DEBUNKING CSI

UNEDITED SAMPLE FEATURE ARTICLE
By Zatia Denise Danao Gammad
IV-Madame Marie Curie


Who could ever change the channel once Crime Scene Investigation is showing? Having been the most-watched television series in the United States in 2002, CSI continues to astonish viewers with the unveiling of unusual deaths and other crimes. It has always left us a spark of interest after each gripping episode. Especially at the advent of technology, the series has been displaying numerous applications of machines that penetrate down to the inevitable truth of each crime. This made viewers catch a glimpse of the real-life investigation. But does it really show how it is done off camera and in a real crime scene?

First broadcasted on October 6, 2000, the American crime drama television series has effectively delivered the complexities of forensic science to millions of viewers. The show presents a group of police officials and scientists that solve criminal cases with the help of forensic science. With high-intensity, filtered light and latex gloves, these officials search and examine for physical traces, such as blood, body fluids, textile fibers from clothing, shattered glass embedded on limbs, flammable substances, illegal pharmaceuticals, and such, which may be helpful in identifying who’s responsible for the crime. It also demonstrates getting the results immediately while working simultaneously in the field. Clearly, it shows that forensic science can solve any case. However, Max M Houck, director of the Forensic Science Initiative at West Virginia University and a real-life forensic scientist, disagrees. According to him, the show depicts science heavily flavored with Hollywood exaggeration.

The show exhibits facts gathered that narrate the story of each case. It is believed because of the details that happen to fit like jigsaw puzzles to reveal a clear picture of the unseen incidents. And with the intricate machines that can gather almost anything from the tiniest piece of matter, it is quickly accepted by many to be like the real one. Though interesting, the real investigation can be tedious and time consuming, which is contrary to what is shown on television.

“Forensic science is not about leather pants and driving a hummer,” Houck says. “It’s more about crawling under porches looking for body parts.”

There had been several fictions discovered from the inaccurate perception of how police solve crimes. First, the investigation is a slow working process conducted by many specialists like ballistic specialists, trace evidence specialists, lab technicians, and pathologists, not just by a handful of scientists. Next is the constant access to the body for autopsy by the scientists with minimal protective gear. In the show, it is more than once that the scientists, only in their clean cut gowns and latex gloves, view the body. In real-life, however, the pathologists are allowed to view the body once. Therefore, they must conduct a complete autopsy in a short period of time with a full protective outfit. There is also the recreation of the scenes through animation made from every fragment of evidence for incriminating purposes. Though their multiple successes in recreating are quite convincing, the scientists must sort through volumes of excess information before making conclusions. A forensic scientist’s process of reconstructing a crime is like trying to determine what a person ate for breakfast based on a kitchen full of ingredients. “Look at all the stuff in your kitchen,” Houck said, “then look at the few things it would take for you to reconstruct your breakfast. For people to reconstruct your breakfast, it would take much longer.” Lastly, doesn’t it amaze us to see that fingerprints ran through a computer database can easily give us the biological data and picture of the suspect? Because of it, we predict that it only takes a few hours for the CSI team to arrest the suspect. DNA is always a sure thing in the series but not off camera. With some small or degraded DNA samples taken from a crime scene, it's not always possible to get a full DNA profile. When they can be run, the computer gives back a possible list of owners if the person is in the system, but not instantly and not with photographs. Then an officer has to do a physical comparison between the two prints to be sure of a match, which takes time. There are plenty of spawning criticisms on fact versus fiction about the television series but it stays as a public’s growing interest. The viewers’ knowledge and opinion of forensic science have changed, creating a rippling of changes within the field. Later on, this ripple has been called the “CSI effect.”

"The CSI effect is basically the perception of the near-infallibility of forensic science in response to the TV show," says Houck. "This TV show comes on and everyone starts watching it - including the cops and prosecutors - and submissions to forensic laboratories go through the roof."

The CSI effect has both positive and negative ramifications for universities teaching forensic science. Before the shows aired, West Virginia University’s forensics program graduated four students in 1999. Four years later, the number has leaped to 400 students, according to Houck. The study attraction has tremendously increased and has further rippled through the legal system. Jurors carry high expectations for forensic scientists nowadays. They expect every piece of evidence to be tested even when testing is not necessary, according to Houck. Many defense attorneys worry that jurors view forensic science as irrefutable, and prosecuting attorneys may now hesitate to use uncertain forensic evidence. Even police officers carry unrealistic expectations for forensic science. They believe that the scientists will solve the crime like the characters in the television show.

Anthony E Zuiker’s show will remain intriguing to millions of viewers despite of its lack in realism. Its popularity has led to the hundreds of fan sites that discuss the episodes and even post full videos of the show. Miniature models of the characters are even sold at eBay and have been bought for as high as $15,600 per doll. Though there is a line between truth and television, viewers will still be attached to the show’s phenomenal exposure of forensic science.