The more we learn about criminals, the more they know about us. The more we get into their minds, the more they are in ours. Could CSI be teaching them too much?
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation has exploded in popularity while shows like Forensic Files and The Investigators on courtTV keep us honest. The case about the Zodiac Killer aired recently on Forensic Files and Psychic Detectives with a show called “Sign of the Zodiac” detailing the story of a man named Eddie Zada who was eventually caught for his killings in New York.
But, the cold-case still exists in San Francisco as investigators can’t be sure if Eddie Zada was in fact the serial killer who terrorized their streets back in the 70s. The only solid suspect they ever had died in 1992, Arthur Leigh Allen. These shows give us a good backdrop for Zodiac, David Fincher’s depiction of Robert Graysmith’s book Zodiac Unmasked.
I, Detective even makes a game out of it. The more we know about them, the more they know about us. The more we get into their minds, the more they are in ours. Could we be teaching them too much?
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami and CSI: New York are hands-down the best television programs along the lines. Watch the show and you’ll learn how to establish a timeline of a crime, how to tell the difference between the entrance wound and the exit wound of a bullet, how ballistic gelatin is used to solve a crime. No matter how slick a criminal thinks the work is, forensics will always find that one piece of evidence that doesn’t fit the puzzle. The façade fades and the truth begins to shine through.
So, what are these shows actually teaching the criminal? What can criminals do to get away with their crimes? When we start to learn all the tools and procedures investigators have at their disposal to solve a crime, criminals learn a simple footprint found in dirt or blood can indicate their size, weight and socioeconomic status, to wear something over their head so that they don’t leave a hair behind, to wear gloves to insure they don’t leave any fingerprints, to avoid ballistics as firearms leave evidence on the hands (burnable or easily destroyable weapons are the preference among serial killers.)
Because CSI comes across as Criminal Procedures 101 and takes us every step of the way nothing is left to the imagination.
