12-01-2022, 01:59 AM
By the way, there doesn’t seem to be great evidence behind the “police gut” idea. The research suggests that police officers don’t get better at spotting lies or reading body language as they accrue experience. And they aren’t necessarily better than others. The much more reliable method of investigating is to accumulate evidence and look for inconsistencies. Unfortunately, US TV shows love to promote the idea of the cop with an infallible ability to spot the liar. Lie to Me had a body language expert who would have a Eureka moment in each episode when a single observation would reveal to him the guilty person. In reality, one observation isn’t reliable and behaviour has to be assessed against the base line for that individual rather than some population standard. Otherwise, police will inevitably suspect the oddball like Lindy Chamberlain and try to mould the evidence to convict her.
Criminal Minds raised behavioural analysis to the level where it’s stars could tell police what food the “unsubs” like and what side of the bed they sleep on. In reality, the information the real unit compiles just paints a picture of the average weather than the particular unsub. When there was a sniper on the loose who had killed a number of random people, the FBI concluded that he was a lone gunman who was white. That was a reasonable guess based on historical information: the great majority of serial killers are white and they usually act alone. Ultimately the police caught a father and son team who were black.
Again, an alert copper is an open-minded one who pays particular attention to things that might go unnoticed by the lazy copper. That’s the Sherlock Holmes tradition that Columbo honoured.
Criminal Minds raised behavioural analysis to the level where it’s stars could tell police what food the “unsubs” like and what side of the bed they sleep on. In reality, the information the real unit compiles just paints a picture of the average weather than the particular unsub. When there was a sniper on the loose who had killed a number of random people, the FBI concluded that he was a lone gunman who was white. That was a reasonable guess based on historical information: the great majority of serial killers are white and they usually act alone. Ultimately the police caught a father and son team who were black.
Again, an alert copper is an open-minded one who pays particular attention to things that might go unnoticed by the lazy copper. That’s the Sherlock Holmes tradition that Columbo honoured.