Last Updated on May 2, 2025
Shows like Lucifer, Psych, Castle and Monk feature contractors hired by the police to help solve crimes, but is what you see on screen realistic? As it turns out, while police consultants are real, criminal attorneys would get most of the evidence the TV consultants uncover thrown out of court. Here’s a breakdown of how each of those fictional consultants would fare in real life.
Castle
As stated earlier, police consultants do exist, but not in the context usually portrayed on television. Usually consultants are hired for one specific case, not on a recurrent basis. A consultant would never actually be partnered with a detective like in Castle, even if he was a writer looking to shadow a detective for inspiration in his new book. In real life, Castle might be hired to help investigate the copycat killer who based his murders on Castle’s books, but that would be for one case and Castle would probably never interrogate suspects and would absolutely never handle evidence.
Lucifer
Like Castle, Lucifer would never become a partner to a police detective. His ability to get anyone to reveal their deepest desire could certainly be useful enough to get him hired as a consultant, but he would probably only be used in the interrogation room, never in the field. Even with his amazing gift to get people to admit their desires, Lucifer would be immediately fired the first time he assaulted a suspect, which he has done multiple times on the show. Behavior like this would not only be fodder for any decent defense attorney to get the charges against his client dropped, but also would put the department at risk of a lawsuit.
Psych
This show is at least a touch more realistic about police consultants as Gus and Shawn are actually licensed as private investigators. Additionally, the show doesn’t portray them as partners of Juliet and Carlton, but as consultants who work on a case by case basis. While they probably get more cases with the police department on the show than psychic investigators would ever actually get, the biggest problem with the show is simply that Sean and Gus are always there for the arrest -which would pretty much never happen in real life for liability reasons.
Monk -TV’s Best Police Consultant
Monk is probably the most realistic shows depicting a consultant to the police as Monk is actually licensed as a private investigator and is working for the police force where he previously worked as a detective. For this reason and because he has an unbelievable attention to detail, Monk would probably be the only consulting detective listed here who would actually be qualified to handle evidence at a crime scene. While lawyers could challenge the handling of evidence and chain of command if a key piece of evidence was placed in Monk’s control, the judge would likely still allow it to be used in court. Even with his experience as a police detective though, he still would not be allowed to come with the police to apprehend suspects. That being said, Monk does often work on cases without the police present and as a result, he would be able to make citizen’s arrests as necessary.
Real Consultants Used by the SDPD
While police may not reach out to consulting detectives very often, police departments consult with outsiders more frequently. In 2020, the SDPD was in the news for paying $4,000 a month for a social media consulting firm to make them appear more personable to the public. The department has also consulted with outside agencies to evaluate police procedures after excessive use of force complaints.
TV shows have a reason for making the characters consultants as their quirks would make them unsuitable for service on any police force. That being said, even qualified police officers can make mistakes when handling witnesses or become too violent with suspects. If this happens to you, an attorney could help you fight to have the evidence withheld from court or to have the charges against you dropped altogether. To schedule a free initial consultation to discuss your case with Peter M. Liss, please call (760) 643-4050 or (858) 486-3024.
