To wonder why tv shows portray police as either corrupt or bungling morons?

[shebird]

Just an observation having watched a few episodes of Silent Witness, in the last two episodes the police were the bad guys. It seems to be a common theme in many crime dramas particularly on the BBC. The police are either stupid, corrupt, or seriously dark and damaged. Has anyone else noticed this? And no I am not in the police or connected with them in any way.

In The Bridge the police are all extremely conscientious, intelligent, hard-working people.

(Apart from one exception...)

Even the bosses seem to have nothing more pressing to do with their time than stand around discussing their colleagues' mental health.

But then they are Scandinavian police...

the early days of cinema and the Keystone cops were all bungling tubby lards of incompetence, Charlie Chaplin style.

I was thinking of the police in the killing and the bridge, they are all amazing crime solvers

Art imitating life I should imagine.

I think the same can be said for a lot of drama shows based on professions really?

Like Waterloo Road - mad drunken teachers

Or Casualty - doctors and nurses who hop in and out of each other's beds and can barely treat patients because they are having angst ridden conversations

If only doctors, nurses and teachers had time for those fun and games

Again all BBC shows, perhaps they have a dim view of all frontline public workers

Because they are (by and large?)

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Police have a lot of power...

Think of Hillsborough and Plebgate...

Certainly there are examples of awful incidents involving the police. But are they ALL really bad, nasty corrupt buffoons? Those I have met seem perfectly normal, helpful and professional.

maisymum don't forget the met police who allegedly sold stories to NofW.

Sadly I've met more bent ones than decent ones. Its a crying shame for the good police people.

They were great in The Bill. Especially Mickey

Just been a new series called Hinterland here in Wales all the cops in that are mean and moody and stare into the distance a lot.

Because 'badness' of the obvious kind is an easy way to create drama. There are lots of cliches like that on TV.

How many series have there been featuring the 'maverick' loner detective whose marriage broke up because he was so devoted to solving cases he was never home, and who forgets to pick up his cute daughter (almost always a daughter)?

How many US police dramas feature a shouty black lieutenant or captain who is constantly chucking files, bellowing at our heroes and complaining he is 'too old for this shit'?

Every single programme, good or bad, featuring lawyers pursues the maverick, anti-establishment lone crusader drinks red wine late into the night over mountains of case papers angle, the cliche being the default position of lawyers is to be creepy, manipulative agents of the elite. True or not, it does get boring as drama.

Teachers are either evil shouting bullies or saintly inspiring figures with a vocation to reach even the most off-putting children.

I reckon that is why people liked Taggart so much when Marl McManus was in it. Forget the cliches, he was a ruthless, abrupt, granite-faced wee bastard, which came as a welcome break from all the jazz and whisky-loving, scruffy yet inexplicably attractive to women bollocks screen-writers usually come up with.

Mark, not 'Marl', sorry.

I guess it makes for more interesting and dramatic story lines if they are bad and moody. However I wonder if this constant portrayal of cops as messed up bad guys influences our opinion of the police.

Yes lets just make assumptions about everyone based on the job they do.