Problem with "The first 48"

A&E has a brilliant real-life detective show called "The first 48" where viewers see a homicide case from the beginning emergency call, through detective work, and arrest of suspect.

It is done so well that it rivals fictional police and detective shows, and it is one of my favorite shows.

The main problem with it is that it influences Americans to overestimate the chance of violent crime affecting them.

While certainly this show is not alone in doing that, the fact that it depicts actual events, victims, and suspects, who are noticeably like many "normal" Americans makes the unreasonable assumptions seem more plausible.

I'm glad America is as safe as it is, and hope we keep driving down the crime rate.

Here's something to back up my perspective:


How safe are We?

Murder: For this most final of all crimes, our worry seems egregiously out of proportion. One in 5.26 of us worry about being murdered, but the odds a person will be murdered in a year are just
1 in 18,690.

We shouldn't devalue even 1 victim, while we strive to promote accurate information.

In addition, this show vindicates my point of view that we all need God. We need the faith, the structure, the discipline to overcome negativity and work daily at being better people. We should include working hard morally, and improving our relationship with God much more in our public square. While we all surely make mistakes and do wrong, just trying to be a good person is a big step to making ourselves and America consequently much better.