You Can't Take Fingerprints Off Water: Police Officers' Views Toward "Cop" Television Shows

Abstract

Given the disclaimers of the tentative and suggestive nature of the data, a majority of the 816 police officers in this study indicated that they viewed police shows that stressed professionalism. Police professionalism, which seemed to explain the popularity of some shows and the disdain for others, was discussed in terms of three overlapping factors: reality of the episode, believability of cops, crooks, and dialogue, and correctness of investigatory and other procedures. Of the 13 police shows surveyed, Adam 12 achieved the highest scores from policemen on both the realism and frequency dimensions. Interesting dialogue, humor, and correct police procedure were cited time and again by respondents who watched this show. Yet the key to the explanation of Adam 12's apparent popularity-along with F.B.I., Dragnet, and Streets of San Francisco-seems to be the high level of professional conduct. In all these shows, police are portrayed as competent, well-trained, dedicated-and professional. If the plots are occasionally melodramatic, the police are steady in their performance. The police television show has replaced the modern western. Excitement and violence are as common in arrests as the Wyatt Earp shootout was in days of yore-and just as false. Yet the political awakening of various repressed groups makes cowboy-and-Indian themes as passe as Amos 'n Andy. Too many "un American" episodes dealing with Indians punctuate American history. Police shows, however, capture the drama and action of these Western precursors while having legitimate villains-criminals. A major conclusion of this study is that television shows may help the policemen's image and, ironically, lead the public to expect too much.