Collecting evidence with a real-life CSI

11:38am Tuesday 21st October 2008

WITH his motto of ‘there is no such thing as a perfect crime’ one crime scene investigator has spilled the beans on the gruesome world of police forensics to reporter Charlie Campbell.

While fictional Las Vegas detective Gil Grissom continues to entertain TV audiences worldwide in the hit CSI show, Wanstead’s Paul Millen has 30 years of real-life experience and has published a book packed with fascinating true cases.

In his long career Mr Millen worked with the Met’s elite Flying Squad and took Surrey Police’s forensic science department from the Guildford Four case debacle to it being commended as a national centre of excellence.

He said: “I believe there is always enough evidence to discover the truth if you look hard enough.

“I can honestly say that as a child I was quite squeamish, but when you get into these things you have to leave your emotions out of it.

“In my first three years on crime scenes in Hackney there were lots of murders, assaults and sexual assaults but I’m glad to see that the number has come down now.”

Mr Millen recently spent three years in Afghanistan and now runs his own consultancy advising on police and security reform in the Middle-East, but he still remembers many cases on his old East London patch.

“Around 20 years ago I was searching thorough a waste paper bin for clues after a bank robbery in Wanstead High Street,” he said.

“This little old lady I knew saw me and just presumed I was a little down on my luck and scurried off in embarrassment before I had a chance to explain.

“I was one of the first crime scene investigators on the Flying Squad and set up the first international diploma for Crime Scene Investigation 20 years ago.

“When I first started it was treated with a little bit of suspicion but over the years it has become more integral as technology has developed.

“I was a member of the scientific staff of the Metropolitan Police Laboratory but decided to move to crime scenes as it seemed more interesting.”

And despite an often sensational element to TV forensic dramas, Mr Millen can still appreciate the science amongst the gripping storylines.

He added: “I used to watch the very early stuff on TV which was quite well-informed, but the problem with TV is that it can condense a whole lifetime into a single episode.

“Overall, the job is about keeping your discipline and integrity. My book is for general readership but I have done some lectures where they say it should be mandatory reading for forensics students which is great.”