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Rhune
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Is CSI For Real?
« on: May 13^th, 2005, 6:58pm »

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Is CSI For Real?
by Paul D. Rosevear

There's no doubt about it: The forensic science on the television drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is highly contagious. The hit show has inspired spin-offs and exploded enrollments in forensics programs at many colleges and universities.

But is the line between entertainment and education getting blurred? Read on to explore the difference between forensics and faux-rensics ...

The Prosecution
In light of the public's rabid appetite for CSI and programs like it, experts have mixed feelings on the impact the show's popularity is having. "CSI is getting more people interested in the science, which is fantastic," explains Dr. Jennifer Thompson, program director of multidisciplinary studies at University of Nevada, which offers a forensic science degree program. (In fact, one of UNLV's professors, Daniel Holstein, is the real-life inspiration for Gil Grissom, CSI's leading character.) "The shows themselves are idealized versions of the field. They've got wonderful technology that just isn't available in real life, and everything gets solved in a neat and tidy hour!"

If it seems a little bit unrealistic that each episode's investigators spend time collecting data at crime scenes, conducting tests and experiments at laboratories, reviewing evidence at police departments, and questioning suspects, it's because it is. In reality, there are highly trained specialists who do each of these tasks separately, and case resolution is often far from TV-perfect.

Data analysis often takes weeks or even months. "It's the speed and the specificity more than anything," says Dr. Stephen Theberge, assistant professor of chemistry at Merrimack College in North Andover, Massachussetts. Theberge teaches a forensic analysis course and offers a forensics concentration for chemistry majors.

"You don't just stick something into a machine and immediately find out it's got Maybelline lipstick on it, color 42. It's just not that easy," he says. Characters on forensic TV shows often possess the skills of many different kinds of specialists--it's much more exciting to see the countless aspects of the field crammed into one supercharged investigator. "The investigator position on TV is an amalgam of a police officer/detective and lab scientist. In reality, this position doesn't exist."

The Defense
Though some of the miraculous tactics and technologies used to solve crimes on TV and in movies don't really exist, you'd probably be surprised to find out just how many of them actually do. James Lucas, adjunct faculty member at Oakton Community College in Des Plaines, Illinois, teaches law enforcement students about the equipment used by the FBI and other crime-solving institutions.

"We are the first college-level forensics course in the U.S. to feature instruction using the Intergraph Video Analyst System," he says. This system utilizes NASA-developed VISAR (Video Stabilization and Registration) technology to examine video. "Very often, it's never more than a tattoo, or a kind of sneaker, that is needed to identify a criminal from video footage," he explains, so in that sense, there is some truth to TV plots. "This was the same technology that was able to identify the Rider truck used in the Oklahoma bombing."

Like Thompson and Theberge, Lucas acknowledges that TV's depiction of the ease with which forensic technologies can yield results is usually exaggerated--but that plenty of amazing gadgetry does exist. "In addition to the video system, we'll teach students something called Faces 1.0, a program that creates composite facial drawings," he says. "The full-fledged police version has 2,000 extra choices for eyes, features, aging, and more." Another device Lucas mentions is AFIX 5.0, a desktop automatic fingerprint and palm print comparison system--something many Hollywood criminal justice fans are familiar with from movies.
What's the Big Deal?
At the end of the day, is it really such a serious crime if shows like CSI project an embellished version of forensics work in the name of entertainment? Probably not. But the public's growing awareness is indeed making its way into the courtroom.

"Nowadays, juries expect to see amazing forensic stuff," says Melissa Connor, adjunct forensic science professor at Nebraska Wesleyan University (Lincoln, NE). "They've seen all of the expensive techniques and they want to be wowed."

For the forensic enthusiast who wants a more accurate look into crime solving, there are some shows that are more fact than fiction. "When I started Forensic Files, over 10 years ago, it was because of what I saw going on in the O. J. Simpson trial," explains the show's executive producer and creator Paul Dowling. During each episode, the show reviews real-life cases and the techniques used to solve them. "My perception was that we had a bunch of jurors who were asked to try to understand very complicated genetic science and DNA. I wanted to show people what can be done with forensic science, as well as what can't be done."
A Real-Life Look
While the forensics you see on television may be enhanced to keep things action-packed, there is plenty of real-life action happening every single day. Jessica Mondero, a recent graduate of the master's program in forensic science at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, Nebraska, was called out to Iraq as part of a team Professor Connor assembled to exhume and analyze human remains from mass graves. The evidence culled will most likely be used in Saddam Hussein's trial. Talk about real-world application!

"I was there for three months while I was finishing my degree," she explains. "There was a little hesitation on my part to go over there--just because you know it's not a peaceful place. But the fact that there is a United States military presence over there made me feel more secure."

Mondero, Connor, and the rest of their team set up camp right outside the grave sites, along with roughly 30 other specialists from the United States. Iraqi forensics workers were also present, learning techniques from the U.S. team so they could continue the work after the American workers moved on.

"I worked in the morgue, which was located inside of a U.S. camp," explains Mondero. "I analyzed artifacts that were recovered with the bodies in the grave. It was my job to go through clothing, jewelry, IDs, blindfolds, gags, ligatures--anything that didn't deal with the bone."

Though Mondero didn't deal with bones, her experience may be considered bone-chilling by many. "It takes a certain personality to be in this field," she admits. "But I really enjoy problem-solving and investigative work. A lot of what we'd do in the master's program would be via e-mail or the Internet, but the most exhilarating stuff was hands-on. I love to piece together the story of how something actually happened."

Published courtesy ClassesUSA.com.

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bec
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Re: Is CSI For Real?
« Reply #1 on: May 14^th, 2005, 12:49am »

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real or not I love the show and anything that can inspire my teenage daughter to study more and develop a keen interest in science is ok in my books!

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Pau
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Re: Is CSI For Real?
« Reply #2 on: May 16^th, 2005, 3:40am »

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welll.... yeah... these shows also create an image to the US of how quickly its crime busting is.....

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luci
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Re: Is CSI For Real?
« Reply #3 on: May 16^th, 2005, 8:59am »

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.............maybe it will scare off those intending to do criminal acts.
We tired of this show quickly, for neither of us like the gore!

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Bumper
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Re: Is CSI For Real?
« Reply #4 on: May 16^th, 2005, 10:14am »

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Like all TV shows, things get neatly condensed to fit the time slot. Wham, Bam, case solved . . . . all within the hour.

If anybody anywhere believes that that is the way it works routinely, I have a bridge you might be interested in purchasing.

In reality, the field of Forensics is a tough field to crack. Most Law Enforcement Agencies require that their Forensic Investigators be sworn Police Officers. That means that you just don't walk in the door just because you have attended some Forensic training school. As the article stated, what you see as ONE Forensic technician on TV is a composite of MANY different technicians, each having their own particular discipline of science.

And it's a standing joke to any of us who have been involved in law enforcement that if they had "Smell TV", this CSI show would have been off the air after the first episode. Wink

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bec
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Re: Is CSI For Real?
« Reply #5 on: May 16^th, 2005, 10:28am »

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Bumper I understand what you'r saying!

When watching a show like CSI it does appear that their job is very quick and easy....however CSI doesn't ever appear to give a time frame......within that hour that we watch it could have in fact covered several months of investigation!

Forensic science is a very detailed and mind boggling thing. My daughter wishes to become a criminologist and after looking into what she will need to do and study to acheive this although she is still very keen she has admittec that " gosh tv makes it look so much easier"

In the entire country Australia there are only 8 criminologists proving that not only is it a difficult thing to break into but also the dediaction and patience one must have to persue such a career!

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Pau
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Re: Is CSI For Real?
« Reply #6 on: May 18^th, 2005, 4:12am »

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yeah... and it is very expensive to perform... here in the Philippines where we are still backward in forensic and DNA technology has to even send sample to the US to get the required results... and this TV show is a wow show for Filipino viewers...

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yesteach
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Re: Is CSI For Real?
« Reply #7 on: May 21^st, 2005, 2:04pm »

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Check this out - a university forensics lab. When my mom passed away this spring, we tried to donate the body to them - but Texas doesn't allow bodies to be transported across state lines without them being embalmed, and they don't accept embalmed bodies.... We were really disappointed, figured this was something she would have loved!

http://web.utk.edu/%7Eanthrop/index.htm

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