Crime Procedurals On Hulu With Astonishingly Accurate Details That Fuel The Big Drama

Morgan Gillory (Kaitlin Olsen), a single mom with three kids and an exceptional mind, helps solve an unsolvable crime when she rearranges some evidence during her shift as a cleaner for the police department. When they discover she has a knack for putting things in order because of her high intellectual potential, she is brought on as a consultant to work with a by-the-book seasoned detective, Karadec (Daniel Sunjata). Together they form an unusual and unstoppable team.

An unusual procedural in that it's sprinkled with no shortage of comedy, High Potential is brighter, poppier, funnier, and less obviously connected to real life than most investigative cop shows. 

High potential personalities are very real, but more relevantly, so are police consultants like the one Morgan becomes. Police departments across the country do indeed pay for the services of experts outside the chain of command, leveraging their knowledge to solve a crime or otherwise help the department.

Consultants participating in solving cases are usually licensed private investigators, which Morgan is not, but her unusually strong deductive skills present a plausible reason to waive that requirement. That said, her lack of experience might leave Morgan's cases vulnerable to having evidence dismissed at trial.

Outside consultants are brought in to do a wide variety of tasks, however, making Morgan's role within Major Crimes even more plausible. The San Diego Police Department paid a social media firm $4,000 a month to help re-shape the department's image, for example. So the financial incentive for Morgan, a single mother, to join up is also very real. 

Based on Karin Slaughter's bestselling books, the series follows Special Agent Will Trent (Ramón Rodríguez) of the Georgia Bureau of Investigations. As a child, Trent was abandoned and was forced to endure a harsh coming-of-age in Atlanta's overwhelmed foster care system. Now that he is in a position to make a difference, Trent is determined to use his unique point of view to make sure no one is abandoned like he was. His personal motivation and background contribute to Trent having the highest clearance rate in the GBI.

Will Trent tends to focus more on making sure its title character satisfies Slaughter's fans, but it does include a dollop of realism to accompany the delight of his Chihuahua Betty (Bluebell).

Some viewers may have wondered about Trent working for the GBI rather than FBI, maybe even assumed the former is made up for the convenience of the show, which takes place in and films in Atlanta, Georgia. Not so! The Georgia Bureau of Investigations is real.

The show accurately reflects the GBI as a state-level investigative agency based in Atlanta. This authenticity is rooted in its depiction of GBI's role in supporting Georgia’s criminal justice system through criminal investigations, forensic services, and the management of criminal justice information. The agency's Investigative Division, in reality and as presented on Will Trent, handles a variety of cases including homicide, rape, child abuse, armed robbery, and cybercrime.

While Will Trent captures the essence of GBI's operations, it also dramatizes certain aspects for entertainment purposes. For instance, like many procedural dramas, the show compresses timelines to fit within episode running times. In reality, investigations can take much longer due to the need for thorough evidence collection and, of course, the slow pace of legal procedures.

This hard-hitting and emotional series from NBC's Law & Order brand, produced by Universal Television and Wolf Entertainment, chronicles the life and crimes of the Special Victims Unit of the New York City Police Department, an elite squad of detectives who investigate sexually based crimes.

When the original Law & Order kicked off in 1990, it was the gold standard in representing the dynamic between law enforcement and lawyers. Decades later, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit makes a tradition out of hyper-specific attention to detail, thanks to interviews with victims conducted by Captain Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay).

Unlike most procedurals, SVU focuses almost exclusively on victims of sexual crimes, so scenes in which police speak with victims are both tonally more difficult and even more important. As a character, Benson doesn't simply get information from victims, but does so with consistent compassion and care. That's no mistake, as Mariska Hargitay trained as a rape crisis counselor in 2004, and launched her own non-profit, the Joyful Heart Foundation, in support of survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence.

Benson's approach is established in the show's very first episode, “Payback,” which also introduces the character as having been conceived during a sexual assault.

Hargitay's personal stakes show in Benson's supportive and clear-eyed dialogue with survivors on SVU, creating a feedback loop of realism that started with the show and extends to Hargitay's real life activism. As Hargitay herself told People:

Having the character, Olivia Benson, listen - that was so powerful. People used to call me the accidental activist. I didn’t take this job on SVU to do this work. But I think I was meant to do this.

For a show that covers so much of a case, from the crime itself all the way through sentencing in the courtroom, these small, humanizing touches keep the focus from ever straying too far from the victims.

From prolific creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk,  procedural drama 9-1-1 is a fast-paced exploration into the lives and careers of first responders - cops, paramedics, firefighters - the people who put their lives on the line to save others.

The show is known for its ensemble and over-the-top action set pieces. As married patrol sergeant Athena Grant-Nash and firefighting captain Bobby Nash, Angela Bassett and Peter Krause lead the cast of first responders saving lives from some of the more outlandish accidents, crimes, and natural disasters on TV.

But those situations are, more often than not, have some basis in real instances, many of which have happened a whole lot more than viewers might expect. When Chimney Han (Kenneth Choi) survives a metal rod to his forehead during a car accident in the early episode “Next of Kin,” for example, you probably wouldn't guess that has, in fact, happened in real life, and you probably haven't heard the true story of Phineas Gage, a railroad worker who not only survived a 13-pound iron spike through his head, but was conscious and speaking out loud only moments after. The appearances of potentially lethal tanning beds, pools, and pet snakes are all based on real events that occur with some regularity as well.

And the natural disasters that plague Los Angeles throughout the series, from earthquakes to landslides, have clear historical precedents.

Starting over isn’t easy, especially for small-town guy John Nolan (Nathan Fillion) who, after a life-altering incident, is pursuing his dream of being an LAPD officer. As the force’s oldest rookie, he’s met with skepticism from some higher-ups who see him as just a walking midlife crisis. If he can’t keep up with the young cops and the criminals, he’ll be risking lives including his own. But if he can use his life experience, determination, and sense of humor to give him an edge, he may just become a success in this new chapter of his life.

Unlike many fictional crime dramas, The Rookie grounds its narrative in reality on a conceptual level: the show is inspired by the true story of William Norcross, who joined the LAPD at the age of 44.

Norcross' story closely parallels that of John Nolan in several key ways. Like Nolan, Norcross made a significant career shift in his 40s, moving from Pennsylvania to Los Angeles to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming a police officer. This decision was driven by a realization that he might never have another opportunity if he didn't act soon. 

As Norcross himself explained to the New York Post:

All of the sudden, I wake up and I’m 40-something years old and I figured if I was ever going to make a change, that now was the time to do it. I looked around; I always thought about LA - the LAPD has no age limit, as long as you can pass the requirements - and I saw they had expedited testing where you can cram a couple of months of testing into one week, and that’s how it started.

However, while The Rookie stays true to this inspiring aspect of Norcross' real-life story, it diverges significantly in its dramatization of other events. For instance, Nolan's backstory involves helping foil a bank robbery and dealing with personal issues such as divorce and fatherhood - elements created for dramatic effect. In reality, Norcross transitioned from working in his family's printing business without such dramatic catalysts.

NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) is more than just an action drama. With liberal doses of humor, it's a show that focuses on the sometimes complex and always amusing dynamics of a team forced to work together in high-stress situations. NCIS Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon), a former Marine gunnery sergeant whose skills as an investigator are unmatched, leads this troupe of colorful personalities. From murder and espionage to terrorism and stolen submarines, these special agents travel the globe to investigate all crimes with Navy or Marine Corps ties.

Seasons 1 though 11 are all streaming on Hulu, which means plenty of opportunities for viewers to dig into the forensic science. The forensic techniques and equipment on the show is accurately depicted, as is the overall investigatory mission of NCIS. Abby Sciuto's (Pauley Perrette) lab work often involves analyzing fingerprints, chemical residues, and biological samples, which are fundamental tasks in actual forensic labs. 

However, NCIS takes creative liberties, particularly in terms of investigative timelines and procedural accuracy. According to the UCMJ, real investigations conducted by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service can be extensive and time-consuming, often spanning months or even years. In contrast, the show condenses these complex processes into neatly resolved cases within single episodes.