Expert: Robin Sexton - 5/4/2008

Question
I know that a job such as this one is very dangerous, so I wanted to ask you a certain question. On Television, sometimes criminals kidnap or hurt your loved ones or people that are close to you. Does it happen in real life?

Answer
Joyce,

I am not sure i understood your question.  If you are asking do criminals sometimes go after family members of investigators the answer unfortunately is, Yes.  It happens very rarely though.  You normally would see this in more urban areas or areas of extremely high crime rate.   The reason is going after the investigator or his family normally does no good.    If a department thought an investigator had been compromised they would assign a new investigator.  Also police officers would take it very personal and there would be a lot of pressure put on the suspects.  Officers are cognizant of the fact that we and are family are potential targets and take precautions.  Federal officers that work overseas probably have the most difficult time.  Television takes a lot of liberties in doing their stories.  It is entertainment, seldom close to reality.  If they did it like real life, most people would fall asleep during the show.

Thanks for the question


Robin