The long arm of the Law

I'm intrigued by my predecessors' notion that the Law has a very long arm. The implication as I was told is that this arm is able to reach out and grab any offender regardless of where he or she may be hiding. Recently, I am seeing films on television and some on DVD Video that seem to suggest that the Law is tired of always extending its itself to apprehend offenders regardless of where they may hide themselves.
What is the implication of this? Does it suggest that my elders lied to me? Or does it mean that someone lied to them, a lie they passed on to me? Or could it be that the Law is actually not that of men? What about a criminal who commits crimes and is never caught in his lifetime and eventually goes to his grave without being apprehended? What must I tell my children about the length of the Law's hand in this instance? These film makers, what do they know that I do not? Why the audacity of making such films? What are they trying to tell my kids that I do not know? Can somebody help me out here?