'CSI’ Helps Criminals Avoid Identification

CSI Files

Captain
CSI and other forensic shows provide more than entertainment – they’re giving criminals ideas on how to commit the perfect crime.

According to New Scientist magazine, robbers today wear gloves, rapists use condoms to avoid leaving their DNA behind, and carjackers even place random cigarette butts inside the cars to confuse the police. These are all ideas they've gotten from watching CSI, according to the magazine. "Suddenly the police have 20 potential people in the car," said <font color=yellow>Guy Rutty</font> from the Forensic Pathology unit at Leicester University.

This makes the detectives’ work much harder, and has prompted real-life CSIs to avoid talking to the media fearing they'll provide criminals with even more ideas. "People are forensically aware," added Rutty.

And not only has CSI helped criminals think more creatively, it’s also creating problems in the court rooms, where jurors who watch CSI expect elaborate evidence to be presented to them. It’s been dubbed the CSI Effect. "Jurors who watch CSI believe that those scenarios, where forensic scientists are always right, are really what happens," said forensic sedimentologist <font color=yellow>Peter Bull</font>.

Jurors are constantly disappointed when little evidence is presented to them, or when a simple blood drop takes more than 44 minutes to test. "Oversimplification of interpretations on CSI has led to false expectations, especially about the speed of delivery of forensic evidence," added <font color=yellow>Jim Fraser</font>, director of the Centre for Forensic Science at the University of Strathclyde, UK.

Pick up the latest issue of New Scientist magazine to read the rest of the article. A preview of it can be found at the magazine’s official website.<center></center>
 
Yada yada... Don't they complain about this about every six months or so?

*Marks calendar to await next report of this... *
 
Perhaps this is why crime shows, particularly CSI, try to deviate from reality. If they show every little step in the procedures, just think how much MORE easier it would be for the criminals! Maybe critics will finally realize it's a GOOD thing not to be so realistic!
 
You got people on one side who complains that the CSI shows aren't realistic enough. You got people on another side who complains that the CSI shows are too realistic. Either way someone's gonna be unhappy, so why give a crap what they think? *shrug*
 
This isn't fair to CSI you know... and don't they know that crime doesn't pay? No matter what you do, the evidence will always lead you to the right person.
 
I love the CSI shows and all, but I have to say, if I was going to commit a crime, I'd be damn sure to pull my hair back, wear a ski cap, and gloves so as not to leave any any DNA evidence. But I'd say that most criminals probably don't watch CSI and those that do, well, they might get caught in another way. And some others will never get caught, unfortunately :( , but I don't think that has anything to do with a television show.

I imagine more criminals are caught these days than 10-15 years ago, and are much more accurately convicted.

What doesn't always get mentioned in these articles is that DNA evidence and technology seen on CSI helps free people who were wrongly convicted.
 
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