This is why I say the Wire is the best cop show out there still, espevially growing up with a cop. It raises up the parts of police work that deserve praise; eg. the individuals that get in for the right reasons or have appropriate respect for the job once there, the opportunity police have to make a positive impact on outliers in our society, etc. It also gives a pretty realistic look at how these things go wrong or become ineffective at an institutional level (and 100% don’t shy away from idiot/aggressive cops, narratively equating them to gang members). As far as I can remember there is never a “big, bad internal affairs” plot line. When it does come up it’s in reference to a character’s problematic behavior and treated as a fair consequence of their actions.
Watch the Wire if you havent and you like crime-drama. It’s as good as it gets.
This is why I say the Wire is the best cop show out there still, espevially growing up with a cop. It raises up the parts of police work that deserve praise; eg. the individuals that get in for the right reasons or have appropriate respect for the job once there, the opportunity police have to make a positive impact on outliers in our society, etc. It also gives a pretty realistic look at how these things go wrong or become ineffective at an institutional level (and 100% don’t shy away from idiot/aggressive cops, narratively equating them to gang members). As far as I can remember there is never a “big, bad internal affairs” plot line. When it does come up it’s in reference to a character’s problematic behavior and treated as a fair consequence of their actions.
Watch the Wire if you havent and you like crime-drama. It’s as good as it gets.