The Cops is a show which has aired on Fox for the longest time. The show runs for 30 minutes and follows police officers in their daily activities as they fight crimes. The show initially only showed scenes from Broward County but with time advanced to air episodes acted from various parts of the country. The show is programmed in such a way that it has no script, but stories are told from the perspective of the police officers on duty. In this paper, I will take a keen interest in season 30 episode 22 which was aired on November 13, 2017, titled ‘ Fake cash and whiplash.'
On episode 22, the show begins with a pursuit of several cars suspected to be driven by criminals. One of the suspects flees on foot. The quest seems dangerous, and one of the suspects is seen throwing away some of his clothes in a way to hide his guilt. In another scene, a shopkeeper is seen engaging in a fistfight with a man he confronts claiming that he had ripped him off (Langley and Barbour, 1989). Eventually, all the suspects are caught by the police officers on duty and handcuffed for questioning.
From the episode, the police officers are all white men. The area in which they are patrolling is quiet, and most of the residents are white. However, one of the suspects is black as indicated when the officer shouts, “Black man, black shirt.” It is clear that gender inequality is prominent whenever officers are sent on certain missions (Langley and Barbour, 1989). The pursuit seems somewhat dangerous and assumingly that’s why no female officer was deployed for the task. The lead officer in the episode is a man of Caucasian origin. The supervisor seems to be head-on with his duties and is even seen explaining to the suspects their mistakes. He is a good supervisor because he does not harass the suspects but instead makes them understand why they had been apprehended and what was required of them. From the show, no LGBT officer is seen hence I feel that the show has some sexual orientation bias.
The officers from the Cops show make use of community policing techniques to solve problems. The officers work hand in hand with the members of the said community in a quest to ensure a safe environment for them. Community policing involves citizens feeling safe to contact police officers in case they notice a criminal or a situation that requires their attention.
Every police activity involving crime should also entail a detailed analysis of crime. Crime analysis enables officers to evaluate patterns and trends in crime. Crime analysis allows officers to deploy resources depending on the evaluation of the complexity of a crime or disorder. Additionally, crime analysis allows police officers to know when one is guilty and when to apprehend a suspect. From the episode of Cops I watched, the officers made use of crime analysis by observing the speed at which the vehicles were being driven which determined their cause of action which involved pursuing them.
Throughout the Cops show and this particular episode the officers do not follow the bureaucratic model of policing. Instead, the officers are free to pursue their gut whenever they suspect a crime or disorder within their area of jurisdiction (Langley and Barbour, 1989). The officers do not use excessive force on the suspects because as always a suspect is innocent unless proven guilty. Additionally, none of the suspects in the episode pose a threat to the lives of the officers.
From the show, discretion is always used by censoring some vulgar language from the suspects. Some of the suspects are rude to the officers. Since the viewers are of different ages and beliefs, the producers of the show always apply some discretion on the content they release to their viewers. Additionally, in the case a suspect does not want to be shown on national television, their faces are made blurred (Doyle, 1998). Hence, the producers of the show have to seek permission from all the people they encounter before airing the show.
Accountability and legitimacy are two central concepts followed throughout the show of Cops. Accountability makes an officer responsible for their actions during their community policing activities, and hence, they are expected to behave in a particular way by the members of the society. Legitimacy, on the other hand, is the perception that police activities conform to the law and expectations of the people. The police officers aired on the Cops show are always aiming at showing the perfect way an officer should behave when apprehending a suspect or even when handling them (Walker, 2001). The show indicates that officers comply with the set policies of the police department in the USA.
In summary, the Cops show which airs on Fox television is an example of a police show that records all activities of police officers on duty without having a prior script. The show depicts high levels of accountability and legitimacy among police officers. The officers do not use excessive force on their subjects and treat suspects innocent until proven guilty. The officers always explain to the suspects’ reasons for their arrests and explain to them their rights.