A touch of Miami Vice came to Brighton and Hove this week.

Hector Infante, a crime scenes investigation supervisor with Miami police, is on a fact-finding exchange with Brighton and Hove police.

Although more used to dealing with murder scenes in his home city, Mr Infante, 37, has been impressed with the evidence-gathering techniques used in Sussex.

He said: "The service for obtaining DNA profiles here is quicker and more efficient."

One fundamental difference is how British police obtain cells for profiling.

If a suspect refuses to have a swab taken, then police here have powers to forcibly take a hair from the suspect's body for cell analysis.

Mr Infante said: "There is no way we would be allowed to do that because of civil rights and the constitution."

Profiling may be more advanced in Britain but Miami is ahead in other fields, such as forensic science.

The exchange was organised after a visit to Sussex Police by three FBI agents involved in investigating the September 11 terrorist attacks.