Joking around on scene? There are eyes and ears everywhere!

#56

The crime scene might not seem like the ideal breeding ground for teamwork and camaraderie. After all, the stakes are high, emotions run deep, and agencies often have different goals during a forensic investigation. But as they say, laughter is the best medicine, even in the darkest of places. We can come together and find humor in the most unexpected places! Brace yourself for some dark humor, because when you deal with death every day, you either laugh or... well, you get the idea… While our jokes are morbid, they serve as a reminder that life goes on, even in the shadow of death. 

The Autopsy Room: Where Gallows Humor Lives

Nowhere is dark humor more prevalent than in the autopsy room. It's a place where the cold reality of death meets the warm embrace of camaraderie. When you're elbow-deep in formaldehyde and stomach contents, you need something to lighten the mood.

Gallows humor aside, the autopsy room is where professionals from different agencies truly bond. They swap stories of the strangest cases they've encountered, make puns about bodily fluids, and yes, even crack jokes about the deceased. It's not out of disrespect but rather a coping mechanism. After all, when you're dealing with death day in and day out, a little levity goes a long way.

The Competition: When Different Agencies Collide

Picture this: a crime scene so complex that even Gil Grissom would scratch his head. You've got the local police department, the county coroner's office, the family’s funeral home, and the EMTs all stepping on each other's toes, each with their own agenda. When it comes to an unexpected death, these agencies often find themselves in the same boat. And what do you do when you're in the same boat? You row together. Or, in this case, you investigate together.

Sure, there's some friendly rivalry and occasional eye-rolling, but in the end, we all share a common goal: documenting the scene and collecting the evidence. Dark humor helps us cope with the messiness of death and the even messier bureaucratic tangles.

We all have that one agency with all the coolest toys we secretly hope the next homicide will land in their county.  

We all hate that one funeral home that will call you in the middle of the night to check the spelling of the decedent’s last name.  

We all wonder about that one medical examiner’s personal life. 

We all know that EMT who puts leads on the decomp because it is protocol. 

In the world of death investigations, where agencies often have different goals and the work is undeniably grim, dark humor becomes a lifeline. It's a coping mechanism, a way to forge connections with colleagues, and a means of navigating the often chaotic and emotional landscape of death.

So, the next time you find yourself in a room full of death professionals cracking jokes that would make the average person cringe, remember that it's not a sign of disrespect but rather a testament to their resilience and camaraderie. In a field where darkness is a constant companion, a little laughter can go a long way in shining a light on the path forward. After all, as they say, "In the end, we're all just here for the deadpan humor."

I was writing this during the week when I heard about a Seattle PD officer recorded joking about a decedent (if you didn’t hear about it, read here)

In Seattle (and many cities), the city provides monetary compensation to families who lose a loved one to a violent crime and it appears the office was being sarcastic by quoting the price her family would receive from her death.  But on the surface, it sounds like he’s being an insensitive jerk.  If I’m honest with myself, I can see myself saying something similar - a huge part of my coping mechanism is to poke fun at government agencies!  There is a department that assesses the value of a person’s life and then gives that amount of money to a family?! How cold, how insensitive, how inhumane!  In my humble opinion, I think this officer was simply caught using his coping skills (and obviously I have no idea what actually happened because we all know how often the media gets things right… I digress).

What do you think?

What I think we can learn from this event is how public our roles have become (some more than others) and that we need to remember to save our gallows humor for the secure morgue or safe station.  Most people have no idea what we do and trying to explain the joke with regards to our exhaustion, stress, case load, and traumatic stuff we’ve seen/smelled/touched probably won’t help them understand.  There are ears and eyes everywhere - be smart out there!  I am all for cracking jokes and using humor to connect or disconnect, but be aware of your surroundings.  Take a minute to look around or make sure your radio is off.  It’s ok to remind the folks you’re on scene with - we’re all in this together!

And FYI - there is no room for racism or sexism in criminal justice!  We are supposed to be impartial and unbiased as scientists; racism and sexism has no basis in science, it is something we have learned and tolerated for far too long.  Find something else to joke about.