Everything Wrong With Cop Shows and Movies

Anonymous


Television and movie cop shows tend to get things very wrong in regards to how it is to really be a cop. I have several in my family and several as friends. AND YES, I KNOW IT'S TV/MOVIE FICTION----this is just commentary on how wrong they get it.


1. Shootouts and car chases happen every day on the job

Everything Wrong With Cop Shows and Movies

Life for cops is not grand theft auto. The majority of police work is boring tedious paperwork. Some cops never even fire a gun in their entire career. In fact, all those shows where you see cops busting in guns a'blazing isn't often reality either because they a)don't want to escalate a situation that doesn't need to be escalated to guns being drawn, and b)unless they are aware of a weapon beforehand or can see one being drawn, they don't draw their weapons automatically for every call. Also due to the high risk of danger to regular citizens, often the few car chases that do happen are called off.


2. Cops wear Gucci Suits and Christian Louboutins to work

Everything Wrong With Cop Shows and Movies

Most cops are in a uniform or they are dressed in a manner in which they would blend in in plain clothes rather than stick out like a sore thumb at a crime scene or during an investigation. Not only that, the job can get hot and sweaty and you could be exposed to all sorts of things, so why you would wear your best $500 pair of shoes would be baffling.


3. "The Lab" has sexy mood lighting and only a few people working out of uniform

Everything Wrong With Cop Shows and Movies

TV labs always are these dark mood lit rooms with only a handful of employees dressed whichever way they'd like. Lab techs need to be professional at all times and work in a manner in which if called into question, they can verify their evidence which translates into labcoats, well lit sterile environments, several employees working their shifts, and not doing things like eating a snack in the lab crumbs dripping over evidence as they randomly discuss a case with whatever officer busts in demanding to see the evidence now.


4. Cases always get solved neatly and quickly

Everything Wrong With Cop Shows and Movies

The reality is, only about 46% of violent crimes ever get solved by the cops due to lack of evidence, witnesses drying up, people failing to testify, lost evidence or evidence still in a 'mood lit lab' somewhere, or the perpetrator disappearing. TV and movies would have you believe this number is closer to 90% in the way so many get solved and so efficiently without any delay.


5. Cops are cool with shooting people

Everything Wrong With Cop Shows and Movies

Cops are human beings too. I'll repeat that. Cops are human beings too. They risk their lives every single day and taking a life is not a joke. Fiction often portrays cops as gunning down 20 people in one sitting and then nonchalantly rolling back into work the same day like nothing happened. Many cops who have had to take a life suffer PTSD, stress, some commit suicide, and many are told to take some time off and seek counseling after it happens before coming back in to just allow them to process what they've had to do to protect themselves or others and even then, some cops will never go back on duty after taking a life.


6. Apparently anyone can run S.W.A.T

Everything Wrong With Cop Shows and Movies

So a cop is on the scene, a hostage is taken, and he calls for S.W.A.T. Of course S.W.A.T arrives with no helmets on and the cop starts telling them what to do and how s/he is going to lead them into the house. Then they immediately kick down the door and head on in...yeah, no, no, nope. There is a reason you call in a specialized team to handle a situation such as this....because they are a specialized team trained to handle things like hostage situations. S.W.A.T also comes in with helmets to protect themselves from bullets to the head or bomb gear and robots if necessary and does everything they can not to engage in a violent situation because there are often other lives at stake. S.W.A.T interventions can take long patient hours of slow negotiations and talks that hopefully lead to a peaceful surrender. Last resort is to go in and engage with a suspect.


7. There's always a cop that is allowed to take things into their own hands

Everything Wrong With Cop Shows and Movies


This would be the exact person a chief doesn't want on his force. Legally speaking, an officer who continuously doesn't follow the rules, tampers with evidence, tries solving cases on his own through nefarious means on/off work hours, would be the first one fired because any halfways decent lawyer would get their cases thrown out not to mention social media/media would have a field day with a department who knew about or allowed a cop to go rogue on their watch.

Everything Wrong With Cop Shows and Movies
15 Opinion