Are you a serving/ex police officer Strangely Sane?                                                                                                                                                                              

I was a scene of crime officer back in the mists of time.  Like CSI but without the glamour.                                                                                                                                                                              

Most forces now are taking advantage of the confiscation of vehicles for traffic offences that warrent it and using them as unmarks if they're are high performance. I know Derbyshire, Merseyside and Cheshire do it. Its cheap for them and they can turn their cars over frequently to reduce compremise.

bomb doc....good to know......wasnt aware that they did that                                                                                                                                                                             

  I was a scene of crime officer back in the mists of time. Like CSI but without the glamour   Yes, Strangely Sane, CSI does seem to have a fair bit of glamour going on, if the programme makers took out the glamour and the drama it would be boring. I reckon that results don't come as quickly as portrayed on the telly either.    Bomb, it's nice to know that the Police force is into recycling.                                                                                                                                                                                     

CSI bears zero resemblance to real life. 

In real life a bunch of blokes and women in labcoats (no Raybans) painstakingly photograph the scene, measure all the positions, dust and lift prints gather the forensic evidence up in bags, log everything and then pass it on to the labs / detectives handling the case. It's all very plodding procedural stuff.

I'm told this is exactly as it is in America.  They are not issued with guns. They don't interview suspects. They don't investigate the crime. They don't arrest anyone. They, as in the UK, are merely evidence gatherers.  Technical guys in plastic overalls, rubber, boots, rubber gloved, and wearing hair covering so's not to contaminate the scene.

They don't perform their own tests - the forensics are sent off to a specialist lab - just as it is here.

The BS of the CSI franchise is so strong that in American courts they have to explain to juries prior to a trial that CSI is all TV fantasy and should not be reflected upon when considering real life evidence placed before them. :)

Double post - please delete.