...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!

Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement

123 statements
23 feature instances
18 referencing feature instances

Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement	type	FeatureClass
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement	label	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement	page	SlidingScaleOfLawEnforcement
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement	comment	Portrayals of the men in blue vary greatly across history, cultures, and nations. From governors under pressure by rabid religious groups to engage in persecution against a Jewish prophet in ancient Israel, to borderline Sociopathic Heroes engaging in regular Police Brutality against criminal suspects, views of society on law enforcement are influenced by both political climate and the present news. Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_1'); })At one end of the scale (most often inside the Animation Age Ghetto and rife with And Knowing Is Half the Battle), cops are The Real Heroes. They are willing and able, like the Emergency Services, to help out others with little hesitation, and always deliver helpful lessons by the end of the episode (usually a very special one) to the show's protagonists (and the viewers). Policemen are benevolent, paternal figures people can rely on in case of dire emergency, be they victims of abuse in the family. In milder versions of this, there are additional Aesops about the police not always being around to help with every problem, an attempt at a realistic balance between cynicism and idealism in this matter. At the other end of the scale, the closest thing to a "good cop" is a Knight Templar Rabid Cop. Most cops are corrupt and brutal thugs who enjoy terrorizing and brutalizing the civilian populace. If they fight against crime at all, it is either a clash of Lawful and other evil or for the bidding of a rival crimelord. In milder versions of this, cops are generally portrayed as bumbling, corrupt, and ineffectual, as well as Lawful Stupid, but generally well-meaning, with occasional Inspector Javerts and Rabid Cops peppering the mix. There are also settings that mix the two, with the cops that aren't useless being dirty as all get out. Quite a lot of media from the counterculture movement or groups with similar opinions in the 60's and 70's tend to fall firmly on this side. Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_2'); })Generally, shows with law enforcement members as protagonists sit somewhere near the middle of the scale, with both a few Wide-Eyed Idealist cops and the occasional Dirty Cop, Internal Affairs Javert with a Rabid Cop (sometimes one of the protagonists) thrown in for good measure, while shows with criminal protagonists or set in tyrannical regimes tend to sit somewhere towards the negative end of the scale. Compare Jurisdiction Friction for other scales within Law Enforcement itself.
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement	fetched	2022-07-30T17:43:11Z
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement	parsed	2022-07-30T17:43:11Z
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement	processingComment	Dropped link to RuleOfFunny: Not an Item - FEATURE
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement	isPartOf	DBTropes
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_12300cc3	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_12300cc3	comment	Rorschach in Watchmen is an Anti-Hero, though that's because he has impossibly high moral standards. His heroic actions include leaving a child murderer to die, and killing a serial rapist then leaving his body at the police station when the police themselves cannot catch him.
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_12300cc3	featureApplicability	1.0
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_12300cc3	featureConfidence	1.0
Watchmen (Comic Book)	hasFeature	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_12300cc3
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_2275c659	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_2275c659	comment	House is largely neutral-to-positive on police generally, but Detective Tritter was portrayed as a vengeful jerkass. He was right that House was an addict in a position that should not be held by an addict, and did get to deliver one really solid justifying speech to Cuddynote "[...] it's not being dealt with by doctors. Doctors are covering it up. The whole point of the criminal justice system is to make things right when everything else fails. With all due respect, you have failed.", but he still came across as vindictive and petty, and the fact that he was going up against Our Favorite Jerkass didn't help.
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_2275c659	featureApplicability	1.0
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_2275c659	featureConfidence	1.0
House	hasFeature	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_2275c659
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_261c8d3f	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_261c8d3f	comment	Chief Clancy Wiggum on The Simpsons is a textbook example of a sliding scale. He and his department are often the butt of jokes about Police inefficiency. Wiggum himself often makes up laws as he goes along. Although it's a defining trait of Wiggum and the entire SPD, however, the scale shifts quite often depending on what the episode calls for. Sometimes they can be helpful, though it's usually dependent on the circumstances of the episode. The departments' corruption fluctuates as well, though generally it's not malicious. The entire Springfield Police Department's undergone the effect of Flanderization big time. It really depends on what the episode calls for. There is an instance of an SPD Officer shooting Homer with a pistol as he runs over a rooftop several stories off the ground (the cops were on the ground), while there is also the time several SPD Snipers are unable to hit a passed-out woman laying motionless on the floor.
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_261c8d3f	featureApplicability	1.0
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_261c8d3f	featureConfidence	1.0
The Simpsons	hasFeature	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_261c8d3f
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_2b05167	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_2b05167	comment	Alien Nation had an LA Precinct overcome racism and embrace an alien cop as one of their own, and thus sits largely toward the more positive end of the middle, given that the whole show was an allegory to the struggles of minorities, immigrants, freed slaves, and homosexuals set 20 Minutes into the Future. However, there were some corrupt cops, other cops who were racist jerks, and the Captain of the Precinct was a bureaucratic prick given to alternating fits of condescending and sucking up to his two more noble Buddy Cop subordinates.
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_2b05167	featureApplicability	1.0
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_2b05167	featureConfidence	1.0
Alien Nation	hasFeature	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_2b05167
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_37a71462	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_37a71462	comment	Les Misérables sits at the negative end of the scale. The main example of law enforcement is the Trope Namer for Inspector Javert, and the author makes it clear that it's because he's such a good cop that he's a villain. Javert swears to uphold the law, even when the law is unjust, while failing to show compassion for Valjean, Fantine, or any other people who the law fails to protect.
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_37a71462	featureApplicability	1.0
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_37a71462	featureConfidence	1.0
Les Misérables	hasFeature	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_37a71462
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_3ff0f7dd	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_3ff0f7dd	comment	The police in KateModern are generally fairly incompetent, provoking one Serial Killer to remark "What does a person have to do to get arrested around here?" When they do arrest anyone, it's always the wrong person, and the whole legal system is manipulated by an evil secret society anyway. Interestingly, it's only the English police who are portrayed this way; the French police, while still incompetent, aren't corrupt.
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_3ff0f7dd	featureApplicability	1.0
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_3ff0f7dd	featureConfidence	1.0
KateModern (Web Video)	hasFeature	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_3ff0f7dd
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_468bebb0	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_468bebb0	comment	The Watch books in Discworld lean towards the "good cop" end, though before Carrot shows up they're mostly just incompetent (in the case of Colon and Nobby) or an alcoholic Knight in Sour Armor (in the case of Vimes). In Night Watch Discworld, which is somewhat of a Whole Plot Reference to Les Misérables, Vimes goes back in time and takes the place of Inspector Javert, deconstructing the original character's archetype: Javert sees "justice" as punishing the guilty, while Vimes sees it as protecting the innocent.
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_468bebb0	featureApplicability	1.0
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_468bebb0	featureConfidence	1.0
Discworld	hasFeature	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_468bebb0
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_4cc06582	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_4cc06582	comment	Hot Fuzz sits in the middle, leaning towards the positive side. While the police are portrayed as ineffectual and bureaucratic, they do end up coming for the criminals in the Ancient Conspiracy at the end and Angel is portrayed less as a contrast to a world of bad and corruption and more of a lighthearted contrast to the ineffectual, politically correct bureaucracy of the other bobbies.
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_4cc06582	featureApplicability	1.0
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_4cc06582	featureConfidence	1.0
Hot Fuzz	hasFeature	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_4cc06582
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_6272adf3	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_6272adf3	comment	The Shield, of course, as aforementioned, sits at an unusual negative end of the scale. Given that it was inspired by the breathtakingly awful Real Life Rampart scandal, it really couldn't be expected to go any other way.
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_6272adf3	featureApplicability	1.0
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_6272adf3	featureConfidence	1.0
The Shield	hasFeature	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_6272adf3
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_62f94c6	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_62f94c6	comment	The Dark Knight Trilogy looks to be sitting in the middle. Corruption is present in the police force, but idealists like Gordon earn promotions and praise, even the cop that sells out Rachel Dawes gets mention of being pressured for her mother's hospital bills, and the police are more portrayed as misguided with occasional elements of corruption within their midst.
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_62f94c6	featureApplicability	1.0
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_62f94c6	featureConfidence	1.0
The Dark Knight Trilogy	hasFeature	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_62f94c6
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_6bcd58c7	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_6bcd58c7	comment	Sin City, with its Wretched Hive setting and criminal protagonists, sits squarely on the negative end of the scale. As Marv, one of the criminal protagonists in question, notes, "everyone knows who they work for and what it takes to keep them happy." The cops in Sin City are so bad that they even have a death squad that deals with those who know too much about stuff those in charge want hidden. The only good cop of the bunch is Detective John Hartigan, and he pays for it quite dearly. Characters at times mention that there are good cops out there, but they can only survive by keeping a low profile and turning a blind eye to their colleagues' activities.
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_6bcd58c7	featureApplicability	1.0
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_6bcd58c7	featureConfidence	1.0
Sin City (Comic Book)	hasFeature	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_6bcd58c7
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_75d2821c	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_75d2821c	comment	The old Action Man (1995) cartoon was rife with examples at the more positive end of the scale.
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_75d2821c	featureApplicability	1.0
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_75d2821c	featureConfidence	1.0
Action Man (1995)	hasFeature	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_75d2821c
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_8125b468	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_8125b468	comment	Batman has been all over the map.
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_8125b468	featureApplicability	1.0
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_8125b468	featureConfidence	1.0
Batman (Franchise)	hasFeature	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_8125b468
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_a4955c71	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_a4955c71	comment	Similarly, its parent series, Police Quest is also on the idealistic side. The protagonist of the first three games, Sonny Bonds, is an archetypal By-the-Book Cop who excels at every facet of police work, be it as a patrolman, in narcotics, undercover, working homicide, or as a SWAT officer. Corruption in the police force isn't even a factor until the third game. As it stands, police procedures must be rigidly adhered to, especially in the first game and Sonny doesn't actually kill anyone until the final confrontation with Jesse Bains at the very end of the second game.
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_a4955c71	featureApplicability	1.0
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_a4955c71	featureConfidence	1.0
Police Quest (Video Game)	hasFeature	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_a4955c71
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_aeaf3d1b	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_aeaf3d1b	comment	Gene Hunt of Life On Mars and Ashes to Ashes (2008). Very big fan of "Kicking in nonces," as he'd say. The show oscillates widely around the mid-point of the scale; sometimes Gene Hunt is perfectly willing to do bad things in a good cause, but sometimes he's so willing to do bad things that he doesn't need a cause beyond feeling like hurting someone. The other regular officers stake out points all along the scale, with modern officers Sam Tyler and Alex Drake at the more heroic end, while Ray Carling tends to be the lower end of the range — excepting occasions when Gene overshoots him. There are also some really bent coppers, which helps the viewer see Gene as being a bad cop, but not an evil one.
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_aeaf3d1b	featureApplicability	1.0
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_aeaf3d1b	featureConfidence	1.0
Life on Mars (2006)	hasFeature	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_aeaf3d1b
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_c2297a9c	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_c2297a9c	comment	Judge Dredd: Surprisingly, a very nuanced take on law enforcement in spite of its hero being a fascistic Judge, Jury, and Executioner serving a dystopian Police State. The Judges' portrayal as an institution varies between brutally repressive bullies and dedicated law enforcers who can be fair (often dependent on whether the story focuses on them or the citizens). It's made clear that without having the Judges around, the city would simply tear itself apart and has from time to time. And while Judge Dredd himself is memetically known for his blind obedience to THE LAW, he has had many Pet the Dog moments throughout his career and even resigned when he started to doubt the system.
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_c2297a9c	featureApplicability	1.0
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_c2297a9c	featureConfidence	1.0
Judge Dredd (Comic Book)	hasFeature	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_c2297a9c
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_cac1f772	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_cac1f772	comment	CSI tends to sit towards the positive side, as the police themselves are generally background characters.
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_cac1f772	featureApplicability	1.0
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_cac1f772	featureConfidence	1.0
CSI	hasFeature	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_cac1f772
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_d68df17d	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_d68df17d	comment	Top Gear: The "rozzers" (along with nearly every other form of invasive traffic control, such as speed cameras) are mildly annoying petty villains, whose main role is to interfere with the presenters. While some Top Gear challenges include alleged traffic stops thrown in entirely for humor (in one memorable sequence, The Stig was actually arrested), other races have been delayed or interrupted when a presenter is held up by a traffic stop. The police did come out in full force when demonstrating proper police procedure in the Police Car Special. There was also the Bonneville episode, where Richard and Jeremy are stopped by a policeman after loudly revving the engines on their muscle cars (they do it specifically to set off car alarms, and the police officer is portrayed as being completely in the right and refuses to believe that they were "Just fooling around").
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_d68df17d	featureApplicability	1.0
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_d68df17d	featureConfidence	1.0
Top Gear	hasFeature	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_d68df17d
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_e5dc440a	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_e5dc440a	comment	The S.W.A.T. game series leans very heavily to the idealistic end, given its focus on being a simulation of a By-the-Book Cop SWAT team. Police brutality can occur if the player approaches challenges carelessly, but then you're always heavily penalised for not following protocol. The use of less-lethal weaponry is particularly emphasized in the fourth game. (That installment's tutorial even mentions that SWAT functions primarily as a life-saving organisation, not an armed cleanup force.) Getting a civilian killed by provoking a suspect or shooting a civilian dead results in an instant mission failure, while abusing deadly force against suspects (especially without warning) adds penalty points.
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_e5dc440a	featureApplicability	1.0
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_e5dc440a	featureConfidence	1.0
S.W.A.T. (Video Game)	hasFeature	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_e5dc440a
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_e7e37776	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_e7e37776	comment	Since Firefly focuses on a motley collection of outlaws and fugitives, the police are generally considered a danger and threat. However, while the cops are enemies, they aren't presented as particularly evil, but range from decent local sherrifs willing to look the other way to no-nonsense federal marshals to corrupt officers running cloned body parts.
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_e7e37776	featureApplicability	1.0
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_e7e37776	featureConfidence	1.0
Firefly	hasFeature	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_e7e37776
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_eb76340f	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_eb76340f	comment	While Third Watch leans heavily towards the cynical side on That Other Scale, it is much more positive on its portrayal of law enforcement. While virtually all the cop characters engage in a questionable activity over the course of the show, they are generally portrayed as good people doing a tough job. Even the blatantly crooked Sergeant Cruz is shown to have strong moral reasons for her actions, even if her actions are morally reprehensible. If anything, the show's message is that cops don't get enough credit for the good that they do, and that bad cops are the exception rather than the rule.
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_eb76340f	featureApplicability	1.0
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_eb76340f	featureConfidence	1.0
Third Watch	hasFeature	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_eb76340f
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_edbc9738	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_edbc9738	comment	In Transmetropolitan, all cops save for one exception are knuckle-dragging, corrupt thugs who care about nothing but their paychecks and the power their badges bring, and a chance to regularly beat up or shoot peaceful protesters and other freaks.
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_edbc9738	featureApplicability	1.0
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_edbc9738	featureConfidence	1.0
Transmetropolitan (Comic Book)	hasFeature	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_edbc9738
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_ff2165b	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_ff2165b	comment	Cold Case is a relatively positive portrayal, as the main characters are detectives, but issues like institutional sexism, racism, and anti-homosexual sentiment are still brought up, as is the problem of corruption (particularly during past eras) and police incompetence. They tend to be fairly good about Police Brutality, too, at least compared with SVU.
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_ff2165b	featureApplicability	1.0
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_ff2165b	featureConfidence	1.0
Cold Case	hasFeature	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement / int_ff2165b

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement	processingCategory2	Cops and Detectives
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement	processingCategory2	Crime and Punishment Tropes
Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement	processingCategory2	Sorting Algorithm of Tropes
With Pearl and Ruby Glowing (Fanfic) / int_35474f36	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
Exit Through the Gift Shop / int_35474f36	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
The Shootist / int_35474f36	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
Training Day / int_35474f36	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
Dark Future / int_35474f36	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
Evensong / int_35474f36	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
Internment / int_35474f36	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
The Big Nowhere / int_35474f36	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
Mario4812LikedTropes3	seeAlso	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That) (Music) / int_35474f36	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
Firefly / int_35474f36	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
Low Winter Sun / int_35474f36	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
Lacuna (2021) (Video Game) / int_35474f36	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
NeonXSZ (Video Game) / int_35474f36	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement
SWAT 4 (Video Game) / int_35474f36	type	Sliding Scale of Law Enforcement

Copyright of DBTropes.org wrapper 2009-2013 DFKI Knowledge Management. Imprint. - Thanks to Bakken&Baeck for hosting. Contact.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.