So, This Is How Accurate Crime Shows Really Are

Nothing beats a good, cosy crime drama.

Following a detective as they retrace steps, interview suspects and wander into gruesome crime scenes without even a hint of hand sanitiser. All of that while having a cheeky late night cup of tea? Can’t beat it. 

That being said, how accurate are these shows in depicting what actually happens during an investigation? We know that it’s not quite as glossy as it is on screen, but are the important details factual?

Well, not so much.

Digital Spy spoke with Sophie Harris, a forensic assistant apprentice who revealed that not only is most of it not factual, but for shows like Luther, even the premise is off.

In a lot of crime and detective shows, there is one person fronting the investigation who not only does the paperwork, but gets their hands dirty in the nitty gritty of the crime scenes and is responsible for speaking to witnesses and suspects.

Harris explained that this isn’t quite so straightforward in the real world, saying: “On a lot of crime dramas, they show everything being done by one or two people, but that’s not true. You have a first officer attending the scene who alerts other people about what’s going on.

“After that, when forensics get involved, you’ll have a forensics scene investigator come, you’ll have crime scene coordinators, you’ll have all sorts of different people attending the scene.”

Another very satisfying plot point in many crime scenes is somebody being identified from a single fingerprint. 

Usually, you’ll see one tech whizz sits in front of a screen, who scans the fingerprint and boom — we have our criminal.

Harris said: “On NCIS, I remember, they found a fingerprint and just popped it onto the system and then they got a suspect straight from that.

“But, you’ve got to be able to find a certain amount of characteristics on a fingerprint to be able to compare it to a mark, so it’s not that straightforward.”

Reality is, as ever, a little more admin-heavy than fiction.