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What do you mean TV isn't real life?
The media has once again discovered that real life isn't the same as TV, as USA Today breathlessly reports that CSI isn't an accurate representation of police forensics.
The article was inspired by the report from the National Academy of Sciences to Congress on the state of forensics and use of evidence in this country. The press release from NAS and audio of their briefing can be found here or you can listen to the story on NPR. Much of what is in the report reflects concerns that have been raised before, but this is a sweeping indictment of the overall system.
The article was inspired by the report from the National Academy of Sciences to Congress on the state of forensics and use of evidence in this country. The press release from NAS and audio of their briefing can be found here or you can listen to the story on NPR. Much of what is in the report reflects concerns that have been raised before, but this is a sweeping indictment of the overall system.
no subject
Hell, the [magic-based] forensics I use in the P.S.I books are closer to reality than what they show on CSI!
Labs are only as good as the tech, the training, and the materials they have to work with. Since that's all predicated on overworked, underfunded people...
Bah. Sheeple is stupid.
no subject
And that doesn't even take into account the problems with arrogance, sloppiness, and even outright falsification of results in order to make the evidence fit a pre-determined suspect.
There are people and labs out there doing good work, but without common enforceable standards, every time an issue crops up, like say Los Angeles having to review 1000 cases after they realized techs had been improperly analyzing fingerprint evidence, it calls into question the credibility of the whole system.