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Mostly accurate Police movies/shows
Reznik
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I'd appreciate some recs of movies or TV shows about law enforcement that are fairly accurate (I know liberties have to be taken because of the medium, but at least something better than Generic Procedural #574)
I have watched The Wire and enjoyed it.
I have watched The Wire and enjoyed it.
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Or even better if you can handle subtitles then the Danish show "Forbrydelsen" which has aired in the UK under the name "The Killing" - it got so popular there is even a US remake under the same name. Supposedly the remake is okay but it does not reach the Danish originals level.
Here is a trailer:
youtube.com/watch?v=wU1_xAO8LuQ
(Be careful if you click on some of the other clips on youtube - there is lots of spoilers)
Note the quotes from British news media. This is for a show with subtitles.
Also Serpico. It's an older movie but somehow still incredibly accurate.
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This is the only show that fits this criteria.
The US version has a pretty good first season, but it goes way off the rails at the end of season 1/beginning of season 2. I stopped watching about halfway through season 2, but I've been told it picks up again towards the end.
No doubt, but a LARGE majority behave in unscrupulous ways, from innocuous things like accepting a free bagel from a shop owner, to more insidious acts. And, just like you never see a cop on COPS sleeping in his car because he just worked a 12 hour shift, you also never see any of the other stuff they do. Making it one of the LEAST accurate shows.
I did a little reading on how the two compares and in the UK they say pretty much the same. The US version is pretty good but it is also not close to as great as the original. Apparently the Danish show came equal to "The Wire" and "Mad Men" on number of UK viewers despite the sub-title thing and it has become something of a cult thing. Here is one of the many articles about the show
guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/mar/26/tv-review-the-killing
Correct. Most cops are just guys doing their job, dealing with shit, and the interesting parts to watch are usually the worst parts in reality. Some cops are bad. Just like some politicians, accountants, contractors, etc are bad. Just because you have folk like Bernie Madoff out there doesn't mean every financial consultant runs a ponzi scheme.
In reality, the vast majority of police work are bullshit traffic stops and domestic disturbance calls, not shootouts and framing of the local disliked minorities.
Large majority? That is just patently false. There are plenty of reasons to dislike the paramilitary influenced US police system, but this sort of argument is insulting to the majority of folks doing the job right and waters down the criminality and significance of those who are crooked.
Sorry, I mean corruption in any sense, like a free cup of coffee from a vendor, which is considered corruption by the people that study these things and is something most police officers have engaged in at one time or another. I'm not just talking The Shield level of corruption here. Although I would also recommend The Shield as a really good police procedural show. It's really really good.
My statement was based on the fact that Serpico is a pretty loyal retelling of events which actually occurred; it lionizes the title character a bit, washes over some of his flaws, but is otherwise pretty on top of things.
COPS tends to be roughly as "realistic" as something like Big Brother. It's almost entirely whitewashed, and you're basically seeing cops on their best behavior, since they know they're gonna be on television.
Very true, but it is also the actual work done by police. Must dramas focus on bits of historical spectacle or outlandish and incredibly uncommon events like serial killers or tricky homicides. What I like about COPS in this is that most stops and interactions with the police and poeple you see on it are uncomfortable conversations, fairly authentic, and don't have some convenient closure at the end of the day. That's what really happens.
But yeah, there is definitely a lot it doesn't cover due to the reality tv rules.
I'm working on tracking down Forbrydelsen, since subtitles are no problem.
Will for sure track down Homicide given the people involved, and I have heard good things about Southland as well so that's definitely on the list too.
Thanks for the recs to far. Keep 'em coming.
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Hopefully Forbrydelsen is less on the red herrings.
If you figure out where to find Forbrydelsen, let me know. I've seen the first part of The Killing (US), and it was pretty interesting, but I'd like to see the original.
But I'm sure it doesn't come close to realistic.
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Once I saw the main characters blow up a door with a grenade after being denied a consent search, I knew the show wasn't going to ever concern itself with issues like "criminal procedure" and "constitutional rights".
It's available as box sets from that big online book store that now sells just about everything. Not sure if it's on any streaming services or the like as well. Make sure not to get the US version because they are both under the same title.
You are limited somewhat by it being on network TV. They cleaned it up from the book (which is excellent). For example, most of the cops he followed were huge racists. The thing you wouldn't expect is that this applied to both the white cops and the black cops, and it was in both cases against the poor black population.
The First 48 is also way better than Cops.
No, seriously. Its like dragnet, from the makers of dragnet, but about a patrol car in LA, not the detectives. Its actually really accurate for the time period, down to the "Your husband hit you? Its not too bad... what if he promises not to do it again?" domestic abuse resolution.
Bonus: Its not netflix AND hulu
Oh yeah, that's another one that my police officer dad loved when I was growing up. I got him the DVD's a few years ago. Just make sure you watch the original Adam 12, NOT the remake from the early 90's.