Art Major

You look at that body. You look at that body as if it were some abstract work of art, stare at it from every conceivable point of view in search of deeper meanings and textures. Why, you ask yourself, is this body here? What did the artist leave out? What did he put in? What was the artist thinking of? What the hell is wrong with this picture?

I finally finished Homicide: A Year On The Killing Streets late last night. And boy, what a read. I don't know that you could get any more into the minds and lives of homicide detectives without living with them yourself.

Once of the things that struck me was the absolute detachment with which the detectives view their jobs. This is not how they make it look on TV or in the movies. Police detectives are often depicted as becoming emotionally attached to their victims. They're shown to take the crimes personally. With few exceptions, this is not the case. As Simon writes, "A good investigator, leaning over a fresh obscenity, doesn't waste time and effort battering himself with the theological questions about the nature of evil and man's inhumanity to man. He wonders instead whether the jagged wound pattern is the result of a serrated blade, or whether the discoloration on the underside of the leg is indeed an indication of lividity...that professional ethos is part of what keeps any detective from the horror..."

This only makes sense. Even though the book is really about the men who investigate these crimes, you learn plenty about the crimes and criminals themselves. And if you didn't know it before, you will learn that there is no limit to what one human being will do to another, given the proper motivation. So, how else to survive in a job like this? How do you remain sane when day after day you immerse yourself in the absolute evil of the world? Gallows humor. Detachment. Separation. That body on the ground is not a human being, but a piece of evidence. As fascinating as the job is to me, I don't think I could do it.

Anyway, I could go on and on. If you are even slightly interested in the subject, I strongly recommend reading this book.