To think the fictional character of the police detective who works all hours until the murder is solved is really unrealistic

is there a difference between us and uk?
I suspect in the US it's different as they generally have less employment rights

Yes, all the charity volunteers are immensely stupid. They’re probably all incredibly selfish too.

Yep, my dad was a detective and if there was a murder, normal home life stopped. We might not see him for days. So I’d say it’s pretty realistic.

Gosh, next you’ll be telling us the devoted care patients get in medical shows isn’t real either.

Maybe it is but I don't really care. When watching something or reading something I don't need everything to be exact

@Fragmentedbrain Inspectors don't actually get paid overtime at all!

but the high ranking officers kitted up, chasing criminals and responding to incidents. THAT'S the unrealistic bit that drives me nuts!

True

Depends on the unit & case. Obviously serial killer etc then all bets are off but most crimes don't fit that scenario.

To be fair I have put in insane hours researching and acting like an armchair detective and going down deep rabbit holes on some crime cases I read about online. I am absolutely not a detective, but I probably would be even more inclined to put those hours in if I was getting paid for it.

My DH was a DCI on the Major Crime Unit and was SIO on a couple of high profile murders. I would get a call from him to say he was on a murder and then would barely see him for weeks. One particular murder I hardly saw him for about 3 months. Luckily at that point we didn’t have our DS. I was one of the lucky wives as my DF was also a DCI so I was used to it! Some of my friend’s marriages really suffered.

I think lots of fiction is unrealistic...that's kind of fiction's prerogative.

Only the lower ranks.

AFAIK Inspector and above don't get OT.

DF was a DI for much of his career. He would work ridiculously long hours. There was also the cliché though that they would work long hours then go for a drink. As children, DB and I also spent many hours waiting in the car in police station car parks when he was looking after us, while he popped in - and spent an hour or so there.

My parents did get divorced.

DB however followed in his footsteps and is also a DI, but he seems to have a much better work life balance - and less of a drinking culture. I think things may have changed for the better (slightly).

And in dramas its not the hours that are fake but the high ranking officers kitted up, chasing criminals and responding to incidents. THAT'S the unrealistic bit that drives me nuts!

I run a department of 26 detectives across 5 teams. The team that are on lates this week (set shift 2pm til 11pm) have so far finished at 2am, 1am and a beautiful 4am last night. All back on duty at 2pm today despite regs saying they are allowed 11 hours between shifts. Yes, all claiming time and a third for the extra hours. 2 of them who got up at 7am for the school run today. Its real. Not all the time but it is. The job is insane, its incessant and never ending. When there is a live job on its all hands to the deck doe as long as it takes. PACE clocks dont stop and we cant pause risk just because we have reached our shift end time. Feeling a little defensive of this subject at the moment, can you tell! My people are passionate, committed and breaking, and there's no end in sight. I have 8 off on long term sick due to stress and have taken 2 resignations this month.

I’ve no idea what happens IRL but it would make for a pretty dull book/TV series if the murder investigations were put on hold while the DI was on rest days!

There’s a huge difference between different teams. If there’s a big case that’s time critical then of course they work all hours to get it done. Other departments won’t have that kind of overtime budget so people clock off at the end of their shift and use their annual leave days.

Very protective of what hours they can control, absolutely.

Have you any idea how difficult it can be to get time off? You better believe they aren't willingly coming to court on the one week they've managed to book off during their kids school holidays, or the rarer fortnight.

When I left the police my system auto ran my hours for me. I'd worked more hours of overtime in my career than I ever took in annual leave.

First, yes they would put in the hours.

Second, it’s fiction, so there’s always a bit of licence taken.

Just as well for the UK public that doctors have to.

Whether it's realistic or not... its called fiction for a reason

My friend's son and daughter in law both work for the police.

They work incredibly long hours and often have to miss important family events as they can't just drop what they're doing.

When the Southport riots happened they had to cancel a holiday they were due to go on the next day because they were required to (and wanted to be) on duty.

Well you'll know you're being goady and talking nonsense then. Unless you live in the arse end of nowhere where the biggest crime of the year is some rustled courgettes from the allotment

Doing what? Sounds like you make the court date arrangements. Not working on shift with them.