Authenticity of Law & Order

I've wondered how accurate the L&O series is in depicting police work.
I've heard various opinions from people in the criminal justice field.
One source said it was accurate, but several others said it is
not--real detectives have a far larger caseload and can't spend
anywhere near the amount of time and resources per crime as is done on

holefamily1...

As a career criminal I verify that they get most aspects correct.

Ian J. Ball...

Your opinions are criminal.

David...

If you were really good at being a criminal you wouldn't need to make
a career out of it.

..
Mr. Hole

The favor of your reply is requested.

"You would make a destructive god, Mr. Hole, but as a human, you remain
pathetic and ineffectual." -- Heck

TV.

Lord Vader III...

Does 99% of evidence get thrown out in real life due to illegal
searches? Although it doesn't happen as often on L&O as it used to, it
seemed like every week all the critical evidence would be thrown out
because the cops did something wrong.

BTR1701...

The second answer is the correct one. At least in New York. A detective
in a smaller town might have that kind of time but not in New York.