Forensic TV shows "help criminals escape police"

[johnnie]

"LONDON (Reuters) - Television shows like CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, depicting forensic scientists at work, are helping criminals avoid identification, New Scientist magazine said on Wednesday."

Not only are the criminals getting detailed insights into police detection methods and how to avoid them, but the shows have led juries to expect too much certainty from scientific witnesses.

"Jurors who watch CSI believe that those scenarios, where forensic scientists are always right, are really what happens," the magazine quoted forensic sedimentologist Peter Bull from Oxford University as saying.

His view was echoed by Jim Fraser, director of the Center for Forensic Studies at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland. He said the CSI effect had placed extra burdens on the painstaking work of the forensic scientists.

"Oversimplification of interpretations on CSI has led to false expectations, especially about the speed of delivery of forensic evidence," he told the magazine.

Shows which pride themselves on closely following real police practice are giving criminals valuable tips.

"People are forensically aware," said Guy Rutty from the Forensic Pathology unit at Leicester University.

Burglars were wearing gloves during break-ins and rapists were using condoms to avoid leaving DNA evidence.

Car thieves had even taken to leaving cigarette butts from bins in stolen cars to muddy the forensic trail.

"Suddenly the police have 20 potential people in the car," Rutty said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050907/sc_nm/forensics_dc

[XanaDUer]

1. Interesting take

I never thought of that before. Still, I love them!

[jmm]

2. I don't buy that it's helping criminals because

the always have and always will be a few steps ahead of the law. However I do think they are onto something about juries. When I was on one their was one woman who kept on chanting this is not court tv and a couple of people tried to argue during deliberations that the police were incompetent because they should've done DNA testing on every drop of blood in the room. Like I told them that would've been a waste of time and money. Nobody was disputing what happened only what his intentions were. I swear half of those jurors wanted book deals.