Fact or Fiction: TV Crime Fighting

Light is essential in proper crime scene investigation. Not only do real CSI personnel bring floodlights for work at night, they typically insist on waiting for daylight before completing their search for evidence.

Most real CSIs are civilians, usually with a specialized scientific education.

The first thing a law enforcement officer must do when he or she comes across a dead body is secure the entire area, making sure there are no suspects or other victims nearby. The body is under the jurisdiction of the coroner's department so any other law enforcement officer, including CSIs, would never touch it -- even to look for ID.

Because most are not law enforcement officers, real-life CSI personnel don't need guns or bulletproof vests. Instead, they wear standard issue uniforms and a badge similar to, but not exactly like, those worn by police officers.

The first episode of "CSI" aired in 2000 and was set in Vegas. Subsequent "CSI" series are set in Miami and New York.

It's far more expensive to hire CSIs as actual police officers, who often earn lifetime benefits, including pensions and healthcare.

The "CSI Effect" refers to the expectation by juries that all cases will include some type of forensics evidence.

It can be extremely difficult for investigators to find DNA at a crime scene. Often, there is little or no blood, for instance, and it's also hard to lift fingerprints from certain objects, like guns.

Hummers are expensive and most budget-crunched police departments can't afford them, let alone the gas to run them. Instead, CSIs units drive things like vans with the seats taken out or sometimes SUVs.

Unlike on TV where forensics and DNA results come back in minutes or hours, the pace of real life DNA examination takes weeks, or sometimes much longer if a case is not a high priority.

Covering a body actually risks contaminating evidence with foreign DNA, making it harder to get evidence that will hold up in court.

Crime scenes are tightly controlled because of fears that evidence will be removed, tampered with or contaminated.

Anthony Zuiker is the creator and executive producer of CSI.

Dead bodies are under the jurisdiction of the coroner's department.

Both bleach and fire will pretty much erase all remnants of DNA.

CSI crime lab jobs require specialized education and training, which is different depending on whether someone does toxicology, ballistics or DNA work. Most lab scientists specialize in one of these fields, perhaps two, but it's unlikely you'll find one that's a generalists.

Only on TV. Real CSI technicians assist investigators and detectives solve the crimes, but only in a support function.

Roger Daltrey, the lead singer of The Who, appeared in a 2006 episode, and the ubiquitous teen sensation Justin Bieber has been in numerous episodes.

Most police databases with information about a person's criminal history and mug shot are not linked to those with DNA information.

Crime scene search methods are methodical and include line searches where people stand shoulder to shoulder -- a technique used in order to find a small item in a large field -- or grid searches, where an area is divided into sections.