimes accusation. However, I have watched CSI a few times so I have the knowledge to say, "No, not like CSI." The new, and apparently popular, TV series is not all bad. In fact, the good news is crime scene investigators are finally getting some recognition, and maybe this drama will lead to pay raises and higher admiration for forensic scientists everywhere. Hopefully we will receive recognition from our higher-up, invisible government bosses, as well as from the citizens of our jurisdictions, many of whom have no idea that crime scene units exist. Maybe parents everywhere will begin to place forensic scientists in that infamous doctor/lawyer category and dream of their children becoming a doctor, a lawyer, or a crime scene investigator! Still reporting the good news, the CBS drama illustrates that evidence collection is actually a science, and not just a bunch of cops throwing everything from a crime scene in the back of their patrol car. It shows TV viewers everywhere the advances that have been made in forensic science, the interesting tools, gadgets, and chemicals we can use, and the amount of work involved in processing a crime scene. It also portrays the investigators as a specialized unit, consisting of specialized individuals, who perform a task for which they are highly trained. Unfortunately, the bad and the ugly outweigh the good of the show. If I had a dollar for every time I have been on a crime scene and a victim has said to me, "Well on TV, they did...," I would double my yearly salary. Well, I do not have those dollars, and the only way my salary is going to be doubled is if CSI is a big hit, and my county finally realizes we do not make enough money for the duties we perform. What I try to explain to these victims is that TV sensationalizes everything for the entertainment of the viewer. In the real world of crime scene investigation, latent prints are not found at every scene, or on every surface, and they do not miraculously appear according to the severity of the crime. Additionally, not every case is solved, nor deals with some high profile citizen of the community, and furthermore I want to know how they get away with only working homicides. I have yet to see them work any burglaries, armed robberies, stolen vehicles, or sexual assaults. The fact is they only broadcast what sells. Some small jurisdictions average one homicide a year. Naturally this means their crime scene investigators spend most of their time processing burglaries or stolen vehicles. However, these scenes are sometimes so boring even someone who has chosen forensic science as a career can barely handle the pain of going to another scene. If the investigator cannot gain excitement from the scene, the TV viewers will certainly not be amused. Naturally, since the show only features death scenes, the bad (and bordering on ugly) news is the lack of diversity illustrated in the type of scenes portrayed. Maybe I am biased because I work in metro Atlanta, but ninety percent of my homicide cases deal with drug deals gone bad or gang member retaliation. One might wonder why they do not showcase these types of homicides on CSI. I believe the answer is because we do not want to know that the majority of homicides in the United States are still drug and/or gang related. After several government prevention programs such as DARE, the infamous TV adds with the egg in the frying pan exclaiming, "This is your brain, This is your brain on drugs," and other campaigns to "clean up the streets" by erasing all signs of gang activity, we want to believe drug use and gang membership has declined. What we do not want to know is that a large majority of homicides that occur directly relate to drug and gang activity. We want to believe the bad, or supposedly accidental, murders. The reason we do not see gang homicides every week is because they scare the audience. When we are being entertained by nightly television, we do not want to see our streets littered with teenage gang members shooting each other, or drug dealers getting shot in their apartment after someone did not bring enough money. We want to see interesting cases that were solved with some microscopic fiber discovered by a highly trained forensic scientist, or a fingerprint lifted from an obscure location. Now I'll move off that soapbox and get on to the real ugly news. The business suits, the ties, the pantyhose, the high heels, and the lack of protective gear...give me a break. The first time you bend down to take a picture of the victim, the tie gets in the way of the lens and accidentally falls in the bloodstain. The high heels and pantyhose are certainly not suited for the steep hills I have had to climb up and down, the lakes I have had to wade through, or the positions I have had to stretch my body to collect evidence, not to mention the outlandish prices of their dry cleaning bills. They also somehow manage to never get fingerprint powder on their designer suits and they never have to work in the extreme heat that would require them to sweat. Again, maybe it is metro Atlanta, but in most of the burglary and indoor homicide scenes I have worked, the house is so dirty I want to take a shower before I even begin processing. After several hours on the scene it looks like I have taken a bath in fingerprint powder, I am usually sweating from the Georgia heat, and even though the adrenaline is pumping, I am tired. Miraculously, the investigators on CSI, never have even a spot of fingerprint powder on themselves or their perfectly pressed clothing, they never appear disheveled or tired, and they never wear those flattering Tyvek suits or head covers. And perhaps more importantly, where is my dramatic music playing in the background? The more I write, the more I am beginning to ask myself, "Where is the reality is in this show?" I feel it gets even uglier. I believe the worst aspect of the show is that the investigators solve every case, have immediate access to state of the art equipment, and do not have to deal with government bureaucracy. Unfortunately, this leads the public misinformed about the real world of crime scene investigation. The harsh truth is that every case is not solved, and state of the art equipment is only in a handful of labs across the country. Most of us are fighting the government paperwork chain, waiting for budget money, or waiting for some invisible person, who has no knowledge of forensic science, to sign a piece of paper authorizing the purchase of equipment. With this type of misrepresentation, I fear I will have many more victims informing me where I will find latents, asking me about a piece of equipment they saw on TV, and telling me, "Well on TV they did..." While I believe it is finally time we get some recognition, and I sure hope this drama leads to pay raises and higher admiration for forensic scientists everywhere, it is not an accurate portrayal of my daily work. However, I am not sure any show on television is completely accurate, and I wonder if any of my fellow forensic scientists actually expected CSI to be accurate. After all, television is entertainment, and everything must be sensationalized to entertain the viewer. If not, I might have one case a month worthy of portrayal on TV, and some smaller jurisdictions might have one case a year. Yet, CBS comes up with a new, high profile, exciting case each week, which miraculously always gets solved. While I believe this show incorporates some of the good, the bad, and the ugly, I believe the bad and the ugly take precedent over the good. However, the ugliest of all will be if, before this article goes to press, CSI has a gang and drug related homicide that does not get solved because of lack of funds to buy the appropriate equipment, and all the investigators leave the scene covered in fingerprint powder. I almost hope they make me eat my words. If so, the dramatic music will certainly be ringing in my ears then. |
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© 2001 Young Forensic Scientists Forum / American Academy of Forensic Sciences |