Greetings!
Yeah, in my campaigns, I have Detect Evil as working to determine a source of Supernatural Evil. So, evil creatures and beings from beyond the mortal world. That keeps the spell useful, while not destroying other kinds of scenarios and adventures and just being a pain in the ass, besides opening the door to endless, stupid arguments.
Beyond all that, there are many societies in my campaigns that routinely execute people they believe are evil all the time. Lots of criminals, rebels, scum, cultists, are ruthlessly tortured, and burned at the stake.
In many areas, though, such evil people can rest assured that as they die--they are not suffering in vain, for oftentimes their whole families are also arrested and charged, and their wealth, property, and other assets are seized by the government, and redistributed to those that are righteous and faithful.
So, it's a WIN-WIN for everyone involved!
Semper Fidelis,
SHARK