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For Profiling Murderers, Is There a “Criminal Minds Effect”?
If you follow courtroom news, you may have heard the term “CSI effect.” It means the lofty notions jurors are said to have of forensic evidence — blood spatter, fingerprints, tire impressions, shooting reconstructions, etc. — and its value in catching criminals, especially killers.
Where do such notions come from?
- Law & Order
- Cold Case
- Bones
- NCIS
- CSI
Prosecutors say the effect makes it harder to win convictions. Defense lawyers claim jurors rely too heavily on scientific findings, making them unwilling to accept that those findings can be compromised by human errors.
On television, forensic science is thrilling, seductive. In reality, the hours are long, and the work is tedious.
The same goes for criminal profiling, a cerebral pursuit gussied up by CBS’s Criminal Minds. Most episodes feature serial cases, some based on actual killers like the Zodiac, the Night Stalker Edward Ramirez, and Son of Sam. A team from the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, or BAU, works with local cops to review evidence and magic up an offender profile, leading to a no-muss-no-fuss arrest within, oh, 30 minutes.
