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

[Fragmentedbrain]

They'd sign off at the end of their shift like everyone else imo

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

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

True

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

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

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

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.

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

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

I imagine they work very long shifts especially immediately after a crime is discovered, when witness memories are likely to be fresh. But there’s probably a lot of following up wrong trails and dead ends, which is tedious but essential work, and doesn’t make for good tv viewing. Dramas need people not to switch off, so they’ll need regular important but not obvious at first sight clues cropping up.

Yeah it’s a case of what they can control, vs what they can’t. I was involved in a pretty big/complex case through work (we were the ‘victims’, not the police!) and I remember the senior officer pushing back on meetings set one week that he’d be away - then all of a sudden it all kicked off again and his holiday was cancelled and he was working every hour under the sun that week! IMO good on them for actually pushing back and making sure things are scheduled within their working hours where possible - as inconvenient as that must be for people trying to do the scheduling.

But clearly not detectives

Things that happen in crime dramas that surely don't happen in real life -
Everyone has a bottle of whisky in their filing cabinet.
Two detectives in shiny city shoes stand in a muddy field questioning the whole group of suspects together.
The senior officer gathers all the suspects, the maid and the game keeper together in the sitting room and tells them all, at considerable length, who dunnit and how.

The most famous person in the room is ALWAYS the murderer.
The top copper is always a total tit, always behind a desk and plays golf.
The sidekick has dinner at the guv'nor's house and spends Christmas eve playing Scrabble there whilst wearing comedy knitwear.

I’ve watched a lot of True Crime docus and they work insane hours.

I agree. I watch a lot of crime/police dramas and I am also unconvinced about how reluctant any detectives are to take time off. Even when they've been seriously injured and are in hospital. I really do not believe that someone who has been shot,or mown down by a car, would be champing at the bit to get back to work ASAP! The number of times I've seen police personnel yanking the drips out of their arms, getting dressed and leaving the hospital, despite the fact that they're obviously not well.

Fictional crime series tend to focus on one or two high ranking officers working 24/7 solving crimes with their intuition and brains. That's entertaining. An episode of Lewis where he has a day's leave and spends it on the allotment would be rather dull. I have no connection with the police, but watching any documentary about actual detective work, its clear that it is painstaking, team-based and involves a lot of not very entertaining leg work, and some long hours in many cases.

Tell me more about this overtime that's pretty good because dh works stupid hours and never, ever gets overtime for it. He's given TOIL and can never take it due to staffing issues. His outstanding TOIL is usually higher than his annual leave entitlement.

DH went back in the day he was discharged from hospital after having meningitis and also went in the day after he'd been very seriously assaulted. Against medical advice and he was assaulted again and ended up with severe concussion necessitating surgery.

I have many, many other examples.

Yabu I think.many murders are painstakingly undertaken .long after crimes solved as well.i don't think they would clock off at 5pm somehow! High profile cases like maddy for example.

My dad was a bog standard pc. Never wanted promotion, didn’t want to be in the sweeney etc just loved being a normal copper on the beat. He did it for over 30 years in a high crime level area and said he was never ever bored. Having said all that, there were many occasions when our family plans didn’t go to plan as dad had to stay on at work. We were due to go out for a family meal to celebrate my 16 th birthday. Dad phoned to say he’d be late., but he didn’t know how late. As we were due to go out, mum hadn’t been shopping so I ended up with cheese on toast and an early night.

He needs to speak to the Fed. If they aren't dishing out the TOIL, they need to pay it in his wages. Most forces have an agreement on this.

@ShowOfHands surely his TOIL is converted into paid OT if he hasn't taken it after 3 months? (Assuming he's constable or sergeant)

YABU. It’s fiction. A book in which everyone goes to the bathroom as needed, eats, signs off work, sleeps… all of it …. Would be so wildly boring

I was listening to the new (British) podcast The Crime Agents and they made the point that police don't have the same employment rights as other professions because they're Servants of the Crown rather than employees.

Good podcast btw.

Police can’t strike unlike the doctors you mentioned upthread -

They can have annual leave cancelled with no notice unless out of the country..

They can’t knock off on time if in the middle of an important case /or attending situation

Overtime pay is not a given also be declined despite the extra hours

you do know all this surely??

I'd watch it! He'd be digging his potatoes and turn up a ring pull, or an old carrot or seed packet and suddenly he'd make an Important Connection.

The camera would pause on his face as held the ring pull/seed packet/old carrot and gaze into the middle distance, before flinging his fork to one side and hurrying to revisit a witness...