Anyone who's seen their profession on TV has undoubtedly found it wildly misrepresented, and Criminal Minds is no exception. It's all about the drama, not the realism. Real life as a BAU agent involves doing a heck of a lot more paperwork than barging into creepy basements guns a-blazing. In an interview with Vulture, retired FBI agent John E. Douglas said he doesn't watch Criminal Minds because "procedurally it's all wrong." To The Philadelphia Inquirer, he commented on series and movies in general, saying, "They have the profilers taking over investigations, knocking down doors, pulling their gun, breaking the rules in an investigation, not Mirandizing [suspects], and it's just over the top and aggravates me."
On the podcast Inside the FBI, BAU-2 Unit Chief Mark Hilts refuted another aspect of Criminal Minds: The BAU doesn't take over a case from the local authorities but instead provides assistance, staying a step removed from the investigation. Plus, the job is far less emotional than Criminal Minds makes it seem. Hilts said, "We are not dealing with what the front line detectives have to deal with, so we're kind of removed. And we kind of look at the cases clinically as much as we can and try not to get emotionally involved, which I suppose may sound somewhat cold, but if we get emotionally involved with every single case we work, we frankly wouldn't be very effective."
