Criminals and Crimes: Fact Vs. Fiction

Criminals and Crimes: Fact vs. Fiction

Trends or fads come and go; some even take the world by storm. The latest storm is blowing toward the criminal justice field. It is a well known fact, no matter what the age; people will believe EVERYTHING and ANYTHING they see on television. Just like when we were little, we believed we could fly like Superman or solve crimes like Batman, now it’s all about being a CSI. Television always sensationalizes things and crime is no different, unfortunately, people don’t see the difference between the harsh reality of crime and the glamour shown on television.

Everyone these days wants to be a CSI (crime scene investigator), lab technician or a profiler. This is proven by the increase of demand for more and more criminal justice programs and classes. Just to give an idea about how new this trend is, when I was searching colleges for the right course of study at the end of 2006, USI couldn’t give me much information because they had just started courses specifically for a criminal justice program. At U of E, I had to take two different types of courses to get the degree I wanted. On one hand I’m glad there are so many people interested in this field that specific coursed are being created, unfortunately, they are being created for the wrong reasons. I’m not saying everyone interested in a career in the criminal justice field is doing it for the wrong reasons, but people see what’s on television and like it. It’s hard not to see one of these shows, real or for entertaining, when they are available to watch on a regular basis. For example, this past Saturday there were five to six programs showing at the same time on different channels, and I have basic cable. People see these shows and want the lifestyles, the labs with all their “neat toys”, be able to solve a crime in one hour and go home a hero. Unfortunately, in real life, that is not possible. I’m hoping that I, as a writer, can show you, as a reader, the difference between reality and entertainment.

I have always wanted to know what or how a criminal mind works. I enjoy watching shows such as CSI, Cold Case, and Criminal Minds, but I know these are for entertainment purposes only. I also watch shows such as American Justice, Cold Case Files and America’s Most Wanted, and I know these are real shows with real cases trying to inform us about real criminals and how real their crimes are.

America’s Most Wanted first aired in 1988. It was the first “reality” show that invited the public to help solve real crimes that were happening to real people. (Seaton). Unfortunately, reality didn’t seem “real” enough for the public, so Hollywood made “reality” look more “real”.

Any crime being committed anywhere, for any reason, is wrong, but because of what criminals learn from these television shows, some crimes are going unsolved. On top of the fact criminals are learning new ways to “get away with murder”; society is losing faith in law enforcement agencies because of how crimes are being solved on television.

Basically, in either world, a crime starts the same way; it’s what happens next that’s different and gives the public ideas---good and bad.

Before criminals leave a crime scene, they go through a checklist of things that need to be done so they don’t get caught. Some of the things they do these days aren’t things that they would have done before these shows were created. One of the most common and most heard about is cleaning the scene with bleach. Tammy Klein, senior criminologist of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, says “eight years ago it was unheard of for a killer to use bleach.” Today, the use of bleach, which destroys DNA, is not unusual in a planned homicide. (Milicia, 2006). Other examples of using “new” methods during a crime scene include; using a blanket, tarp or a large piece of plastic to cover an area so there is no transfer; burning such items as bloody clothes, cigarette butts (anything with the criminals DNA on it) even burning bodies.(Milicia,2006). Rapists wear gloves and condoms, make victims urinate and shower after the rape, they even have gone as far as making the victim wash themselves with bleach. Unfortunately, the more