10 Times Pop Culture Solved Real Life Crimes

8. The First 48 Captures Killing On Camera

A&E's documentary series is, essentially, a higher class version of Cops; or, a non-fiction equivalent of police procedurals like CSI and Law & Order. Instead of focussing on beat cops it's a fly-on-the-wall look at the world of homicide investigators, often following cases all the way through to the court cases, but more often than not centring on the crucial first 48 hours after a murder.

"For homicide detectives, the clock starts ticking the moment they are called. Their chance of solving a murder is cut in half if they don't get a lead within the first 48 hours," claim the opening credits. Sometimes, events later than that prove to be even more important - the series has courted controversy thanks to misrepresentation of certain cases.

Then there's the time the show proved invaluable in securing a conviction... only not of the murderer the camera crew was following. 7-year-old Detroit girl named Aiyana Jones was shot and killed during a SWAT raid filmed by the show, with that video evidence lead to the officer in question being convicted of the involuntary manslaughter, and a camera operator serving two years probation for perjury.