Television shows have brought to light the practice of using individuals who claim to have paranormal capabilities - psychic detectives - which along them to solve a crime when other, more traditional investigative methods have failed. The psychic abilities these "detectives" may claim to use could be visions of the past, the sensing of information from objects (such as a deceased victim's clothing), mind-reading, and other paranormal functions. The general public has been highly skeptical of the usage of these individuals for crime-solving and with good reason: after four seasons of the television show Sensing Murder, none of the self-proclaimed psychics have succeeded in solving any of the cases featured on the series. After the show begin airing, some police departments went out of their way to issue public statements to the effect that they do not ever use psychic detectives during investigations.
Some people searching out those who have passed on will be diving in the waters of the Tampa Bay this summer, searching for clues. These ghost-hunters are traveling with a company based in Cape Canaveral that takes tourists on diving trips near the sites of major accidents. For example, divers might swim around the Gunsmoke, a shrimp trawler that sank just a few miles of the Keys in 1977. The vessel was transporting marijuana. Although these dives are not operated by law enforcement officials, they reflect interest in the paranormal, especially communicating with and obtaining information from the souls of those who have died.
Psychics are not a commonly used law enforcement tool and there is no substantial evidence to indicate that they are in any way effective in solving crimes. They are much more prevalent in pop culture than in actual investigations. Police generally rely on observation, witness accounts, DNA evidence when available, surveillance footage, and other hard information to place certain people who have specific motives at the place where a crime occurred.
