L&O:UK

Ok, I’ve recently discovered Law & Order: UK. It’s kind of weird getting used to since the only other UK based police show I’ve ever seen is The Thin Blue Line and it’s hardly the same thing. Comparing DC Boyle to DS Brooks or Devlin is like comparing apples and watermelons. Seriously. I like the series, after all it’s got Jamie Bamber and Freema Agyeman, what’s not to like? It does, however, worry me that in the space of three minutes in one episode they quite literally tracked a suspect’s every move electronically a) without any mention of a warrant and b) without even breaking a sweat.

They picked the guy up on CCTV a block or so away from the crime scene, saw him walk into his building, were able to tell WHEN AND HOW MANY TIMES he saved a game on his XBox (and what his XBox password was) and were able to tell from cell phone records that every call he made that night was from his apartment so he had to be innocent.

That’s a little disturbing to me. Was the ease of compiling this information exaggerated because it’s a television show or are people in the UK routinely tracked like livestock? I’m just asking, I honestly don’t know. And if they are, is it just the UK or is it all the Commonwealth countries? I seek enlightenment.