As police face a public grilling, so do iconic cop shows
When Katherine Singh started watching 鈥淟aw & Order: SVU鈥� as an undergrad, she was fascinated by the 鈥渞ipped from the headlines鈥� stories, strong female leads, and the way the series validated victims of sexual assault. She quickly became a die-hard fan.
鈥淚 tried to get everyone I knew to watch it,鈥� says Ms. Singh,聽who works in Toronto as an assistant editor at Flare magazine.聽
But recent protests against police brutality have made her reconsider her love of the long-running procedural and its effect on her perception of law enforcement.
Why We Wrote This
Television can be a tool for building social awareness, but recent protests against police brutality have some cop-show fans wondering if their favorite prime-time detectives are actually part of the problem.
As a woman of color, Ms. Singh is not unfamiliar with racism, 鈥渂ut I鈥檓 not a Black woman; I鈥檓 not an Indigenous woman,鈥� she says. 鈥淪o I鈥檝e never had to worry personally about my interactions with police. ... I think of them as like characters on my TV screen, as opposed to real people actually out there that can sometimes cause people harm.鈥�
Police officers are ubiquitous in American media, with crime shows pulling in more viewers than any other television genre. Of the top 10 longest-running prime-time dramas, half are police procedurals. Now those programs are facing heat.
Paramount canceled the reality series 鈥淐ops鈥� in early June. A&E ceased production on its hit series 鈥淟ive PD鈥� around the same time.聽A subsequent report released Wednesday by The Marshall Project reveals that 鈥淟ive PD鈥澛爌roducers routinely聽accommodated to edit out footage of officers using violence and bad language.聽鈥淟aw & Order鈥� writer Craig Gore was fired for threatening protesters who were breaking curfew聽on Facebook, and聽people have even called for the cancellation of Nickelodeon鈥檚 cartoon series 鈥淧aw Patrol,鈥� which features a canine officer named Chase.聽
鈥淭here鈥檚 been a real shift in the consciousness about what policing does and how it operates in society,鈥� says聽Steven Thrasher, a professor at Northwestern University鈥檚 journalism school聽who has studied marginalized communities as a reporter and an academic.聽鈥淚 think [the George Floyd video has] made people realize they鈥檙e not so comfortable glorifying police all the time.鈥�
History of bad behavior
The alphabet soup of crime procedurals popular today can be traced back to 鈥淒ragnet,鈥� a radio show turned TV series that portrayed LA detectives as level-headed heroes who kept city streets safe. The real LAPD loved it 鈥� they were also deeply involved in the production of every episode. As his department faced accusations of brutality and racism, Chief William H. Parker held veto power on 鈥淒ragnet鈥� scripts, ensuring that the show鈥檚 16.5 million viewers saw officers who were calm, honest, and acting by the book.
Since 鈥淒ragnet,鈥� TV officers have become more nuanced. Adisa Iwa, a professor of television and film at Morehouse College, remembers watching 鈥淗ill Street Blues鈥� in the 1980s. 鈥淭hat was the first time on the television when you had cops who were regulars on the show who were flawed, who were not paradigms of virtue all the time,鈥� he says.
鈥淗ill Street Blues,鈥� in part, inspired him to become a screenwriter. He ended up writing episodes of 鈥淟aw & Order: SVU鈥� and 鈥淣YPD Blue鈥� about 20 years later. 鈥淏ack then, the concern primarily was telling an interesting story,鈥� he says. 鈥淣ow people are taking a much more critical eye.鈥�
It鈥檚 not necessarily the officers鈥� flaws that viewers are taking issue with 鈥� it鈥檚 the lack of accountability when those flaws turn into abuses of power.聽聽
A recent of 26 scripted crime series found that in the 2017-18 season, most shows normalized bad behavior 鈥� coercion, lying and tampering, overt racism, etc. 鈥� by criminal justice professionals. The frequency of the protagonists鈥� violations makes such behavior seem natural or necessary in the pursuit of justice, say researchers, and the characters rarely receive any formal punishment for the offenses.
It鈥檚 a theme that鈥檚 bothered TV critic LaToya Ferguson聽throughout her career. 鈥淚nternal affairs is always seen as the bad guy, which is insane to me,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檝e never understood it. ... If you鈥檙e all afraid of IA, even if you鈥檙e a good cop, that says a lot.鈥澛�
In 鈥淟aw & Order: SVU,鈥� it was Detective Elliot Stabler who had the most to fear. He was a boundaryless, short-tempered cop who regularly abused suspects with little to no repercussions. But instead of condemnation, viewers are offered glances into his challenging family life as a way to explain his baggage.
The character left the show in 2011, but will return in a new series, 鈥淟aw & Order: Organized Crime,鈥� debuting this fall. Christine Zimmer, who runs the popular fan blog 鈥淎ll Things Law & Order,鈥� says that鈥檚 been concerning for some SVU fans.聽
鈥淎s we haven鈥檛 even seen one episode of the new series yet, it鈥檚 unfair to pass judgment on what kind of person Stabler, or others working with him, will be,鈥� she said in an email to the Monitor, adding, 鈥淐haracters like this may not be tolerated much longer, unless they come to justice or change their ways.鈥�
What can be saved?
Mrs. Zimmer says there鈥檚 still a strong desire for crime dramas, but 鈥渢hey will have to do something more substantial than covering the issues with law enforcement and racial injustice over just an episode or two. It鈥檚 great to have TV shows that highlight the ideal image of law enforcement, but that can鈥檛 be done without showing how we can get there.鈥�
Tackling police brutality has been a challenge for many cop shows, including 鈥淏rooklyn Nine-Nine,鈥� a precinct sitcom that has been celebrated for challenging stereotypes.
In the fourth-season episode titled 鈥淢oo Moo,鈥� Sgt. Terry Jeffords, played by Terry Crews, is racially profiled by another officer while searching for his child鈥檚 lost blanket. He鈥檚 released, but must decide whether to risk political backlash by filing a complaint.聽
鈥淚t just didn鈥檛 work for me,鈥� says Ms. Ferguson. 鈥淢y biggest issue with the show is that it lives in this magical world where it will acknowledge there are a lot of bad cops, but our cops are the only good ones.鈥�
It looks like the series will try again. In addition to donating $100,000 to the National Bail Fund Network, the 鈥淏rooklyn Nine-Nine鈥� team is rethinking its next season. Four episodes have already been scrapped after some 鈥渟olemn conversations鈥� about Mr. Floyd鈥檚 death, Mr. Crews told Access Hollywood last week. 鈥淲e have an opportunity and we plan to use it in the best way possible,鈥� he said.
Diverse writers鈥� room
Ms. Ferguson, meanwhile, references 鈥淧erson of Interest,鈥� which featured Taraji P. Henson as an NYPD detective, as one of her favorite shows. She says it鈥檚 鈥渁 very good story about an actual good cop in a sea of bad cops鈥� who is killed while trying to 鈥渦ncover and dismantle the very corrupt organization within the NYPD.鈥�
She鈥檚 killed, she says, 鈥渂ecause the rot is just from the top down, pretty much. It鈥檚 just an unflinchingly honest story about this. But a lot of cop shows aren鈥檛 going to do that.鈥�
Mr. Iwa says if shows are going to wade into this subject matter, a diverse writers鈥� room is essential.聽According to the Color of Change report, 88% of 鈥淏rooklyn Nine-Nine鈥� writers during the 2017鈥�18 season were white and 鈥淟aw & Order: SVU鈥� had no writers of color.聽To hit the right tone, Mr. Iwa says that needs to change. Long term, Ms. Ferguson聽thinks that we may also see more procedurals centered on private investigators and consultants to make 鈥渢he cop of it all鈥� more palatable.
But in the meantime, many fans will have a personal decision to make about how they engage with their favorite fictional cops.
鈥淚 feel guilty because I still do want to watch the next season of 鈥楲aw and Order: SVU,鈥欌�� says Ms. Singh. 鈥淚f I do watch, I鈥檒l just try to be more aware of how I approach the show and just do a little bit more work independent of the show to educate myself on violence and police brutality. I will try really hard not to just go so blindly into it.鈥�
