Dear Readers,

Our TV sets are filled with cop shows like NCIS or Law & Order, where clever computer wizards and brilliant evidence techs solve crimes using near magic to figure out “who dunnit.”

These TV detectives routinely gather tiny fragments of evidence from the head of a pin and within minutes his or her computer matches it with DNA leftover at another crime scene. Bingo! They identify the bad guys.

In these TV cop shows, this all happens before the second commercial break. Minutes later, the hero arrests or shoots the bad guy before the next break. Then the case is wrapped up with a joke before the top of the hour.

This can happen in real life, but it usually doesn’t.

But then again, it can and sometimes does. For example, take our tiny town of Boothbay Harbor, with just a handful of police officers. The department office is a room or two on the back of the town hall. There is no lab, no computerized whiz bang Internet toys and no lab techs with doctorates.

Still, not long ago, following standard procedure, they gathered some evidence at a burglary scene. They sent it in for analysis in hopes it might be identified and provide them with a clue that would help them solve the rash of house and business burglaries that have driven them nuts.

Well, bingo! The computer sample matched similar evidence discovered in a house burglary in a neighboring county. And it also matched the DNA on file from a longtime harbor resident who has spent much of his life on the dark side. The matching evidence was enough to convince a judge to issue a search warrant for the man’s house.

The stuff they found in the home of the 62-year-old suspect, Ronald Fuller, was enough for police to charge the man with burglary and theft. Fuller's relatives led police to a hoard of goods linked to other burglaries. Police brought the “stuff’ to their headquarters and were able to match it with some stuff stolen from our merchants.

In this case, just like it does on TV, science linked up with police to finger a suspect. For the record, being charged with a crime doesn’t mean the suspect is guilty. That is why we have courts.

But the bottom line is our little police department is in the process of putting together a big time criminal case as they identify loot believed to have been stolen from more than 20 homes and businesses belonging to our friends and neighbors. In the process, they made a lot of our friends (friends who became inadvertent crime victims) breathe sighs of relief. These same friends tell us they feel a whole of a lot better knowing Boothbay Harbor’s finest is on the job. I feel better, too.

So this week, when you see the silver sedans and SUV with the logo of the Boothbay Harbor Police on the door, give Chief Bob Hasch and his crew a smile and a wave; and say thanks, too. They deserve a pat on the back.

Well done.