Real-life crime investigation is not as it appears on TV

While last week's Citizens Police Academy session looked at Schaumburg's patrol bureau, this week's examined the equally well-known task of criminal investigations.

They're different from each other in many ways, but the bureaus do have one thing in common: how much wrong information the general public has about their jobs from TV shows and movies.

One thing that might surprise readers is a transfer to the detective division is considered a lateral move on the force, not a promotion.

While some departments try to reinforce this by regularly moving officers in and out of investigations, in Schaumburg there's an effort to not squander the experience and know-how people build up over time.

Major cases: One of the biggest recent changes to the way major cases like homicides, serial arsons and bombings are investigated in the Northwest suburbs was the creation of the Major Case Assistance Team -- or MCAT -- in the wake of the 1993 Brown's Chicken murders in Palatine.

If you've ever wondered why some cases are solved almost immediately while others remain open for years, it all boils down to investigators' success in obtaining any of the three things that can close a case: physical evidence, witnesses or confessions.

If there's an element to crime TV that isn't fiction, it's the emphasis on the importance of the first 48 hours after a crime. Investigators' efforts are tireless in the hours and days following a major crime, because that's when any physical evidence or witnesses that may exist are most easily found.

It was in the interest of providing the resources for such efforts that MCAT was created. Investigators from all participating departments contribute to the task of canvassing neighborhoods and looking for evidence in painstaking detail immediately after a major crime.

Social workers: Schaumburg's police department was not only the first accredited police agency in Illinois, it was providing social workers to help crime victims when this was virtually unheard of for police departments.

One function of the department's social services is to provide assistance beyond the immediate response to or investigation of a crime.

Department social workers are on call to provide counseling, financial and housing assistance, protective shelter and orders of protection.

The department changed its approach to domestic violence a few years ago, taking a more proactive role in protecting victims even if they choose not to press charges.