The cop show genre of television has always been one of the most popular genres out there. From dramas like “NYPD Blue” and “Hawaii Five-O” to forensic procedurals such as “CSI” and “NCIS” to action-comedies like “Bones” and “Castle,” these shows have often gotten both rave reviews and high ratings.
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But just how realistic are these shows? And how much of these shows are influenced by what happens in the real world?
It’s safe to say that many of the high-profile, real-world cases are what showrunners base their TV cases on. Things seem to diverge beyond that.
The most glaring difference between real-world crime-solving and the ones people see on television is how long it takes to actually solve a crime.Most of the cases on TV shows are closed by the end of an episode. It takes anywhere from a day to a week at the longest (TV show chronology) to find a killer, a missing person, or the answer to all their questions. The reality of it is that cases take months, sometimes, years to resolve.
It’s also peculiar in some cases how cops do the jobs of lab technicians and vice versa. Everything is also so much more dramatic in cop shows, much like courtroom dramas. In a courtroom drama, you’d see lawyers screaming in courtrooms, which never happens. The same with cops. It rarely gets as dramatic as what people see onscreen.
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| Image source: digitaltrends.com |
Adam Quirk is an award-winning criminal justice professional who has worked for years with the FBI and DEA. Learn more about him by checking out this LinkedIn page.
