The First 48 Hours on A&E

General General Discussion
1

Any of you watch this show? It follows homicide detectives for the all important first 48 hours after a homicide. It’s a well done show, at least from this non LEO perspective. Vast majority of the time, things go in a Farley predictable manner as they track down witnesses, etc, and do their best to make an arrest of the guilty party/parties and all that.

Once in a while, you get one that (1) confirms for me why I wouldn’t make a good LEO and (2) confirms why I respect those doing the job.

Most of the innocent-until-proven-guilty parties act in fairly predictable manner and usually one of a few categories and such.

Last nights episode however, kid goes to the door of a house looking for a kid who had had a basic beef with his younger brother months ago. Not gang related apparently. They tell him to go away, and he does. He comes back later that night, stands in front of the house with an AK, and puts 20+ into the house.

He kills a kid sitting on the couch who was just visiting, injures the kid he was after (no fatally) and permanently paralyzes a young kid (probably 12 or so) who was sleeping in his bed. Kid he was after had no criminal record, which although not proof he was an angel, but “on paper” didn’t seem like a gang banger type. etc.

After they catch up with the shooter, he’s not the least bit remorseful, denies everything (evidence on him was a slam dunk…), and is a total f-ing sack of crap. Among the many insults, general disrespect, etc toward the LEOs, he tells them that when his cousin gets out soon, he will take care of them, etc, etc. This kid was a true sociopath, or what ever the current def is for POS who does not care at all about others.

Well folks, that’s where my respect for the officers and that room took another step up and why I wouldn’t last a day doing that job.

Anyone see the episode? Comments from the LEO perspective on this show?

http://www.aetv.com/the_first_48/index.jsp

2

Didn’t see that episode yet but I do watch them all. I download the seasons on iTunes. I like it because it is opposite of COPS. It is real life and shows how you get the job done one frustrating step at a time. COPS just shows the high energy stuff that the people want to see, not the whole story and how crime affects individuals and their families.

3

Last nights episode was something I different I’ll tell you. Can’t/won’t post what I was thinking, just to say, some people are not cut out for such jobs, and I’m one of those.

4

I watch it when time permits.
I enjoy the show.

5

Personally I don’t like these type of shows, they’re exploiting some one’s tragedy for profit. All I have to ask is if you’re loved one was murdered would you want their death trivialized by having some tv show producers make it into a 30 minute episode on TV to entertain a few 1,000 folks?

6

I’m always amazed by the idiots/suspects they get in the interrogation room. Have none of these dudes ever heard of lawyering up?

7

You guys ever see the episode a few years ago. The detective leaves the suspect in the room by himself and he starts crying and rolling on the floor. Another detective walks by looks in and tells him to get his ass off the floor and stop crying hahahaha

8

Plenty do, but many don’t, that’s a good thing. :smiley:

9

Haven’t watched in a while but I’ve seen several episodes. A very good show, I usually enjoy the Miami episodes the most since I’m in Florida. I highly recommend it!

10

I used to watch The First 48 and Crime 360 a lot. Crime 360 actually helped me out once. When I applied for my concealed permit I asked how long it would take to process it and the woman said they were backlogged and it would be 30-45 days. I told her that sucked because I was hoping to have it before I left for Richmond in 10 days. That’s when she went on a tangent about how she watched Crime 360 all the time and Richmond was a dangerous place. So she said she was going to fast track it for me and started doing the background checks on the spot, even though there was a six inch stack of applications ahead of me. The sheriff had already left, but she had him sign it as soon as he came in the next morning. It went from taking at least 30 days to being in my hands in 16 hours. I was impressed. Now if she only would have waived the $100 fee…

11

For the most part I agree that if it happened to a friend or family member I wouldn’t want it on TV, but there have been a few cases where the killer was not caught at first, but after the show aired they got leads from people who watched it and the caught the prson.

12

Don’t be deceived: Most criminal types know how to play the system like a violin. Ask some of our veteran police officers here how hard it is to get somebody real jail time in modern America.

13

I saw that episode and, even though the guy was a major dirt bag, I think he did nearly everything right as someone being interrogated.

He built a contempt for his questioner and prevented the interviewer from establishing a rapport , he never confessed, &c.

My only problem is that he said way too much. It seems like a problem with many of the suspects on The First 48 is that they confess and they never ask for a lawyer.

It is a good thing crooks are generally stupid.

14

I can only imagine the frustration level of the investigators when trying to get the real predators off the streets and the locals wont help for alot of reasons. Im sure we see only the best cases they investigate though. But it`s a whole different from most shows where they get the serial killer in 60 minutes or less.

15

I’ve TiVoed “The First 48” since it’s inception… great show.