True Crime Scene Investigations – How Do the TV Shows Measure Up?

There are numerous shows on TV these days that deal with Crime Scene Investigating (CSI). With over 80 channels on most basic cable providers it is a challenge for the avid fan of “True Crime” style programs to keep up with all the homicidal maniacs canvassing the broadcast world. There has always been crime dramas such as NYPD Blue and the long ago Dragnet, but the TV shows today approach crime scene investigating in a more sophisticated approach. Don’t they?

Yes and no.

A true crime lab used for CSI work is a bright uninviting place stacked with case files and evidence waiting to be tested. Most CSI or Law Enforcement style programs convey the labs to be a dark place with colored gelled lights in the background to add ambiance. They show Lab Techs working with bullet fragments pulled from a dead body in almost complete darkness. If a CSI Detective needs fingerprints, found on a weapon or an object at the crime scene, processed; it is usually done by a local lab person. This is done because most murder investigations are attempted to be solved in the first 48 hours. In addition, Crime Scene Investigators don’t usually have access to a crime lab. They are usually denied access to preserve the chain-of-evidence. Can you imagine detectives walking through a crime lab with evidence laid out from murders or suicides? Defense Lawyers could easily demonstrate that evidence may have been tampered with.

To add drama to the CSI style shows there usually is a love affair or turmoil that is happening in the personal lives of the CSI detectives. This is where today’s crime programs have become more “True Life”. Everybody has sometime of drama in their life. Someone is dying or gambling problems or even their kids are getting in trouble.

Imagine Dragnet Detective Joe Friday having a relationship with a witness? What a dry story there.

True Crime is all around us – so why do people watch the fiction instead of picking up a True Crime Book? It is because the human side of these dramas. When someone commits suicide on a show the detectives have to go deeper into the life of the person that killed themself. They visit with the mother and the boss and everyone tells their story, and then at the end of the climax it is found out it wasn’t a suicide but a homicide. The person was murdered because they were secretly part of the mafia. The twist of a dramatic story.

The truth is suicides and murders are usually what they appear to be. Rarely is a suicide investigated and found to be a homicide. Most suicides end with no doubts. Detectives rarely have time to investigate the reason of the suicide.

At the Las Vegas Stratosphere there have been four people that have jumped from the top of the 1100 foot tower. No detective work needed. It is usually left to the families to figure out their loved one did it.

Often TV Programs, such as CSI Las Vegas wrap a crime up in just a few days. That is not always the case. During true homicide cases, such as Tupac Shakur, the crimes go unsolved for years or forever.

In contrast, the key goal of any homicide examination is to complete it in 48 hours. The reasons are simple.

1) Witnesses begin to forget key details. Try and remember your day to day details from just 48 hours ago. Something key you did that could easily be forgotten.

2) In the first 48 hours of the crime analysis a suspect has the time to make preparations to flee or has already fled and is making their way out of the area.

3) Tracking useful evidence. Key evidence such as fingerprints, blood, body fluids, witness recollection, and even text messages all have a rate of decay.

In summary, the CSI and other crime detective shows do have the dram

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True Crime Books

True crime books are all true stories of actual crimes. Some of the crimes are either highly publicized as in the case of Caysee Anthony and some of the crimes are only publicized via books. These writers are a special breed of people who use their talent to bring the stories to their readers with intensive information usually on the backgrounds and childhoods of the main characters in the story, details of the crime itself, the investigation and how the perpetrator was caught, the actual court case and other relevant details pertaining to each true story.

Seasoned readers of true crimes have over time established their likes and dislikes of what they prefer to read about in detail. Some prefer a lengthy and detailed investigation while some would prefer the court case to be more detailed. Female crime readers usually prefer more emphasis on the background and childhoods of the main characters so that they can engage in the psychological profile rather.

Reading true crime books and eventually finding out which writers offer the preferred writing style can go a long way to choosing books which you know you will enjoy. A further classification in the choice of a crime book would be to choose as per crime genre. Some popular genres are serial killers, spousal murder and to a lesser extent, mostly favored by male crime readers, is opportunistic murders. There are many more crime genres to choose from as you can imagine from the true crime stories publicized by media outlets such as television news networks and the internet.

For the reader who is thinking of venturing, for the first time, into the world of true crime books, I would suggest reading up on reviews on a few of these crime books. The internet can be great as a tool for finding out which books to read. As you proceed along you will also develop your own likes and dislikes and further guarantee that every book which you decide to read will be enjoyable and possibly start a lifetime passion for reading true crime.

True Crime Book Reviews offers a spot on the web for only true crime books and reviews on them.Further all readers are offered an opportunity to receive a free book to start them off on their journey into reading a

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