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In New York City's War On Crime...

By Steven Lloyd Wilson | Posted Under Think Pieces | Comments (15)

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There’s the old joke about “Murder She Wrote,” that Jessica Fletcher lives in this tiny little town called Cabot Cove (population 3560) and yet at least one body shows up in each of over 260 episodes. Germany didn’t suffer losses of that proportion in World War II, and they pissed off Stalin. During the show’s later seasons, J. Michael Straczynski took over as producer of the show several years before he got caught up in all that silly science fiction nonsense about space stations. He moved the show to New York City to jump start its spiraling ratings, and to at least partially assuage the statistically minded that in such a large city, Fletcher’s weekly blood sating might be a bit less obvious.

Of course, New York City is still the go-to city for police procedurals. At this point, three-fourths of all Americans could probably draw you a fairly decent map of Manhattan’s downtown, along with x’s to mark where they’d heard one could hide bodies most successfully. Hell, if you asked Americans where the most dangerous place to be after dark in the country is, the top three responses would probably be Compton, “my house,” and Central Park. The funny thing is that since the collapse of crime rates in the early 1990s after the harrowing years of the crack epidemic, New York City has actually become one of the safest cities in the country, now having only the 136th highest crime rate among American cities and the lowest of the ten with the highest population.

So how does the murder rate of New York City on television compare to its murder rate in reality?

Let’s focus in on only the procedurals that are set in New York City proper from the 2009-2010 television season, and in particular those that focus on violent crime: “Law and Order,” “Law and Order Criminal Intent,” “Castle,” “CSI:NY,” and “Law and Order SVU.” We’d pick up a few more bodies if we included other shows set in New York City with an occasional death, but overall it probably wouldn’t throw much of a wrench in this back of the envelope calculation. Here’s the number of episodes and murders on each of these shows during that season:

“Law and Order Criminal Intent” 16 episodes, 18 homicides
“Castle” 24 episodes, 24 homicides
“Law and Order” 23 episodes, 28 homicides
“CSI: NY” 23 episodes, 25 homicides
“Law and Order SVU” 24 episodes, 23 homicides

That comes out to a total of 118 homicides in New York City during the 2009-2010 television season. How’s that compare to reality? Well, numbers are kept per calendar year instead of television year, but in 2009 there were 466 murders in New York City.

But that’s a little misleading, since that’s for all the boroughs and it’s quite clear (at least in the Law and Order universe, I’m not sure about “Castle” and “CSI: NY”) that the jurisdiction of the police on the shows is restricted to Manhattan. I recall several instances of “Law and Order” in which linked murders in the Bronx or Queens had to be addressed through their respective police departments. Which means that the proper comparison number isn’t the number for New York City overall, but Manhattan specifically.

The number of murders in real Manhattan in 2009? 59.

Yes, there are actually twice as many murders being committed in fictional Manhattan on network television as there are happening each year in real Manhattan.

Steven Lloyd Wilson is a hopeless romantic and the last scion of Norse warriors and the forbidden elder gods. His novel, ramblings, and assorted fictions coalesce at www.burningviolin.com. You can email him here.









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Comments

Wait a second. Are you telling me I can't believe everything I see on tv? Next you are gonna tell me they allow lying on the internet.

Posted by: Jadashay at October 20, 2010 2:56 PM

Fictional Manhattan ain't nuttin' to fuck wit.

Posted by: Kballs at October 20, 2010 2:57 PM

In the mystery genre it's de rigeur to have the body count pile up in small towns: Oxford, Midsommer, Three Pines, St. Mary Mead, etc.
A body in Manhattan is not much of a novelty. The body of Miss Preckwinkle the village librarian who secretly had an affair with Major Dustknuckle during the war? Now that's worth writing about.

Posted by: PaddyDog at October 20, 2010 3:13 PM

Ha! I just started rewatching Babylon 5 thanks to Netflix. When it was first on, I stopped watching the 1st season about 3 episodes in because I thought the guy who played Sinclair was unwatchable. I picked it up again in season 2 when they got rid of him and acquired Bruce Boxleitner (hey, I have a soft spot for Scarecrow and Mrs. King, OK?). I am here to report that Sinclair still makes season 1 almost unwatchable, but I am getting through it now thanks to the rest of the cast and the fact that I know Sinclair is out at the end.

Posted by: Three-nineteen at October 20, 2010 3:19 PM

I suppose I should make an on-topic comment. Let's see...you need to replace Jamie with Claire in the header pic to get the best L&O cast year, if you imagine Logan is in the Batsuit.

Posted by: Three-nineteen at October 20, 2010 3:24 PM

Jadashay,

Don't worry. They absolutely do NOT allow lying on the internet.

Posted by: Paultera at October 20, 2010 4:00 PM

I love these articles. It also makes me wonder what NYC would look like if you compiled all the different shows set on it. Like, you have all the murders, and all the investigators (who never run into each other, of course). Then you have the superheros. The natural disasters. The cheap scandals, like on Gossip Girl. Tim Gunn running around in the background. The Sex and the City chicks fucking everything in sight.

It's one bizarre universe, that one.

Posted by: figgy at October 20, 2010 6:00 PM

Oh my word, Figgy - That is just about the coolest idea! If I had an eon to spare and had any knack at infographics, dude, I'd SO be on that.

Posted by: replica at October 21, 2010 1:43 AM

Ha! I was following this same line of thinking last week when it occurred to me that Las Vegas can't possibly have as many homicides as CSI would suggest- even if it does have to contend with the undesirables that continue to roll in from...Henderson.

As a cop, it always amazes me what the police on TV get away with- they break the law, stomp all over the constitution, drive like maniacs, and get into a weekly shoot-out. Shooting their weapon in the line of duty at another person is something most cops (SWAT and snipers excluded) will never have to do, and the statistics of being involved in multiple shootings has got to be extremely small. When it does happen it takes a heavy toll on the officer, and about half will quit due to the guilt and trauma of having to fire their weapon. Never, never, never will the officer get his gun back that day and be allowed to continue working that afternoon.

Of course, this is TV. A cop show that was accurate would be like watching COPS with perhaps one foot pursuit every 2 or 3 months, one car chase every other year, and in between hours and hours of silly domestic disputes and telling drunk and homeless people to leave the 7-11 parking lot. At least The First 48 is there to show folks what real homicide detective work looks like, minus the hours and hours of waiting for leads and phone calls and working on your other unsolved homicide cases of course.

But I digress- I'm sure not all head chefs have fauxhawks either.

Posted by: EJ at October 21, 2010 2:09 AM

Well only the good head chefs have fauxhawks.

Posted by: e at October 21, 2010 2:24 AM

Oh, Goddamit. You're welcome...

Posted by: EJ at October 21, 2010 2:30 PM

Intriguing , I am curious what the statistics are on your first point there...

Posted by: Nicki Minaj at November 20, 2010 2:13 AM

Besides the basic fact you 've drowned yourself in a small too much point, I consider your legal opinion moderately well written .

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