The first 48 hours of a murder investigation are crucial and tomorrow (21st May) West Midlands Police is inviting the public to experience them first hand.

This ambitious online project will show exactly what happens in the early stages of a murder inquiry and whether the tactics and methods used in TV crime shows are anything like real life.

Visitors can follow the investigation as it unfolds from 7am on the ‘Behind the Crime’ website, meeting key members of the murder investigation team throughout the day.

This includes the family liaison officer who helped a man through the heart-breaking grief of losing his brother; a young 999 call handler who talks about how she deals with the emotional trauma of speaking to people who are so distressed they cannot understand what she is saying; and the forensics team that can find a footprint using electric currents and specialist lights.

The force will take people through every step in the first 48 hours of the investigation process − condensed into a 12-hour live-blog − alongside the senior investigation officer and her team.

Out of respect for those affected by homicide, West Midlands Police will not be going in to any specific details of real-life cases.

Superintendent Mark Payne, from Force CID, said: “We want  to show our communities and the wider world that for all the technical developments we’ve had in recent years, for all the tools available to us,  it still comes down to one thing, people who really care,  working really, really hard.

“This is all about showing you, the public, just how much time, effort and professionalism goes in to each and every murder investigation in the West Midlands.

“The people you will meet here are the people that deal with the most horrific, upsetting things that anyone can imagine on a daily basis and they do that because it’s their job and they are not satisfied until they get a result. ”

The ‘Behind the Crime’ website will be a live blog that will be updated from 7am on Wednesday 21st May, keeping the public updated every few minutes.  Along the way there will be opportunities for followers to ask questions of the investigating team and share their views.

The force will use an array of social networking as part of the project including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Sound Cloud.

To follow the action visit http://behindthecrime.west-midlands.police.uk or follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/wmpolice using the hash tag #btcmurder.