Irl, I bet, they end up airing the shows that lead to arrests. I imagine there's tons of material that's not so satisfying or suitable for television.
One thing I like about the fictional show is that justice is often not done, just like real life.
Fair point, though I'm not really sure what cases IRL wouldn't lead to an arrest. Like, would there be suspects who didn't actually say anything explicit online or bring anything suspicious with them? In that case I doubt they'd even lure the guy to the house in the first place and just leave the chat alone
Procedural issues, clever lawyers, negotiated plea deals, all of that stuff. Real life.
What are the statistics on convictions for rape cases? 2%? Even if you assume many more arrests than convictions, there's lots of investigations that don't lead to arrests.
Oh sure I don't doubt that plenty of cases don't lead to a conviction but that doesn't mean the police wouldn't arrest him at the scene? Like the scenarios you describe would only come to be when it gets taken to arraignment or while the suspect is in custody and the DA sees what kind of case they have
I know that - my point is that episode had the opportunity to actually analyze that had they included the police cooperation in their depiction of Hard Focus/Dateline, and shown how it actually doesn't lead to conviction despite the theatrics
Instead they make the show and watchdog group look incompetent by having all this criminal evidence but not actually doing anything with it, which the detectives in the episode don't even bring up as a problem so in turn they look incompetent too
Which kinda makes it failed commentary on the writers' part because they didn't accurately depict the issue in question
In the SVU version of this episode, the predator catching show was actually working with the detectives and the predators were arrested during the episode, and the episode still had a squadron discussion scene even though all of the detectives participated with the show earlier in the same episode. So it can be done!
I got the impression that Hard Focus was meant to be a trashier version of that. IIRC the producers of the show was super reckless and aggressive, and for her it wasn’t about catching predators but more about setting up explosive confrontations. She wouldn’t proactively reach out to the cops because they’d never allow her to do everything that she wants to do to make a more spectacular show.
“Pursuit” (Season 12, Episode 17). Debra Messing guest stars as the host of the show, and her character IMHO is more nuanced than the one in “Public Service Homicide” (though both episodes explore similar themes about the ethics of these types of shows).
Well actually they don't usually end that way.
https://www.looper.com/14899/untold-truth-catch-predator/
Some of these monsters were acquitted and some were never prosecuted, despite leaving on cuffs.
Remember EDP445? He never went down for his little mistake.
Those shows are very problematic legally.
Irl, I bet, they end up airing the shows that lead to arrests. I imagine there's tons of material that's not so satisfying or suitable for television. One thing I like about the fictional show is that justice is often not done, just like real life.
Fair point, though I'm not really sure what cases IRL wouldn't lead to an arrest. Like, would there be suspects who didn't actually say anything explicit online or bring anything suspicious with them? In that case I doubt they'd even lure the guy to the house in the first place and just leave the chat alone
Procedural issues, clever lawyers, negotiated plea deals, all of that stuff. Real life. What are the statistics on convictions for rape cases? 2%? Even if you assume many more arrests than convictions, there's lots of investigations that don't lead to arrests.
Oh sure I don't doubt that plenty of cases don't lead to a conviction but that doesn't mean the police wouldn't arrest him at the scene? Like the scenarios you describe would only come to be when it gets taken to arraignment or while the suspect is in custody and the DA sees what kind of case they have
It's not the arrest you gotta worry about. It's the conviction.
I know that - my point is that episode had the opportunity to actually analyze that had they included the police cooperation in their depiction of Hard Focus/Dateline, and shown how it actually doesn't lead to conviction despite the theatrics Instead they make the show and watchdog group look incompetent by having all this criminal evidence but not actually doing anything with it, which the detectives in the episode don't even bring up as a problem so in turn they look incompetent too Which kinda makes it failed commentary on the writers' part because they didn't accurately depict the issue in question
In the SVU version of this episode, the predator catching show was actually working with the detectives and the predators were arrested during the episode, and the episode still had a squadron discussion scene even though all of the detectives participated with the show earlier in the same episode. So it can be done! I got the impression that Hard Focus was meant to be a trashier version of that. IIRC the producers of the show was super reckless and aggressive, and for her it wasn’t about catching predators but more about setting up explosive confrontations. She wouldn’t proactively reach out to the cops because they’d never allow her to do everything that she wants to do to make a more spectacular show.
Oh! Actually do you know the SVU episode then? I'd be interested in seeing their take
“Pursuit” (Season 12, Episode 17). Debra Messing guest stars as the host of the show, and her character IMHO is more nuanced than the one in “Public Service Homicide” (though both episodes explore similar themes about the ethics of these types of shows).
Well actually they don't usually end that way. https://www.looper.com/14899/untold-truth-catch-predator/ Some of these monsters were acquitted and some were never prosecuted, despite leaving on cuffs. Remember EDP445? He never went down for his little mistake. Those shows are very problematic legally.
Ok fair but I didn't mention them being convicted? All I mentioned was specifically them being arrested, never what happens afterwards