The title says it all really. If I die on a nice, shag carpet in my bedroom, do the police come in and paint around me, or what? Spray chalk of somekind? What is the procedure here?
You’ve been watching too much TV… they don’t really do that as far as I know.
No kidding? Huh…what a strange thing to make up. Even stranger for it to catch on and then be used all the time
I think they do really use chalk, but not the full outline. The police here will fill crime scenes with chalk marks, but they are usually just a tiny ‘x’ or something, and maybe a number. These mark bullet impact points, skid marks, places where evidence was found. Sometimes they use paper (post-it note type things) instead.
Police will certainly tape off the area to avoid evidence contamination and they take lots of pictures of both the scene and victim. Why would they need to make a chalk outline? Who would that be for?
Yes, real crime scene people take pictures of the body’s position, so there’s no need for chalk, which can actually destroy evidence.
However, the same TV shows that insist on using chalk on cement show tape outlines on carpet or other indoor flooring. So, in the TV world, there’s your answer.
Though a show like CSI is nothing like authentic, they do seem to get the photo thing right, and most other modern cop shows do as well. I can’t remember the last show that used the apocryphal outline.
However, when certain twisted medical examiners’ offices offer mugs and beach towels for sale, that is often the first image they use.
gabriela, I read somewhere that Jack Klugman (Quincy) hosted a party which featured women serving drinks in bikinis and toe-tags. 
I can’t imagine why this hasn’t been posted yet…
The master speaks (i.e. the relevant SD column.)
I* really don’t see how a carpet outline of the body on the pavement is supposed to be useful.
*This post is is merely a shameless excuse to once again brag about the fact that a number of years ago, I was very briefly a guest at the home (known as “The Slammer” for its deliberate resemblance to a minimum-security prison) of Penn Gillette, whose kitchen floor features a red outline of Teller (holding a butcher knife) built right into the tile.
Now this is gross.
Only if there are 144 of them.
What!? You mean real investigators don’t walk around with the lab in near darkness and brood sexily at one another? Another myth shattered.
How do you keep the liquor from dribbling out of the bikini ?
OTOH, I’ve spent many a boozy hazy Saturday night alone in my special secret “club house”, watching re-runs of Lassie and sucking Captain Morgan’s Rum from a toe-tag.
Cartooniverse
The Kegel muscles, of course.
Thanks for the responses everybody.
I don’t know…I forgot about modern technology while thinking up this question. But still, a picture could screw with the perspective a person might have in looking at a dead body as opposed to having an actual outline right in front of your eyes. I mean, things do look different in photos sometimes.
Oh well. Question answered, myth shattered, ignorance fought. Good job everyone.
cues Final Fantasy victory music
The late great Rodney Dangerfield once said, “My wife is so bad in bed… after we have sex, I draw a chalk outline around her!”
::rimshot::
I made cookies once for a party that were twisted up gingerbread men with white frosting outlines. I called them Ginger Dead Men. They were a real hit!
In real life, the only time I saw a chalk outline was when a rat had crawled out of the wall of the Ambulance Service’s dayroom and died in the middle of the floor. The EMTs on duty thought it might a) be funny and b) point out the need for pest control.
Then again, if needed. Whats stopping them for using tape on carpet?
I wonder if other locations can work. Why am I reminded of The Naked Gun?
They can even mark off a body on the water.
My best friend has worked in crime units for many years, and I am on the phone with her right now. She says they have never used chalk lines in any of the divisions she has worked in, in several cities. They have diagrams that they mark off to show body position.