# Stuff you know about crime and law enforcement if your info comes from movies and TV **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 25, 2010, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-know-about-crime-and-law-enforcement-if-your-info-comes-from-movies-and-tv/551451 "2010-08-25T20:50:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-know-about-crime-and-law-enforcement-if-your-info-comes-from-movies-and-tv/551451/141 "2010-09-02T08:07:20Z")
Mounties are magical. (Maybe that’s just Due South.) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-know-about-crime-and-law-enforcement-if-your-info-comes-from-movies-and-tv/551451/142 "2010-09-02T08:42:53Z")
> [@Leiko](#): > > Mounties are magical. > > (Maybe that’s just Due South.) Texas Rangers are mystical. ---
**Author:** ![GSV\_Consolation\_of\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f1d935/32.png) [@GSV\_Consolation\_of\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GSV_Consolation_of_Dreams)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-know-about-crime-and-law-enforcement-if-your-info-comes-from-movies-and-tv/551451/143 "2010-09-02T10:39:59Z")
As an investigator, any time you are stuck on a case, just go home and chat with your spunky daughter/sarcastic gay neighbour/down-to-earth dad/whatever. They will always make an off-hand remark that will give you a flash of inspiration, enabling you to solve the case. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-know-about-crime-and-law-enforcement-if-your-info-comes-from-movies-and-tv/551451/144 "2010-09-02T14:29:25Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > > [@Sampiro](#): > > > > Anytime a human touches something, even for a second, he or she leaves plenty of DNA to positively identify themself. > > Also: > > A rapist can be identified from the DNA they leave, regardless to whether they used a condom or ejaculated. I thought IRL they were working on being able to get usable DNA from a single microscopic skin flake that anyone might have left behind. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-know-about-crime-and-law-enforcement-if-your-info-comes-from-movies-and-tv/551451/145 "2010-09-02T18:06:03Z")
> [@GSV\_Consolation\_of\_Dreams](#): > > As an investigator, any time you are stuck on a case, just go home and chat with your spunky daughter/sarcastic gay neighbour/down-to-earth dad/whatever. They will always make an off-hand remark that will give you a flash of inspiration, enabling you to solve the case. But of course you won’t just hear the statement and then figure something out, instead you’ll say “Wait, stop, what did you just say?” and have them repeat the statement verbatim, out of context. Then you’ll say “you’re a genius!” or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-know-about-crime-and-law-enforcement-if-your-info-comes-from-movies-and-tv/551451/146 "2010-09-02T18:29:38Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > > [@GSV\_Consolation\_of\_Dreams](#): > > > > As an investigator, any time you are stuck on a case, just go home and chat with your spunky daughter/sarcastic gay neighbour/down-to-earth dad/whatever. They will always make an off-hand remark that will give you a flash of inspiration, enabling you to solve the case. > > But of course you won’t just hear the statement and then figure something out, instead you’ll say “Wait, stop, what did you just say?” and have them repeat the statement verbatim, out of context. Then you’ll say “you’re a genius!” or something like that. Also works in the House universe, where people don’t get arrested for breaking into houses. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-know-about-crime-and-law-enforcement-if-your-info-comes-from-movies-and-tv/551451/147 "2010-09-02T20:19:46Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > > [@GSV\_Consolation\_of\_Dreams](#): > > > > As an investigator, any time you are stuck on a case, just go home and chat with your spunky daughter/sarcastic gay neighbour/down-to-earth dad/whatever. They will always make an off-hand remark that will give you a flash of inspiration, enabling you to solve the case. > > But of course you won’t just hear the statement and then figure something out, instead you’ll say “Wait, stop, what did you just say?” and have them repeat the statement verbatim, out of context. Then you’ll say “you’re a genius!” or something like that. We would also have accepted “Of course, it was staring me in the face the whole time!”. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-know-about-crime-and-law-enforcement-if-your-info-comes-from-movies-and-tv/551451/148 "2010-09-02T20:53:30Z")
Sometimes a cop will go off and beat a perp into a near bloody pulp, especially if it involves child abuse. This is when the cop will admit that he (or she) was an abused child themselves, or sometimes it will be because they have children of their own and it was resonant. (Cops who weren’t abused as children or don’t have kids of their own don’t really care about abused kids and to them it’s just the same as picking up a guy for unpaid speeding tickets.) ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-know-about-crime-and-law-enforcement-if-your-info-comes-from-movies-and-tv/551451/149 "2010-09-02T21:03:27Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > If a homeless man is found murdered in NY City, a team of at least 4 detectives, 2 prosecutors, and at least one forensic expert will work tirelessly while wearing designer clothes to solve the case. **At no point will someone point out that they are actually too busy and burned out to give much of a rat’s ass about the case and why don’t we just call it a suicide**? On _Law & Order: The One That Isn’t Crap But Which They Cancelled Anyway_, Lenny Briscoe once did just that. Anita van Buren immediately smacked him down for it. Later in the episode she was bored and smacked him around again just for fun. ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-know-about-crime-and-law-enforcement-if-your-info-comes-from-movies-and-tv/551451/150 "2010-09-04T20:55:02Z")
Despite being largely government-funded, civil-servant staffed institutions, which generally have constant budget shortfalls, all forensic labs and crime scene teams have very expensive-looking state-of-the-art equipment such as tripod-mounted lasers and portable mass spectrometers that NASA would envy. And they seem to have an unlimited overtime budget, too. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-know-about-crime-and-law-enforcement-if-your-info-comes-from-movies-and-tv/551451/151 "2010-09-04T21:30:23Z")
> [@Toxgoddess](#): > > And they seem to have an unlimited overtime budget, too. More to the point, no-one goes home or sleeps. Ever. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2010, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-know-about-crime-and-law-enforcement-if-your-info-comes-from-movies-and-tv/551451/152 "2010-09-04T23:23:16Z")
cops stopped shooting you in the back rather than chase you even a step. now they make a chase exciting. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-know-about-crime-and-law-enforcement-if-your-info-comes-from-movies-and-tv/551451/153 "2010-09-05T01:41:25Z")
> [@Illuminatiprimus](#): > > > [@Toxgoddess](#): > > > > And they seem to have an unlimited overtime budget, too. > > More to the point, no-one goes home or sleeps. Ever. They can’t if they’re going to have the “Data analyzed while you wait” policy. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-know-about-crime-and-law-enforcement-if-your-info-comes-from-movies-and-tv/551451/154 "2010-09-05T08:09:32Z")
Codes of coduct, rules, regulations, actual substantive statutes and constitutional provisons are at best suggestions and guidelines at worst shields for child abusers and murderers which are best ignored. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-know-about-crime-and-law-enforcement-if-your-info-comes-from-movies-and-tv/551451.md?page=7)