Were DRAGNET Episodes Really Based On True Stories?

[Payne_N.Diaz]

*Originally posted by Frumious Bandersnatch *
**
In the opening scene, the “evidence gatherer” cut a finger off the body, ostensibly to get a finger print.

Is this standard procedure? I’ve never seen it before. **

They will, occasionally, in the case of badly damaged/decomposed bodies, remove the fingertips in order to better analyse the prints. It’s a lot easier to work with a fingertip than a whole, decomposing corpse.