The police show, or police crime drama, is a
subgenre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a Category of being, category of literature, ...
of
procedural drama and
detective fiction
Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as s ...
that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a
police officer
A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...
or department as the
protagonist
A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...
(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on either a private detective, an amateur investigator or the characters who are the targets of investigations. While many police procedurals conceal the criminal's identity until the crime is solved in the
narrative climax (the so-called
whodunit
A ''whodunit'' or ''whodunnit'' (a colloquial elision of "Who asdone it?") is a complex plot-driven variety of detective fiction in which the puzzle regarding who committed the crime is the main focus. The reader or viewer is provided with the cl ...
), others reveal the perpetrator's identity to the audience early in the narrative, making it an
inverted detective story
An inverted detective story, also known as a "howcatchem", is a murder mystery fiction structure in which the commission of the crime is shown or described at the beginning, usually including the identity of the perpetrator. The story then describ ...
. Whatever the plot style, the defining element of a police procedural is the attempt to accurately depict the profession of law enforcement, including such police-related topics as
forensic science
Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal ...
,
autopsies
An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death or to evaluate any d ...
, gathering
evidence
Evidence for a proposition is what supports this proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the supported proposition is true. What role evidence plays and how it is conceived varies from field to field.
In epistemology, evidenc ...
,
search warrant
A search warrant is a court order that a magistrate or judge issues to authorize law enforcement officers to conduct a search of a person, location, or vehicle for evidence of a crime and to confiscate any evidence they find. In most countries, ...
s,
interrogation
Interrogation (also called questioning) is interviewing as commonly employed by law enforcement officers, military personnel, intelligence agencies, organized crime syndicates, and terrorist organizations with the goal of eliciting useful informa ...
and adherence to legal restrictions and procedure.
Early history
The roots of the police procedural have been traced to at least the mid-1880s.
Wilkie Collins
William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist and playwright known especially for ''The Woman in White (novel), The Woman in White'' (1859), a mystery novel and early "sensation novel", and for ''The Moons ...
's novel ''
The Moonstone
''The Moonstone'' (1868) by Wilkie Collins is a 19th-century British epistolary novel. It is an early example of the modern detective novel, and established many of the ground rules of the modern genre. The story was serialised in Charles Di ...
'' (1868), a tale of a
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...
detective investigating the theft of a valuable diamond, has been described as perhaps the earliest clear example of the genre.
As detective fiction rose to worldwide popularity in the late 19th century and early 20th century, many of the pioneering and most popular characters, at least in the English-speaking world, were private investigators or amateurs. See
C. Auguste Dupin
''Le Knight, Chevalier'' C. Auguste Dupin is a fictional character created by Edgar Allan Poe. Dupin made his first appearance in Poe's 1841 short story "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", widely considered the first detective fiction story. He rea ...
,
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
,
Sam Spade,
Miss Marple
Miss Marple is a fictional character in Agatha Christie's crime novels and short stories. Jane Marple lives in the village of St. Mary Mead and acts as an amateur consulting detective. Often characterized as an elderly spinster, she is one of Ch ...
and others.
Hercule Poirot
Hercule Poirot (, ) is a fictional Belgian detective created by British writer Agatha Christie. Poirot is one of Christie's most famous and long-running characters, appearing in 33 novels, two plays ('' Black Coffee'' and ''Alibi''), and more ...
was described as a veteran of the Belgian police, but as a protagonist he worked independently. Only after World War II would police procedural fiction rival the popularity of PIs or amateur sleuths.
Lawrence Treat's 1945 novel ''V as in Victim'' is often cited as the first police procedural, by
Anthony Boucher
William Anthony Parker White (August 21, 1911 – April 29, 1968), better known by his pen name Anthony Boucher (), was an American author, critic, and editor who wrote several classic mystery novels, short stories, science fiction, and radio d ...
(mystery critic for the ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
Book Review'') among others. Another early example is
Hillary Waugh
Hillary Baldwin Waugh (June 22, 1920 – December 8, 2008) was a pioneering American mystery novelist. In 1989, he was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America. Pseudonyms used by Waugh included Elissa Grandower, Harry Walker and H. ...
's ''
Last Seen Wearing...'' 1952. Even earlier examples from the 20th Century, predating Treat, include the novels ''Vultures in the Dark'', 1925, and ''The Borrowed Shield'', 1925, by
Richard Enright
Richard Edward Enright (August 30, 1871 – September 4, 1953) was an American law enforcement officer, detective, and crime writer and served as NYPD Police Commissioner from 1918 until 1925. He was the first man to rise from the rank-and-fil ...
, retired
New York City Police Commissioner
The New York City Police Commissioner is the head of the New York City Police Department and presiding member of the Board of Commissioners. The commissioner is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the mayor. The commissioner is responsib ...
, ''Harness Bull'', 1937, and ''Homicide'', 1937, by former Southern California police officer
Leslie T. White, ''P.C. Richardson's First Case'', 1933, by Sir
Basil Thomson
Sir Basil Home Thomson, (21 April 1861 – 26 March 1939) was a British colonial administrator and prison governor, who was head of Metropolitan Police CID during World War I. This gave him a key role in arresting wartime spies, and he was clos ...
, former
Assistant Commissioner of
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...
, and the short story collection ''Policeman's Lot'', 1933, by former Buckinghamshire High Sheriff and Justice of the Peace
Henry Wade
Henry Menasco Wade (November 11, 1914 – March 1, 2001) was an American lawyer who served as district attorney of Dallas County from 1951 to 1987. He participated in two notable U.S. court cases of the 20th century: the prosecution of Jack Ru ...
.
The procedural became more prominent after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, and, while the contributions of
novelist
A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...
s like Treat were significant, a large part of the impetus for the post-war development of the procedural as a distinct subgenre of the mystery was due, not to prose fiction, but to the popularity of a number of American films which dramatized and fictionalized actual crimes. Dubbed "
semidocumentary
A semidocumentary is a form of book, film, or television program presenting a fictional story that incorporates many factual details or actual events, or which is presented in a manner similar to a documentary.
Characteristics
Stylistically, it ...
films" by film critics, these motion pictures, often filmed on location, with the cooperation of the law enforcement agencies involved in the actual case, made a point of authentically depicting police work. Examples include ''
The Naked City
''The Naked City'' (aka ''Naked City'') is a 1948 American film noir directed by Jules Dassin, starring Barry Fitzgerald, Howard Duff, Dorothy Hart and Don Taylor. The film, shot almost entirely on location in New York City, depicts the poli ...
'' (1948), ''
The Street with No Name
''The Street with No Name'' is a 1948 film noir directed by William Keighley. A follow-up to ''The House on 92nd Street'' (1945), it tells the story of an undercover FBI agent, Gene Cordell ( Mark Stevens), who infiltrates a deadly crime gang. Cor ...
'' (1948), ''
T-Men
''T-Men'' is a 1947 semidocumentary and police procedural style film noir about United States Treasury agents. The film was directed by Anthony Mann and shot by noted noir cameraman John Alton. The production features Dennis O'Keefe, Mary Mea ...
'' (1947), ''
He Walked by Night
''He Walked by Night'' is a 1948 American police procedural film noir directed by Alfred L. Werker and an uncredited Anthony Mann. The film, shot in semidocumentary tone, was loosely based on newspaper accounts of the real-life actions of Erwin ...
'' (1948), and ''
Border Incident
''Border Incident'' is a 1949 film noir featuring Ricardo Montalbán, George Murphy, Howard Da Silva. Directed by Anthony Mann, the MGM production was written by John C. Higgins and George Zuckerman. The film was shot by cinematographer John ...
'' (1949).
Films from other countries soon began following the semi-documentary trend. In
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, there was ''
Quai des orfevres
A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (moorings), berths ...
'' (1947), released in the United States as ''Jenny Lamour''. In
Japanese cinema
The has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world; as of 2021, it was the fourth largest by number of feature films produced. In 2011 Japan produced 411 feature films that ea ...
, there was
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...
's 1949 film ''
Stray Dog'', a serious police procedural
film noir
Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...
that was also a precursor to the
buddy cop film
Buddy cop is a film and television genre with plots involving two people of very different and conflicting personalities who are forced to work together to solve a crime and/or defeat criminals, sometimes learning from each other in the process. ...
genre. In the
UK, there were films such as ''
The Blue Lamp
''The Blue Lamp'' is a 1950 British police procedural film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Jack Warner as PC Dixon, Jimmy Hanley as newcomer PC Mitchell, and Dirk Bogarde as criminal Tom Riley. The title refers to the blue lamps that t ...
'' (1950) and ''
The Long Arm'' (1956) set in London and depicting the Metropolitan Police.
One semidocumentary, ''
He Walked By Night
''He Walked by Night'' is a 1948 American police procedural film noir directed by Alfred L. Werker and an uncredited Anthony Mann. The film, shot in semidocumentary tone, was loosely based on newspaper accounts of the real-life actions of Erwin ...
'' (1948), released by
Eagle-Lion Films
Eagle-Lion Films was a British-American film production company owned by J. Arthur Rank intended to distribute British productions in the United States.
In 1947, it acquired Robert R. Young's PRC Pictures, a small American production company, ...
, featured a young radio actor named
Jack Webb
John Randolph Webb (April 2, 1920 – December 23, 1982) was an American actor, television producer, Television director, director, and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Joe Friday, Sgt. Joe Friday in the Dragnet (franchise) ...
in a supporting role. The success of the film, along with a suggestion from
LAPD Detective
Sergeant
Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...
Marty Wynn, the film's
technical advisor
In film production, a technical advisor is someone who advises the director
Director may refer to:
Literature
* ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine
* ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker
* ''The Director'' (play), a ...
, gave Webb an idea for a
radio drama
Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...
that depicted police work in a similarly semi-documentary manner. The resulting series, ''
Dragnet'', which debuted on radio in 1949 and made the transition to television in 1951, has been called "the most famous procedural of all time" by mystery novelists
William L. DeAndrea
William Louis DeAndrea (July 1, 1952 - October 9, 1996) was an American mystery writer and columnist.
Biography
DeAndrea was born in Port Chester, New York in 1952 and was educated at Syracuse University. During the 1980s his job took him to E ...
,
Katherine V. Forrest and
Max Allan Collins
Max Allan Collins (born March 3, 1948) is an American mystery writer, noted for his graphic novels. His work has been published in several formats and his ''Road to Perdition'' series was the basis for a film of the same name. He wrote the '' Di ...
.
The same year that ''Dragnet'' debuted on radio,
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
-winning playwright
Sidney Kingsley
Sidney Kingsley (22 October 1906 – 20 March 1995) was an American dramatist. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play '' Men in White'' in 1934.
Life and career
Kingsley was born Sidney Kirschner in New York. He studied at ...
's stage play ''
Detective Story
Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as specu ...
'' opened on
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
. This frank, carefully researched dramatization of a typical day in an
NYPD
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
precinct detective squad became another benchmark in the development of the police procedural.
''
Dragnet'' marked a turn in the depiction of the police on screen. Instead of being corrupt laughingstocks, this was the first time police officers represented
bravery
Courage (also called bravery or valor) is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Valor is courage or bravery, especially in battle.
Physical courage is bravery in the face of physical pain, ...
and
heroism
A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''her ...
.
In their quest for authenticity, ''
Dragnet''
's producers used real police cars and officers in their scenes.
However, this also meant that in exchange, the
LAPD could vet scripts for authenticity.
The LAPD vetted every scene, which would allow them to remove elements they did not agree with or did not wish to draw attention to.
Over the next few years, the number of novelists who picked up on the procedural trend following ''Dragnet''
's example grew to include writers like Ben Benson, who wrote carefully researched novels about the
Massachusetts State Police
The Massachusetts State Police (MSP) is an agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, responsible for criminal law enforcement and traffic vehicle regulation across the state. As of 10/4/2022, it ...
, retired police officer
Maurice Procter
Maurice Procter (4 February 1906 – 28 April 1973) was an English novelist. He was born in Nelson, Lancashire, England.
Early life
Maurice Procter was born in Nelson, Lancashire, on 4 February 1906. His parents were Rose Hannah and William ...
, who wrote a series about North England cop
Harry Martineau
Harry Martineau is a fictional British police detective created by Maurice Procter. He is a Chief Inspector in the industrial Northern city of Granchester, which was inspired by Manchester. Procter, himself a former police officer, wrote fourt ...
, and Jonathan Craig, who wrote short stories and novels about New York City police officers. Police novels by writers who would come to virtually define the form, like
Hillary Waugh
Hillary Baldwin Waugh (June 22, 1920 – December 8, 2008) was a pioneering American mystery novelist. In 1989, he was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America. Pseudonyms used by Waugh included Elissa Grandower, Harry Walker and H. ...
,
Ed McBain
Evan Hunter, born Salvatore Albert Lombino,(October 15, 1926 – July 6, 2005) was an American author and screenwriter best known for his 87th Precinct novels, written under his Ed McBain pen name, and the novel upon which the film '' Blackb ...
, and
John Creasey
John Creasey (17 September 1908 – 9 June 1973) was an English crime writer, also writing science fiction, romance and western novels, who wrote more than six hundred novels using twenty-eight different pseudonyms.
He created several charac ...
started to appear regularly.
In 1956, in his regular ''
New York Times Book Review'' column, mystery critic
Anthony Boucher
William Anthony Parker White (August 21, 1911 – April 29, 1968), better known by his pen name Anthony Boucher (), was an American author, critic, and editor who wrote several classic mystery novels, short stories, science fiction, and radio d ...
, noting the growing popularity of crime fiction in which the main emphasis was the realistic depiction of police work, suggested that such stories constituted a distinct subgenre of the mystery, and, crediting the success of ''Dragnet'' for the rise of this new form, coined the phrase "police procedural" to describe it.
As police procedurals became increasingly popular, they maintained this image of heroic police officers who are willing to bend the rules to save the day, as well as the use of police
consultants
A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization.
Consulting servic ...
.
This would allow
Hollywood to form a friendly relationship with law enforcement who are also responsible for granting shooting permits.
This, however, has garnered criticisms.
Written stories
French ''roman policier''
French ''roman policier''
(fr) value induction over deduction, synthesis of character over analysis of crime.
*1866:
Émile Gaboriau
Émile Gaboriau (9 November 183228 September 1873) was a French writer, novelist, journalist, and a pioneer of detective fiction.
Early life
Gaboriau was born in the small town of Saujon, Charente-Maritime. He was the son of Charles Gabriel Ga ...
:
Monsieur Lecoq
Monsieur Lecoq is the creation of Émile Gaboriau, a 19th-century French writer and journalist. Monsieur Lecoq is a fictional detective employed by the French Sûreté. The character is one of the pioneers of the genre and a major influence on ...
*1905:
Maurice Leblanc
Maurice Marie Émile Leblanc (; ; 11 December 1864 – 6 November 1941) was a French novelist and writer of short stories, known primarily as the creator of the fictional gentleman thief and detective Arsène Lupin, often described as a French c ...
:
Arsène Lupin
Arsène Lupin (French pronunciation: ʁsɛn lypɛ̃ is a fictional gentleman thief and master of disguise created in 1905 by French writer Maurice Leblanc. The character was first introduced in a series of short stories serialized in the magazi ...
*1908:
Gaston Leroux
Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux (6 May 186815 April 1927) was a French journalist and author of detective fiction.
In the English-speaking world, he is best known for writing the novel '' The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra, ...
:
Joseph Rouletabille
Joseph Rouletabille () is a fictional character created by Gaston Leroux, a French writer and journalist. Rouletabille is a journalist and amateur sleuth featured in several novels and other works, often presented as a more capable thinker than t ...
*1931:
Georges Simenon
Georges Joseph Christian Simenon (; 13 February 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a Belgian writer. He published nearly 500 novels and numerous short works, and was the creator of the fictional detective Jules Maigret.
Early life and education ...
:
Inspector Maigret
*1949:
Frédéric Dard
Frédéric Dard (Frédéric Charles Antoine Dard; 29 June 1921, in Bourgoin-Jallieu, Isère, France – 6 June 2000, in Bonnefontaine, Fribourg, Switzerland) was a French crime writer. He wrote more than three hundred novels, plays and screenplays ...
: "San-Antonio"
1931: Georges Simenon
The ''
Inspector Maigret'' novels of
Georges Simenon
Georges Joseph Christian Simenon (; 13 February 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a Belgian writer. He published nearly 500 novels and numerous short works, and was the creator of the fictional detective Jules Maigret.
Early life and education ...
feature a strong focus on the lead character, but the novels have always included subordinate members of his staff as supporting characters. Simenon, who had been a journalist covering police investigations before creating Maigret, gave the appearance of an accurate depiction of law enforcement in Paris. Simenon influenced later European procedural writers, such as Sweden's
Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö
Martin Beck is a fictional Swedish police detective and the main character in the ten novels by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, collectively titled ''The Story of a Crime''. Frequently referred to as the Martin Beck stories, all have been adapte ...
, and
Baantjer.
1940: John Creasey/J. J. Marric
Perhaps ranking just behind McBain in importance to the development of the procedural as a distinct mystery subgenre is
John Creasey
John Creasey (17 September 1908 – 9 June 1973) was an English crime writer, also writing science fiction, romance and western novels, who wrote more than six hundred novels using twenty-eight different pseudonyms.
He created several charac ...
, a prolific writer of many different kinds of crime fiction, from espionage to criminal protagonist. He was inspired to write a more realistic crime novel when his neighbor, a retired
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...
detective, challenged Creasey to "write about us as we are". The result was ''Inspector West Takes Charge'', 1940, the first of more than forty novels to feature Roger West of the
London Metropolitan Police
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...
. The West novels were, for the era, an unusually realistic look at Scotland Yard operations, but the plots were often wildly melodramatic, and, to get around thorny legal problems, Creasey gave West an "amateur detective" friend who was able to perform the extra-procedural acts that West, as a policeman, could not.
In the mid-1950s, inspired by the success of television's ''
Dragnet'' and a similar British TV series, ''
Fabian of the Yard
''Fabian of the Yard'' is a British police procedural television series based on the real-life memoirs of Scotland Yard detective Robert Fabian, made by the BBC and broadcast between November 1954 and February 1956. It is considered the earlies ...
'', Creasey decided to try a more down-to-earth series of cop stories. Adopting the pseudonym "J.J. Marric", he wrote ''
Gideon's Day
''Gideon's Day'' is the first in a series of police procedural novels by John Creasey writing as J.J. Marric. Published in 1955, it features a day in the professional life of Detective Superintendent George Gideon of the C.I.D., Scotland ...
'', 1955, in which
George Gideon
Superintendent/Commander George Gideon of Scotland Yard is a fictional policeman who appeared in 26 police procedural novels, 21 of which were written by John Creasey under the pseudonym J.J. Marric, and published between 1955 and 1976.
Portray ...
, a high-ranking detective at Scotland Yard, spends a busy day supervising his subordinates' investigations into several unrelated crimes. This novel was the first in a series of more than twenty books which brought Creasey his best critical notices. One entry, ''Gideon's Fire'', 1961, won an
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...
from the
Mystery Writers of America
Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is an organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City.
The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday.
It presents the Edgar Award ...
for Best Mystery Novel. The Gideon series, more than any other source, helped establish the common procedural plot structure of threading several autonomous story lines through a single novel.
1952: Hillary Waugh
Hillary Waugh
Hillary Baldwin Waugh (June 22, 1920 – December 8, 2008) was a pioneering American mystery novelist. In 1989, he was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America. Pseudonyms used by Waugh included Elissa Grandower, Harry Walker and H. ...
, in 1952, wrote
''Last Seen Wearing ...'', a commercial and critical success, exploring detailed and relentless police work.
1956: Ed McBain
Ed McBain, the
pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
of
Evan Hunter
Evan Hunter, born Salvatore Albert Lombino,(October 15, 1926 – July 6, 2005) was an American author and screenwriter best known for his 87th Precinct novels, written under his Ed McBain pen name, and the novel upon which the film '' Blackb ...
, wrote dozens of novels in the ''
87th Precinct
The 87th Precinct is a series of police procedural novels and stories by American author Ed McBain (a writing pseudonym of Evan Hunter). McBain's 87th Precinct works have been adapted, sometimes loosely, into movies and television on several o ...
'' series beginning with ''
Cop Hater
''Cop Hater'' (1956) is the first 87th Precinct police procedural novel by Ed McBain. The murder of three detectives in quick succession in the 87th Precinct leads Detective Steve Carella on a search that takes him into the city's underworld and ...
,'' published in 1956. Hunter continued to write 87th Precinct novels almost until his death in 2005. Although these novels focus primarily on Detective Steve Carella, they encompass the work of many officers working alone and in teams, and Carella is not always present in any individual book.
As if to illustrate the universality of the police procedural, many of McBain's 87th Precinct novels, despite their being set in a slightly fictionalized New York City, have been filmed in settings outside New York, even outside the US.
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...
's 1963 film, ''
High and Low'', based on McBain's ''King's Ransom'' (1959), is set in
Yokohama
is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...
. ''Without Apparent Motive'' (1972), set on the
French Riviera
The French Riviera (known in French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation " Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend fro ...
, is based on McBain's ''Ten Plus One'' (1963).
Claude Chabrol
Claude Henri Jean Chabrol (; 24 June 1930 – 12 September 2010) was a French film director and a member of the French New Wave (''nouvelle vague'') group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s. Like his colleagues an ...
's ''
Les Liens de Sang'' (1978), based on ''Blood Relatives'' (1974), is set in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
. Even ''
Fuzz'' (1972), based on the 1968 novel, though set in the US, moves the action to
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. Two episodes of ABC's
Columbo
''Columbo'' () is an American crime drama television series starring Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. After two pilot episodes in 1968 and 1971, the show originally aired on NBC f ...
, set in Los Angeles, were based on McBain novels.
1960: Elizabeth Linington/Dell Shannon/Lesley Egan
A prolific author of police procedurals, whose work has fallen out of fashion in the years since her death, is
Elizabeth Linington
Barbara "Elizabeth" Linington (March 11, 1921 – April 5, 1988) was an American novelist and mystery writer. She was one of the first women to write in the style of a police procedural.
Biography
She was born on March 11, 1921 in Aurora, Kane ...
writing under her own name, as well as "Dell Shannon" and "Lesley Egan". Linington reserved her Dell Shannon pseudonym primarily for procedurals featuring LAPD Central
Homicide
Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...
Lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations.
The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...
Luis Mendoza (1960–86). Under her own name she wrote about Sergeant Ivor Maddox of LAPD's North Hollywood Station, and as Lesley Egan she wrote about suburban cop Vic Varallo. These novels are sometimes considered flawed, partly due to the author's far-right political viewpoint (she was a member of the
John Birch Society
The John Birch Society (JBS) is an American right-wing political advocacy group. Founded in 1958, it is anti-communist, supports social conservatism, and is associated with ultraconservative, radical right, far-right, or libertarian ide ...
), but primarily because Miss Linington's books, notwithstanding the frequent comments she made about the depth of her research, were all seriously deficient in the single element most identified with the police procedural, technical accuracy. However, they have a certain charm in their depiction of a kinder, gentler California, where the police were always "good guys" who solved all the crimes and respected the citizenry.
1965: Sjöwall and Wahlöö
Maj Sjöwall
Maj Sjöwall (; 25 September 1935 – 29 April 2020) was a Swedish author and translator. She is best known for her books about police detective Martin Beck. She wrote the books in collaborative work with her partner Per Wahlöö.
Biograph ...
and
Per Wahlöö
Per Fredrik Wahlöö (5 August 1926 – 22 June 1975) – in English translations often identified as Peter Wahloo – was a Swedish author. He is perhaps best known for the collaborative work with his partner Maj Sjöwall on a series of ten nove ...
planned and wrote the
Martin Beck
Martin Beck is a fictional Swedish police detective and the main character in the ten novels by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, collectively titled ''The Story of a Crime''. Frequently referred to as the Martin Beck stories, all have been adapt ...
police procedural series of ten books between the 1960s and 1970s, set in
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
. The series is particularly renowned for its extensive character development throughout the series. Beck himself is gradually promoted from
detective
A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...
in a newly nationalised Swedish police force to
Chief Inspector
Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it.
Australia
In Australian police forces, the rank of inspector is generally the ne ...
of the National Murder Squad, and the realistic depiction, as well as criticism of the Swedish
welfare state
A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equitabl ...
at the time whilst the tedium of the police procedural continues in the background, is something still widely used today, with authors such as
Jo Nesbø
Jo Nesbø (; born Jon Nesbø; 29 March 1960) is a Norwegian writer, musician, economist, and former football player and reporter. More than 3 million copies of his novels had been sold in Norway as of March 2014; his work has been translated ...
and
Stieg Larsson. The books gave rise to the
Swedish noir scene, and ''
The Laughing Policeman'' earned a "Best Novel" Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America in 1971. The books were translated from Swedish into 35 different languages, and have sold roughly ten million copies. Sjöwall and Wahlöö used
black humour
Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discu ...
extensively in the series, and it is widely recognised as one of the finest police procedural series.
1970: Tony Hillerman
Tony Hillerman
Anthony Grove Hillerman (May 27, 1925 – October 26, 2008) was an American author of detective novels and nonfiction works, best known for his mystery novels featuring Navajo Nation Police officers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. Several of his work ...
, the author of 17 novels involving Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn, wrote procedurals in which the procedures were those of the
Navajo Tribal Police
The Navajo Nation Police (formerly known as the Navajo Tribal Police) is the law enforcement agency on the Navajo Nation in the Southwestern United States. It is under the Navajo Division of Public Safety. It is headed by a Chief of Police, si ...
.
1971: Joseph Wambaugh
Though not the first police officer to write procedurals,
Joseph Wambaugh's success has caused him to become the exemplar of cops who turn their professional experiences into fiction. The son of a
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, policeman, Wambaugh joined the Los Angeles Police Department after a stint of military duty. In 1970, his first novel, ''
The New Centurions
''The New Centurions'' is a 1972 American Panavision neo-noir action crime film based on the 1971 novel of the same name by policeman turned author Joseph Wambaugh.
It stars George C. Scott, Stacy Keach, Scott Wilson, Jane Alexander, Rosal ...
'', was published. This followed three police officers through their training in the academy, their first few years on the street, culminating in the Watts riots of 1965. It was followed by such novels as ''The Blue Knight'', 1971, ''
The Choirboys'', 1975, ''Hollywood Station'', 2006, and acclaimed non-fiction books like ''
The Onion Field'', 1973, ''Lines and Shadows'', 1984, and ''Fire Lover'', 2002. Wambaugh has said that his main purpose is less to show how cops work on the job, than how the job works on cops.
Detective novel writers
It is difficult to disentangle the early roots of the procedural from its forebear, the traditional detective novel, which often featured a police officer as protagonist. By and large, the better known novelists such as
Ngaio Marsh
Dame Edith Ngaio Marsh (; 23 April 1895 – 18 February 1982) was a New Zealand mystery writer and theatre director. She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1966.
As a crime writer during the "Golden Age of De ...
produced work that falls more squarely into the province of the traditional or "cozy" detective novel. Nevertheless, some of the work of authors less well known today, like
Freeman Wills Crofts
Freeman Wills Crofts FRSA (1 June 1879 – 11 April 1957) was an Irish mystery author, best remembered for the character of Inspector Joseph French.
A railway engineer by training, Crofts introduced railway themes into many of his stories, ...
's novels about Inspector French or some of the work of the prolific team of
G.D.H. and
Margaret Cole
Dame Margaret Isabel Cole (née Postgate; 6 May 1893 – 7 May 1980) was an English socialist politician, writer and poet. She wrote several detective stories jointly with her husband, G. D. H. Cole. She went on to hold important posts in Lon ...
, might be considered as the antecedents of today's police procedural. British mystery novelist and critic
Julian Symons
Julian Gustave Symons (originally Gustave Julian Symons) (pronounced ''SIMM-ons''; 30 May 1912 – 19 November 1994) was a British crime writer and poet. He also wrote social and military history, biography and studies of literature. He was bor ...
, in his 1972 history of crime fiction, ''Bloody Murder'', labeled these proto-procedurals "humdrums", because of their emphasis on the plodding nature of the investigators.
Televised stories
TV creators
*
Barbara Avedon
Barbara Avedon (June 14, 1925 – August 31, 1994) was an American Screenwriting#Television writing, television writer, political Activism, activist, and Feminism, feminist. She founded the anti-war organization Another Mother for Peace.
Bio ...
, co-creator of ''
Cagney & Lacey
''Cagney & Lacey'' is an American police procedural drama television series that aired on the CBS television network for seven seasons from March 25, 1982, to May 16, 1988. The show is about two New York City police detectives who lead very di ...
''.
*
Donald P. Bellisario
Donald Paul Bellisario (born August 8, 1935) is an American television producer and screenwriter who created and sometimes wrote episodes for the TV series '' Magnum, P.I.'' (1980), ''Tales of the Gold Monkey'' (1982), ''Airwolf'' (1984), ''Quan ...
, creator of ''
NCIS'' and ''
JAG''.
*
Ann Biderman, creator of ''
Southland Southland may refer to:
Places Canada
* Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia
New Zealand
* Southland Region, a region of New Zealand
* Southland County, a former New Zealand county
* Southland District, part of the wider Southland Re ...
''.
*
Steven Bochco, creator of ''
Hill Street Blues
''Hill Street Blues'' is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the staff of a single police station loca ...
'', the experimental musical police procedural ''
Cop Rock
''Cop Rock'' is an American police procedural musical television series created by Steven Bochco and William M. Finkelstein for the American Broadcasting Company. It premiered on September 26, 1990, and broadcast eleven episodes before concludin ...
'', the longer-lived ''
NYPD Blue
''NYPD Blue'' is an American police procedural television series set in New York City, exploring the struggles of the fictional 15th Precinct detective squad in Manhattan. Each episode typically intertwines several plots involving an ensemble c ...
'' and short lived ''
Brooklyn South
''Brooklyn South'' is an American ensemble police drama television series that aired on CBS for one season from September 22, 1997, to April 27, 1998. It was aired during the 1997–98 television season. The series was co-created by Steven Boc ...
''.
*
Jon Bokenkamp
Jon Bokenkamp (born September 9, 1974 in Kearney, Nebraska) is an American writer and producer best known for his role in writing the screenplays for '' Taking Lives'' and '' The Call'', and creating the NBC series ''The Blacklist'' along with ' ...
, creator of ''
The Blacklist
''The Blacklist'' is an American crime thriller television series that premiered on NBC on September 23, 2013. The show follows Raymond "Red" Reddington (James Spader), a former U.S. Navy officer turned high-profile criminal who voluntarily s ...
''.
*
Andy Breckman
Andrew Ross Breckman (born March 3, 1955) is an American television and film writer and a radio personality on WFMU. He is the creator and executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning television series ''Monk'' on the USA Network, and is co-hos ...
, creator of ''
Monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
''.
* Shane Brennan, creator of ''NCIS: Los Angeles''.
* Stephen J. Cannell, creator of ''Silk Stalkings'', ''21 Jump Street'' and ''The Commish''.
* Barbara Corday, co-creator of ''
Cagney & Lacey
''Cagney & Lacey'' is an American police procedural drama television series that aired on the CBS television network for seven seasons from March 25, 1982, to May 16, 1988. The show is about two New York City police detectives who lead very di ...
''.
* Jeff Davis (writer), Jeff Davis, creator of ''Criminal Minds''.
* Robert Doherty, creator of ''Elementary (TV series), Elementary''.
* Tom Fontana, creator of ''Homicide: Life on the Street'' and ''The Beat (TV series), The Beat''.
* Steve Franks, creator of ''Psych''.
* Leonard Freeman, creator and producer of ''Hawaii Five-O (1968 TV series), Hawaii Five-O''.
* Anna Fricke, developer of ''Walker (TV series), Walker''.
* Bryan Fuller, creator of ''Hannibal (TV series), Hannibal''.
* Gary Glasberg, creator of ''NCIS: New Orleans''.
* Hart Hanson, creator of ''Bones (TV series), Bones''.
* Alexi Hawley, creator of ''The Rookie (TV series), The Rookie''.
* Bruno Heller, creator of ''The Mentalist''.
* Martin Gero, creator of ''Blindspot (TV series), Blindspot''.
* Dan Goor, co-creator of ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine''.
* Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess, creator of ''Blue Bloods (TV series), Blue Bloods''.
* Tim Kring, creator of ''Crossing Jordan''.
* Richard Levinson, co-creator of ''
Columbo
''Columbo'' () is an American crime drama television series starring Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. After two pilot episodes in 1968 and 1971, the show originally aired on NBC f ...
''.
* William Link, co-creator of ''
Columbo
''Columbo'' () is an American crime drama television series starring Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. After two pilot episodes in 1968 and 1971, the show originally aired on NBC f ...
''.
* Barbara Machin, creator of ''Waking the Dead (TV series), Waking the Dead''.
* Abby Mann, creator of ''Kojak''.
* Andrew W. Marlowe, creator of ''Castle (TV series), Castle''.
* Quinn Martin, producer of such shows as ''The Untouchables (1959 TV series), The Untouchables'', ''The F.B.I. (TV series), The F.B.I.'' and ''The Streets of San Francisco''.
* Geoff McQueen, creator of ''The Bill''.
* Jed Mercurio, creator of ''Line of Duty'' and ''Bodyguard (British TV series), Bodyguard''.
* David Milch, co-creator of ''
NYPD Blue
''NYPD Blue'' is an American police procedural television series set in New York City, exploring the struggles of the fictional 15th Precinct detective squad in Manhattan. Each episode typically intertwines several plots involving an ensemble c ...
''.
* Christopher Murphey, creator of ''Body of Proof''.
* Jonathan Nolan, creator of ''Person of Interest (TV series), Person of Interest''.
* Shawn Ryan, creator of ''The Shield''.
* Michael Schur, co-creator of ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine''.
* David Simon (writer), David Simon, co-creator of ''Homicide: Life on the Street'' and creator of ''The Wire (TV series), The Wire''.
* Hank Steinberg, creator of ''Without a Trace''.
* Meredith Stiehm, creator of ''Cold Case (TV series), Cold Case''.
*
Joseph Wambaugh, creator of ''Police Story (1973 TV series), Police Story''.
*
Jack Webb
John Randolph Webb (April 2, 1920 – December 23, 1982) was an American actor, television producer, Television director, director, and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Joe Friday, Sgt. Joe Friday in the Dragnet (franchise) ...
, creator, producer, and principal actor in ''Dragnet (series)#Television, Dragnet'', and co-creator of ''Adam-12''.
* Dick Wolf, creator of the Law & Order (franchise), ''Law & Order'' franchise, ''FBI (TV series), FBI'', ''FBI: Most Wanted'' and Chicago (franchise), ''Chicago'' franchise.
* Anthony Yerkovich, creator of ''Miami Vice''.
* Graham Yost, creator of ''Justified (TV series), Justified'' & ''Boomtown (2002 TV series), Boomtown''.
* Anthony E. Zuiker, creator of the CSI (franchise), ''CSI'' franchise.
TV series
Australia
For details see the PhD dissertation by Antony Stephenson (2019).
* ''Bellamy (TV series), Bellamy'' (Network Ten 1981)
* ''Bluey (1976 TV series), Bluey'' (Seven Network 1976–77)
* ''Blue Heelers'' (Seven Network 1994–2006) 510 episodes set in the fictional rural town of Mount Thomas, Victoria, was produced by Southern Star Entertainment for the Seven Network.
* ''City Homicide'' (Seven Network 2007–11) Set in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. Follows the investigations of six detectives and their two superior officers in the homicide squad of the Victoria Police.
* ''Cop Shop'' (Seven Network, 1977–84)
* ''Division 4'' (Nine Network 1969–75) made by Crawford Productions, ran on the Nine Network for 301 episodes.
* ''The Feds'' (Nine Network 1993–96)
* ''Homicide (Australian TV series), Homicide'' (Seven Network 1964–76) was an Australian police procedural television series made by Crawford Productions for the Seven Network. One of the first commercial TV series produced especially for Australian TV, and the first to depict the operations of a modern-day Australian police force, its historical significance in Australian television is analogous to the importance of ''Dragnet'' in the United States.
* ''The Link Men'' (Nine Network 1970)
* ''The Long Arm (TV series), The Long Arm'' (Network Ten 1970)
* ''Matlock Police'' (Network Ten 1971–75) was set in a rural town and lasted 229 episodes.
* ''Murder Call'' (Nine Network 1997–99)
* ''The Phoenix (1985 TV series), Phoenix'' (ABC 1992–93)
* ''Police Rescue'' (ABC 1991–96)
* ''Rush (2008 TV series), Rush'' (Network Ten 2008–11) follows the stories of a tactical police unit in Melbourne, Victoria.
* ''Skirts (TV series)'' (Seven Network 1990)
* ''Small Claims'' (Network Ten 2005–06)
* ''Solo One'' (Seven Network 1976) a short-lived spin-off from ''Matlock Police''
* ''Special Squad (1984), Special Squad'' (Network Ten 1984)
* ''Stingers (TV series), Stingers'' (Nine Network 1998–2004)
* ''Water Rats (TV series), Water Rats'' (Nine Network 1996–2001) 177 episodes set in Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, focusing on the Sydney Water Police.
* ''White Collar Blue'' (Network Ten 2002–03)
* ''Wildside (Australian TV series), Wildside'' (ABC 1997–99)
* ''Young Lions (TV series), Young Lions'' (Nine Network 2002)
Austria
* ''Inspector Rex'' (1994–2003) was an Austrian homicide detective series, which aired all over the world and was popular in Australia when broadcast on Special Broadcasting Service, SBS. It is about a German Shepherd police dog named Rex and his owner, Detective-Inspector Richard Moser of the Vienna Kriminalpolizei. Rex was a bomb squad dog whose handler was killed at a crime scene that Moser was investigating. Moser's team consisted of Ernst Stockinger (seasons 1 and 2), and Peter Hollerer (seasons 1 to 4), and Christian Bock (seasons 3 to 6). Dr Leo Graf served as forensic pathologist/coroner throughout the series, who often described autopsy scenes and procedures much to the disgust of the police staff. Moser was murdered by a psychotic serial killer halfway through season 4. Detective Inspector Alexander Brandtner took over Moser's role after his untimely death.
:Rex frequently saved the team's necks during pursuits and catching criminals, sniffing out clues, rescuing child victims, as well as occasionally being a nuisance around the office or while interviewing suspects. The show mixes serious themes with occasional comedy, such as Rex's penchant for ham rolls (wurstsemmeln), demanding to buy many dog toys, and interfering with Moser's and Brandtner's erratic love lives.
Canada
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_police_procedural_television_series
France
* ' (1988–1990) – a French TV series created by Dominique Roulet and ''
Claude Chabrol
Claude Henri Jean Chabrol (; 24 June 1930 – 12 September 2010) was a French film director and a member of the French New Wave (''nouvelle vague'') group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s. Like his colleagues an ...
'', broadcast on TF1. It follows the films ''Cop au Vin'' (1985) and ''Inspecteur Lavardin'' (1986) by ''
Claude Chabrol
Claude Henri Jean Chabrol (; 24 June 1930 – 12 September 2010) was a French film director and a member of the French New Wave (''nouvelle vague'') group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s. Like his colleagues an ...
'', who already feature ''Jean Poiret'' in the role of Lavardin.
* ''Monster Buster Club'' (TF1: 2008–2009)
* ''Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie'' (France Télévisions: 2009–2012; 2013–present) – based on Agatha Christie's detective fiction; Series One is set in France in the 1930s, Series Two in the mid-1950s to 1960s. Series Three, announced in 2019, is to be set in the 1970s.
Germany
* ''Derrick (TV series), Derrick'' is a German TV crime series produced between 1974 and 1998.
* ''Polizeiruf 110'' ("Police call 110") is a long-running German-language detective television series.
* ''Tatort'' (Crime scene) is a German television series running since 1970 with Austria's and Switzerland's national broadcasters in a joined production pool.
* ''The Old Fox'' (original German title "Der Alte", lit. "The Old One") is a German crime drama which premiered on April 11, 1977.
Hong Kong
* ''Police Cadet'' trilogy (TVB; 1984–88) consisting of ''Police Cadet '84'', ''Police Cadet '85'' and '. Starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai, it center on his character, Cheung Wai Kit, rise from Cadet School to a working detective.
India
* ''C.I.D. (India TV series), C.I.D.'' (1995–present) – an Indian crime detective series that airs on Sony TV. It is about a team of detectives belonging to the Criminal Investigation Department in Mumbai. The protagonists of the show are played by Shivaji Satam, Aditya Srivastava, Dayanand Shetty, Dinesh Phadnis, Hrishikesh Pandey, Vivek Mashru, Jasveer Kaur, Ansha Saeed. The forensic experts are played by Narendra Gupta (actor), Narendra Gupta and Shraddha Musale respectively.
Ireland
* ''Michael Feeney Callan, The Burke Enigma'' – RTÉ 1978.
* ''DDU: District Detective Unit'', (1998–99) was made by RTÉ, set in Waterford City and starring Seán McGinley.
* ''Single-Handed (TV series), Single-Handed'' (2007–) is set in the west of Ireland.
* ''Proof (2004 TV series), Proof'' (2003–04) set in Dublin and starring Orla Brady.
* ''Na Cloigne'' (The Heads) a 2010 three-part supernatural police procedural produced for TG4.
Italy
* ''Inspector Montalbano (TV series), Il commissario Montalbano'' is an Italian television series produced and broadcast by RAI since 1999, based on the detective novels of Andrea Camilleri.
* ''Donna Leon (TV series), Commissario Guido Brunetti'' is a German television series based on the books of Donna Leon. It has been produced since 2000 by the ARD (broadcaster), ARD in Germany. This TV series is also shown in Spain. Music: André Rieu.
Japan
*''Taiyō ni Hoero!'' (NTV 1972–1986) The longest series of Japan.
*''Seibu Keisatsu'' (TV Asahi 1979–1984)
*''Patlabor: The TV Series'' (Nippon TV 1989–1990)
*You're Under Arrest (manga), ''You're Under Arrest'' (Tokyo Broadcasting System, TBS 1996–1997)
*''Bayside Shakedown'' (1997)
*''AIBOU: Tokyo Detective Duo'' (TV Asahi 2003–)
*''Galileo (Japanese TV series), Galileo'' (Fuji TV 2007–2013)
Malaysia
*''Gerak Khas (TV series), Gerak Khas'' (RTM; 1999–present)
*''Roda-Roda Kuala Lumpur'' (RTM; 1998–99, 2008–13)
*''Metro Skuad'' (RTM; 2012–13) similar to ''Gerak Khas'', ''Metro Skuad'' centers on various criminal cases including murders, gangsterisms, acid attack, acid throwing, robbery, robberies and others.
The Netherlands
* ''Baantjer'' (1996–06) – set in Amsterdam and starring Piet Römer. The series is based on the novels of writer A. C. Baantjer
* ''Flikken Maastricht'' (2007–present) – set in Maastricht and starring Angela Schijf and Victor Reinier
New Zealand
* ''Mortimer's Patch'' (1980–84) – set in provincial New Zealand and starring Terence Cooper, Sean Duffy (actor), Sean Duffy, Don Selwyn and Jim Hickey (broadcaster), Jim Hickey
* ''Shark in the Park'' (1989–92) – set in Wellington and starring Jeffrey Thomas (actor), Jeffrey Thomas
* ''Duggan (TV series), Duggan'' (1997–99) – set in New Zealand's Marlborough Sounds and starring John Bach
* ''Plainclothes (TV series), Plainclothes'' (1995) – set in Auckland and starring Alan Dale
* ''The Brokenwood Mysteries'' (2014–) – set in a fictional small town in the north of New Zealand and starring Neill Rea
Philippines
* ''Ang Probinsyano'' (ABS-CBN; 2015–present) – based on the Ang Probinsyano (film), 1997 film of the same name starring Fernando Poe, Jr.
Russia
* ''Streets of Broken Lights'' (1995–2017) – Russian criminal drama-detective TV series anthology about police work in Saint-Petersburg.
* ''Deadly Force (TV series)'' (2000–2006) – Russian TV series, which first appeared on television in 2000. It was released by ''Channel One Russia'' simultaneously as a spin-off series from ''Streets of Broken Lights'' and as its direct competitor.
* ''Investigation Held by ZnaToKi'' – The popular Soviet detective series from 1971 to 1989 was continued in two Russian TV series (2002 and 2003).
* ' (2005–2018) – Russian television series based on scripts by retired police colonel Maxim Esaulov and criminal journalist Andrei Romanov.
* ' (2008–2011) – The series tells about the employees of the fictional police department "Pyatnitsky" in Moscow.
* ' (2021) – The series tells about a Moscow detective investigating the case of the murder of children in the small mining town of Khrustalny.
Singapore
*''C.L.I.F.'' (MediaCorp Singapore 2011–16)
*''Triple Nine (TV series), Triple Nine'' (Television Corporation of Singapore 1995–99)
South Korea
*''Beyond Evil (TV series), Beyond Evil'' (2021) – South Korean television series follows the story of two fearless policemen from the Manyang Police Substation.
The Soviet Union
* ''Investigation Held by ZnaToKi'' (1971–1989) – a popular Soviet series, the main characters are investigator Pavel Znamenski, detective Alexandr Tomin and laboratory analyst Zinaida Kibrit, who were acting together under a group name ZnaToKi (translated as "Experts").
United Kingdom
* ''
Fabian of the Yard
''Fabian of the Yard'' is a British police procedural television series based on the real-life memoirs of Scotland Yard detective Robert Fabian, made by the BBC and broadcast between November 1954 and February 1956. It is considered the earlies ...
'', (1954–55) – possibly the first police drama to be made for British TV, this series, based on the memoirs of real-life Scotland Yard detective Robert Fabian, had a lot in common with ''Dragnet (series), Dragnet''. Just as ''Dragnet'' had been the first network drama series with continuing characters to be shot on film, so ''Fabian of the Yard'' was one of the first British series to be filmed. Both shows featured voice-over narration by the main character; both fictionalized stories derived from real-life cases; and both ended with an epilogue that revealed the ultimate fate of the criminals. On ''Fabian'', this took the form of a medium-shot of Bruce Seton, who played Fabian in the series, seated at a desk. The shot slowly dissolved into one of the real-life Fabian in the same pose at the same desk. At that point, the actual Fabian stood up and told the audience what happened to the criminal he'd caught in the real-life case that had just been dramatized.
* ''Dixon of Dock Green'', (1955–76) – Jack Warner (actor), Jack Warner reprised the role of Constable George Dixon, the uniformed beat cop he had played in ''
The Blue Lamp
''The Blue Lamp'' is a 1950 British police procedural film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Jack Warner as PC Dixon, Jimmy Hanley as newcomer PC Mitchell, and Dirk Bogarde as criminal Tom Riley. The title refers to the blue lamps that t ...
'', despite the fact that the Dixon character had been tragically murdered in that film. During the course of this somewhat gentle series, Warner's character became, for many, the living embodiment of what every British "bobby" was supposed to be. As the series progressed, Dixon went through several promotions, eventually winding up as the Station Sergeant at his local division. By the final season, with Warner now over 80, Dixon retired and the focus shifted to the younger officers he'd trained up over the years.
* ''No Hiding Place'', (1957–67) – Produced with the cooperation of Scotland Yard, this long-running series featured Raymond Francis as high-ranking Met detective Tom Lockhart. During its run, the series went through several title changes. When it began in 1957, it was known as ''Murder Bag'', referring to the murder bag, bag of investigative tools that Superintendent (police), Superintendent Lockhart carried with him whenever he was called to a case. In 1959, with Lockhart promoted to Chief Superintendent, it became ''Crime Sheet''. Later in 1959, the series was given its final and best-remembered title, ''No Hiding Place'', which lasted until the series ended in 1967.
* ''Z-Cars'', (1962–78) – a police drama about two teams of uniformed constables (Brian Blessed, Joseph Brady (actor), Joseph Brady, James Ellis (actor), James Ellis, and Jeremy Kemp) assigned to "Crime Patrol" duties in a pair of powerful Ford Zephyrs, under the supervision of Detective Sergeant John Watt (Frank Windsor) and Detective Chief Inspector Charlie Barlow (Stratford Johns). A franker, and often less flattering portrait of police work than audience were used to seeing on ''Dixon of Dock Green'', the show was an immediate hit, its popularity generating spin-offs like ''Softly, Softly (TV series), Softly, Softly'' (1966–76), ''Barlow at Large'' (1971–75), and ''Second Verdict'' (1976).
* ''Gideon's Way'', (1965–66) – a crime series produced during 1964/65 and based on the novels by
John Creasey
John Creasey (17 September 1908 – 9 June 1973) was an English crime writer, also writing science fiction, romance and western novels, who wrote more than six hundred novels using twenty-eight different pseudonyms.
He created several charac ...
(as J. J. Marric). The series was made at Elstree in twin production with The Saint (TV series), The Saint TV series. It starred Liverpudlian John Gregson in the title role as Commander George George Gideon, Gideon of Scotland Yard, with Alexander Davion as his assistant, Detective Chief Inspector David Keen, Reginald Jessup as Det. Superintendent LeMaitre (nicknamed Lemmy), Ian Rossiter as Detective Chief Superintendent Joe Bell and Basil Dignam as Commissioner Scott-Marle.
* ''New Scotland Yard (TV series), New Scotland Yard'', (1972–74) – a police drama series produced by London Weekend Television (LWT) for the ITV (TV network), ITV network between 1972 and 1974. It features the activities of two officers from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) in the Metropolitan Police force headquarters at New Scotland Yard, as they dealt with the assorted villains of the day.
* ''The Sweeney'', (1975–78) – a drama series focusing on the Flying Squad of the Metropolitan Police and their twenty-four-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week job of catching some of the most dangerous and violent criminals in London. The television program featured Detective Inspector Jack Regan (John Thaw) and other tough-talking hard-drinking members of his elite unit, both on and off duty. With its high level of violence, location filming, bold frankness, and well written scripts, ''The Sweeney'' revolutionized the genre. The series was so phenomenally popular that two feature-length movies, ''Sweeney!'' (1976) and ''Sweeney 2'' (1978) were released to theatres during the show's original broadcast run.
*''The Gentle Touch'', (1980–84) – a British police drama television series made by London Weekend Television for ITV. Commencing transmission on 11 April 1980, the series is notable for being the first British series to feature a female police detective as its leading character, ahead of the similarly themed BBC series Juliet Bravo by four months.
*''Juliet Bravo'', (1980–85) – a British television series, which ran on BBC1. The theme of the series concerned a female police inspector who took over control of a police station in the fictional town of Hartley in Lancashire.
* ''Taggart (series), Taggart'' (1983–2010)
* ''The Bill'', (1984–2010) – a drama series focusing on both the uniformed and plain-clothes police officers working out of a fictional inner-London police station. The original conception of this series was as purely procedural, with an almost fly-on-the-wall approach that survived to an extent throughout.
* The ''Prime Suspect (UK TV series), Prime Suspect'' series, (1991–2006) – featuring Helen Mirren as Detective Chief Inspector (later Chief Superintendent) Jane Tennison, which focused on the police investigations and on Tennison's conflicts with her fellow officers as a prominent female detective in a heavily male-dominated work environment, as well as her personal problems concerning her family and after-work life.
* ''Cracker (UK TV series), Cracker'' (1993–95) – hard-hitting drama series following dysfunctional criminal psychologist Dr Edward "Fitz" Fitzgerald, played by Robbie Coltrane
* ''McCallum (TV series), McCallum'' (1995–98)
* ''Hamish Macbeth (TV series), Hamish Macbeth'' (1995–97) – police drama-comedy set in the west coast Highlands of Scotland, starring Robert Carlyle
* ''The Cops (British TV series), The Cops'' (1998–2000) – perhaps the most realistic police drama series yet seen on British TV, noted for its documentary-style camerawork and uncompromising portrayal of the police force.
* ''Heartbeat (UK TV series), Heartbeat'' (1992–2010) is made by Yorkshire Television at The Leeds Studios for broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV. It lasted 18 series. Set in 1960s Yorkshire, in the fictional town of Ashfordly and the nearby village of Aidensfield in the North Riding of Yorkshire, the motorcycle-riding Aidensfield village bobby was originally played by Nick Berry.
* ''Rebus (TV series), Rebus'' (2000–2007)
* ''Inspector George Gently'' (2007–2017) is an adaptation of Alan Hunter (author), Alan Hunter's George Gently series of novels. Starring Martin Shaw as Gently, and set in the 1960s, it is a combination of police procedural and period drama. It was produced by Company Pictures for BBC One.
* ''Law & Order: UK'' (2009–2014) is an adaptation of the Law & Order (franchise), ''Law & Order'' franchise for the British market. The programme is financed by Kudos Film and Television, Wolf Films (a company owned by Dick Wolf, the creator of the franchise) and NBC Universal and airs on ITV (TV network), ITV. The show is adapted from scripts and episodes of the original U.S. ''Law & Order''.
* ''Suspects (TV series), Suspects'' (2014–present) is an East London-based police procedural shot in a stripped-back documentary style using improvised dialogue, and follows DS Jack Weston (Damien Molony), DC Charlie Steele (Claire-Hope Ashitey) and their superior DI Martha Bellamy (Fay Ripley) as they investigate various crimes.
* ''No Offence'' (2015–present) is a Manchester-based police procedural created by Paul Abbott. The show follows a team of detectives from Friday Street police station, a division of the Manchester Metropolitan Police (a fictionalised version of Greater Manchester Police), and stars Joanna Scanlan as Detective Inspector Viv Deering.
* ''The Mallorca Files'' (2019–present) is set on the Spanish island of Mallorca, starring Elen Rhys and as English and German detectives investigating crimes for the island's police force.
United States
* ''Dragnet (series)#Television, Dragnet'' (1951–59, 1967–70, 1989–91 and 2003–04) was a pioneering police procedural that began on radio in 1949 and then on television in 1951. ''Dragnet'' established the tone of many police dramas in subsequent decades, and the rigorously authentic depictions of such elements as organizational structure, professional jargon, legal issues, etc., set the standard for technical accuracy that became the most identifiable element of the police procedural in all media. The show was occasionally accused of presenting an overly idealized portrait of law enforcement in which the police (represented by Sgt. Joe Friday) were invariably presented as "good guys" and the criminals as "bad guys", with little moral flexibility or complexity between the two. However, many episodes depicted sympathetic perpetrators while others depicted unsympathetic or corrupt cops. Further, though Jack Webb may have seemed to go to extremes to depict the Los Angeles Police Department in a favorable light, most depictions of cops at the time of ''Dragnets debut were both unsympathetic and unrealistic. Webb's depiction was meant to offer balance. Also, the show benefited from the unprecedented technical advice, involvement, and support of the LAPD, a first in TV, which may also have been an incentive to depict the Department favorably. After the success of ''Dragnet'', Webb produced other procedural shows like ''The DA's Man'', about an undercover investigator for the New York County District Attorney, Manhattan District Attorney's Office, ''Adam-12'', about a pair of uniformed
LAPD officers patrolling their beat in a radio car, and ''O'Hara, U.S. Treasury'', with David Janssen as a trouble-shooting federal officer.
* ''Adam-12'' (1968–1975) is a television police procedural drama that follows Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers Pete Malloy and Jim Reed as they ride the streets of Los Angeles in their patrol unit, 1-Adam-12. The series was created by Robert A. Cinader and Jack Webb, the latter of whom also created Dragnet. It starred Martin Milner and Kent McCord and purported to realistically capture a typical day in the life of police officers. The show ran from September 21, 1968, through May 20, 1975, and helped to introduce police procedures and jargon to the general public in the United States.
* ''The Untouchables (1959 TV series), The Untouchables'' (1959–63) fictionalized real-life Federal Agent Eliot Ness's ongoing fight with prohibition-era gangs in Chicago and elsewhere. Originally a two-part presentation on the anthology series ''Desilu Playhouse'', it made such a splash that a series was launched the following fall. That two-part pilot, later released to theaters under the title ''The Scarface Mob'', stuck comparatively close to the actual events, with Ness, as played by Robert Stack, recruiting a team of incorruptible investigators to help bring down Al Capone. Later episodes showed Ness and his squad, after Capone, going after just about every big name gangster of the era, and when the writers ran out of real-life figures to pit against Ness, they created new ones. Quinn Martin, who would become closely associated with police and crime shows like this, produced the series during its first season, leaving to found his own company, QM Productions, which would go one to produce police procedural shows like ''The New Breed (TV series), The New Breed'', ''The F.B.I. (TV series), The F.B.I.'', ''Dan August'', and ''The Streets of San Francisco'' over the next twenty years. The success of the series led to an Academy Awards, Academy Award-winning The Untouchables (1987 film), motion picture in 1987, and a new TV The Untouchables (1993 TV series), series that was syndicated to local stations in 1993.
* ''Police Story (1973 TV series), Police Story'' (1973–78) was an anthology series set in Los Angeles created by LAPD Detective Sergeant Joseph Wambaugh. Hard-hitting and unflinchingly realistic, its anthology format made it possible to look at LAPD police work from many different perspectives, what it was like to be a woman in a male-dominated profession, an honest cop suspected of corruption, a rookie cop, an undercover narc, a veteran facing retirement, or a cop who had to adjust to crippling injuries incurred in the line of duty. Despite its anthology format, there were a number of characters who appeared in more than one episode, including Robbery/Homicide partners Tony Calabrese (Tony Lo Bianco) and Bert Jameson (Don Meredith), vice cop turned homicide detective Charlie Czonka (James Farentino), and stakeout-surveillance specialist Joe LaFrieda (Vic Morrow). Several series were spun off from the show, including ''Police Woman (TV series), Police Woman'', ''Joe Forrester'', and ''David Cassidy: Man Under Cover, Man Undercover''. During its last two seasons, the show appeared as an irregular series of two-hour TV movies rather than a weekly one-hour program. The show was revived for a season in 1988, using old scripts reshot with new casts when a writers' strike made new material inaccessible.
* ''Kojak'' (1973–78, 1989–90) created by Abby Mann, focused on a veteran New York City detective-lieutenant played by Telly Savalas. Its exteriors were filmed at New York's Ninth Precinct, the same place where ''
NYPD Blue
''NYPD Blue'' is an American police procedural television series set in New York City, exploring the struggles of the fictional 15th Precinct detective squad in Manhattan. Each episode typically intertwines several plots involving an ensemble c ...
s exteriors would be filmed. In 1989, Savalas returned to the role briefly for five two-hour episodes, in which Kojak had been promoted to inspector and placed in charge of the Major Crimes Squad. It rotated with three other detective shows on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. A 2005 remake for the USA Network starred Ving Rhames. Kojak's most memorable character trait was his signature lollipop.
* ''
Hill Street Blues
''Hill Street Blues'' is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the staff of a single police station loca ...
'' (1981–87) featured a number of intertwined storylines in each episode, and pioneered depiction of the conflicts between the work and private lives of officers and detectives on which the police procedural was centered. The show had a deliberate "documentary" style, depicting officers who were flawed and human, and dealt openly with the gray areas of morality between right and wrong. It was set in an unidentified east coast or Midwestern US city. The show was written by
Steven Bochco and Michael Kozoll.
* ''
Cagney & Lacey
''Cagney & Lacey'' is an American police procedural drama television series that aired on the CBS television network for seven seasons from March 25, 1982, to May 16, 1988. The show is about two New York City police detectives who lead very di ...
'' (1982–88) revolved around two female NYPD detectives who led very different lives. Christine Cagney, played by Sharon Gless, was a single-minded, witty, brash career woman. Mary Beth Lacey was a resourceful, sensitive working mom. Loretta Swit was the original choice for Cagney [she played the role in a TV movie]; however, she could not get out of her contract on ''M*A*S*H (TV series), M*A*S*H''. During the first season, Meg Foster played the part of Cagney, while Tyne Daly played Lacey, the role she had originated in the pilot. CBS canceled the series claiming low ratings. It was brought back due both to a letter-writing campaign which drew millions of letters nationwide and because the ratings went ''up'' during summer reruns. A ''TV Guide'' magazine read "Welcome Back". Daly continued as Lacey, but Foster was replaced with Gless, who would become the actress most identified with the part. It had 36 nominations and 14 wins during its run. Four TV movies were broadcast after the series ended.
* ''Miami Vice'' (1984–90) and ''21 Jump Street'' (1987–91) showed the MTV style of Police procedurals.
* The Law & Order (franchise), ''Law & Order'' franchise, which started with the long-running series ''Law & Order'' (1990–2010, 2022–present), focuses on the two 'halves' of a criminal proceeding in the New York City criminal justice system: the investigation of the crime by the New York City Police Department homicide detectives and the subsequent prosecution of the criminals by the New York County District Attorney's office. The success of the original ''Law & Order'' inspired ten other Spin-off (media), spin-off series in four different countries:
** Six in the U.S.: ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' (1999–present), which focuses on sex crimes such as rape and child molestation, ''Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' (2001–11), focusing on major crimes from the point of view of the criminal and capturing them from a psychological side, ''Law & Order: Trial by Jury'' (2005–06), which focuses more on the trial from both the prosecution and the defense teams' points of view, ''Conviction (2006 TV series), Conviction'' (2006), ''Law & Order: LA'' (2010–11) and ''Law & Order: Organized Crime'' (2021–present). ''Special Victims Unit'', ''Criminal Intent'', ''LA'' and Organized Crime series focused more on the police procedurals than ''Trial by Jury'' and ''Conviction''.
** Two in Russia: Adaptations of ''Special Victims Unit'' (2007) and ''Criminal Intent'' (2007), both set in Moscow.
** ''Paris enquêtes criminelles'' (2007), a French adaptation of ''Criminal Intent'' set in Paris.
** ''Law & Order: UK'' (2009–2014), a British adaptation of the original ''Law & Order'' set in London.
:Aside from being its depiction of police investigation, this program also relates to the legal drama and "forensic pathology" subgenres, and has inspired such other programs as the ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI'' CSI (franchise), series.
* ''Homicide: Life on the Street'' (1993–99; TV movie in 2000), a police procedural focusing on the homicide unit of the Baltimore city police department. Critically praised (although frequently struggling in the ratings), the show was more of an ensemble piece, focusing on the activities of the unit as a whole (although significant characters such as Detective Frank Pembleton and Detective John Munch, who has also appeared on the various ''Law & Order'' shows, among others, became popular with viewers). The show (particularly in its first three seasons) used long-form arcs to depict ongoing criminal investigations, such as the investigation of a murdered child in the first season, which ran through 13 episodes but ended without an arrest or conviction, or even conclusive proof of who committed the crime. The show also heavily featured the complex internal politics of the police department, suggesting that rising through the ranks has more to do with personal connections, favors and opportunism than genuine ability.
* ''
NYPD Blue
''NYPD Blue'' is an American police procedural television series set in New York City, exploring the struggles of the fictional 15th Precinct detective squad in Manhattan. Each episode typically intertwines several plots involving an ensemble c ...
'' (1993–2005) explored the internal and external struggles of the assorted investigators of the fictional 15th Precinct of Manhattan. The show gained notoriety for profanity and nudity never previously broadcast on American network television. ''NYPD Blue'' was created by genre veteran
Steven Bochco and David Milch. The cast of ''NYPD Blue'' included actor Dennis Franz, who previously played Detective Buntz on ''Hill Street Blues'', as well as on a spin-off series, ''Beverly Hills Buntz''. Another cast member, David Caruso, would later play Lt. Horatio Caine on ''CSI: Miami''.
* The CSI (franchise), CSI franchise which started with ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' (2000–2015) and eventually spawned two spin-offs focused on solving ordinary crimes using forensics, ''CSI: Miami'' (2002–2012) and ''CSI: NY'' (2004–2013). Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, these three shows focus on three groups of forensic scientists in Las Vegas, Miami and New York City who investigate how and why a person has died and if it is a murder or not by investigating not only
whodunit
A ''whodunit'' or ''whodunnit'' (a colloquial elision of "Who asdone it?") is a complex plot-driven variety of detective fiction in which the puzzle regarding who committed the crime is the main focus. The reader or viewer is provided with the cl ...
but also howdunit. A third spin-off, ''CSI: Cyber'' (2015–2016), focused on cybercrime and its impact on modern society.
* The CSI franchise inspired other forensic shows such as ''Body of Proof'' (2011–2013), ''Bones (TV series), Bones'' (2005–2017) and ''Crossing Jordan'' (2001–2007).
* The CSI franchise also inspired other crime dramas involving teams solving crimes but not relying on forensics; these include victim and witness memory for cold cases and missing people in ''Cold Case (TV series), Cold Case'' (2003–2010) and ''Without a Trace'' (2002–2009) respectively, psychological profiling in ''Criminal Minds'' (2005–2020), using mathematics in ''Numbers (TV series), Numbers'' (2005–2010) and using deception in ''The Mentalist'' (2008–2015).
* ''The Shield'' (2002–08) is about an experimental division of the Los Angeles Police Department set up in the fictional Farmington district ("the Farm") of Los Angeles, using a converted church ("the Barn") as their police station, and featuring a group of detectives called "The Strike Team", who will do anything to bring justice to the streets. Michael Chiklis (Chiklis previously played the title character in the TV series ''The Commish'') has top billing with his portrayal of Strike Team leader Detective Victor "Vic" Mackey. The show has an ensemble cast that will normally run a number of separate story lines through each episode. It was on the FX network and was known for its portrayal of police brutality and its realism. The show inspired other shows similar to ''The Shield'' such as ''Dark Blue (TV series), Dark Blue'' and ''
Southland Southland may refer to:
Places Canada
* Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia
New Zealand
* Southland Region, a region of New Zealand
* Southland County, a former New Zealand county
* Southland District, part of the wider Southland Re ...
''. ''The Shield'' was created by writer/producer Shawn Ryan.
* The NCIS (franchise), NCIS franchise which was spun off from the CBS series ''
JAG'' in 2003. The original series, ''
NCIS'' (2003–present) follows the Major Case Response Team of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, as they investigate crimes related to the US Navy and United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps. ''NCIS'' has been among the top scripted series on U.S. television, and has received three spin-offs; ''NCIS: Los Angeles'' (2009–present) deals with an LA-based branch dealing in special undercover assignments, ''NCIS: New Orleans'' (2014–2021) focuses on a small group of agents who handle cases from the Mississippi River to the Texas Panhandle and ''NCIS: Hawaiʻi'' (2021–present) which focuses on agents working out of the Pearl Harbor Field Office.
* ''Castle (TV series), Castle'' (2009–2016), ''The Mentalist'' (2008–2015), ''
Monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
'' (2002–2009) and ''Psych'' (2006–2014) feature quirky investigators with their own distinct methods of solving crimes and are equally comedic shows as they are police procedurals.
* Chicago (franchise), ''Chicago'' is a multi-genre franchise that focuses on the Chicago Chicago P.D. (TV series), Police Department, the Chicago Fire (TV series), Fire Department and the Chicago Med, Medical branch respectively.
* ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' (2013–2021) is a single-camera police sitcom focusing on Detectives in the 99th precinct in Brooklyn.
* The FBI (franchise), FBI Franchise (2018–present).
Comic strips and books
The comic strip ''Dick Tracy'' is often pointed to as an early procedural.
''Tracy'' creator Chester Gould seemed to be trying to reflect the real world. Tracy himself, conceived by Gould as a "modern-day
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
", was partly modeled on real-life law enforcer Eliot Ness, and his first, and most frequently recurring, antagonist, the Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice, Big Boy, was based on Ness's real-life nemesis Al Capone. Other members of Tracy's Recurring characters in Dick Tracy, Rogues Gallery, like Boris Arson, Flattop Jones, and Maw Famon, were inspired, respectively, by John Dillinger, Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd, and Ma Barker, Kate "Ma" Barker.
Once ''Tracy'' was sold to the ''Chicago Tribune'' syndicate, Gould enrolled in a criminology class at Northwestern University, met with members of the Chicago Police Department, and did research at the department's crime lab, to make his depiction of law enforcement more authentic. Ultimately, he hired retired Chicago policeman Al Valanis, a pioneering forensic sketch artist, as both an artistic assistant and police technical advisor.
The success of ''Tracy'' led to many more police strips. While some, like Norman Marsh's ''Dan Dunn'' were unabashedly slavish imitations of ''Tracy'', others, like Dashiell Hammett's and Alex Raymond's ''Secret Agent X-9'', took a more original approach. Still others, like Eddie Sullivan's and Charlie Schmidt's ''Radio Patrol'' and Will Gould's ''Red Barry'', steered a middle course. One of the best post-''Tracy'' procedural comics was ''Kerry Drake'', written and created by Allen Saunders and illustrated by Alfred Andriola. It diverged from the metropolitan settings used in ''Tracy'' to tell the story of the titular Chief Investigator for the District Attorney of a small-town jurisdiction. Later, following a personal tragedy, he leaves the DA's Office and joins his small city's police force in order to fight crime closer to the grass roots level. As both a DA's man and a city cop, he fights a string of flamboyant, Gould-ian criminals like "Stitches", "Bottleneck", and "Bulldozer".
Other syndicated police strips include Zane Grey's ''King of the Royal Mounted'', depicting police work in the contemporary Canadian Northwest, Lank Leonard's ''Mickey Finn (comics), Mickey Finn'', which emphasized the home life of a hard-working cop, and ''Dragnet'', which adapted stories from the pioneering radio-TV series into comics. Early comic books with police themes tended to be reprints of syndicated newspaper strips like ''Tracy'' and ''Drake''. Others adapted police stories from other mediums, like the radio-inspired anthology comic ''Gang Busters'', Dell's ''87th Precinct'' issues, which adapted McBain's novels, or ''The Untouchables'', which adapted the fictionalized TV adventures of real-life policeman Eliot Ness.
More recently, there have been attempts to depict police work with the kind of hard-edged realism seen in the novels of writers like Wambaugh, such as Marvel Comics, Marvel's four-issue mini-series ''Cops: The Job'', in which a rookie police officer learns to cope with the physical, emotional, and mental stresses of law enforcement during her first patrol assignment. With superheroes having long dominated the comic book market, there have been some recent attempts to integrate elements of the police procedural into the universe of costumed crime-fighters. ''Gotham Central'', for example, depicts a group of police detectives operating in Batman's Gotham City, and suggested that the caped crime-fighter is disliked by many Gotham detectives for treading on their toes. Meanwhile, ''Metropolis SCU'' tells the story of the Special Crimes Unit, an elite squad of cops in the police force serving Superman's Metropolis (comics), Metropolis.
The use of police procedural elements in superhero comics can partly be attributed to the success of Kurt Busiek's groundbreaking 1994 series ''Marvels'', and his subsequent ''Astro City'' work, both of which examine the typical superhero universe from the viewpoint of the common man who witnesses the great dramas from afar, participating in them tangentially at best.
In the wake of Busiek's success, many other writers mimicked his approach, with mixed results – the narrative possibilities of someone who does not get involved in drama are limited. In 2000, however, Image Comics published the first issue of Brian Michael Bendis's comic ''Powers (comics), Powers'', which followed the lives of homicide detectives as they investigated superhero-related cases. Bendis's success has led both Marvel Comics and DC Comics to begin their own superhero-themed police procedurals (''District X'' and the aforementioned ''Gotham Central''), which focus on how the job of a police officer is affected by such tropes as secret identities, superhuman abilities, costumes, and the near-constant presence of vigilantes.
While the detectives in ''Powers'' were "normal" (unpowered) humans dealing with super-powered crime, Alan Moore and Gene Ha's ''Top 10 (comics), Top 10'' mini-series, published by America's Best Comics in 2000–01, centered around the super-powered police force in a setting where powers are omnipresent. The comic detailed the lives and work of the police force of Neopolis, a city in which everyone, from the police and criminals to civilians, children and even pets, has super-powers, colourful costumes and secret identities.
Criticism
Masculinity and racism
The police procedural is considered to be a male-dominant genre which very often portrays the masculine hero dedicated to the professional realm. The introduction of women as protagonists is commonly attributed to either adding sexual appeal, introducing gendered issues like investigating sex crimes, or delving into the personal relationships of the characters. It also often portrays rape myths, such as that rape is more often committed by strangers rather than a known acquaintance of the victim, that the majority of rape claims are false, and that rapes only happen to "bad girls".
The portrayal of the criminal justice system also under-represents issues of race and institutional racism. A report by Color of Change Hollywood and the USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center
identified that in these shows there was a severe lack of portrayal of racial bias in the criminal procedure, discussion about criminal justice reform, and victims who are women of color. There is also little representation of people of color in the creation of these shows.
Biased narratives
The police procedural genre is becoming increasingly popular and has accounted for about 22% of all scripted shows on US broadcast network in the last 10 years. This prevalence implies that viewers are often facing TV series that place police officers at the center of the story, showing exclusively their vision of the world. This approach has been denounced as enforcing the idea that the life and views of policemen are more important than the ones of the communities being policed.
In police procedural the policemen are presented as the "good guys" or close to superhuman, leading to a potentially biased narrative. Even when they use illegal practices it is presented as a necessary decision made in the Common good, general interest. A report by Color of Change Hollywood and the USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center
revealed that police procedural shows were normalizing unjust practices such as Illegal search and seizure, illegal search, surveillance, coercion, intimidation, violence, abuse and racism.
Misrepresentation of reality
Additionally, criticisms have been raised against the genre for its unrealistic depiction of crime. Particularly, police procedurals have been accused of possessing an unrealistic preoccupation with incidents such as homicide and terrorism.
In the United States, plot points involving murder investigations appear at more frequent rates than those involving theft, substance abuse, or domestic violence
—all of which citizens are more likely to personally experience. Following the 2001 9/11, attack on the World Trade Centre in New York, police procedurals have additionally portrayed attempted terrorism incidents at unrealistically high rates, prompting accusations of racial profiling and fear-mongering.
The manner in which crime has been portrayed in the media has subsequently been linked with discrepancies both in popular perception of crime rates, as well as sentencing.
In a 2005 study conducted on the Germans, German public, it was found that despite a decline in total offences between 1992 and 2003, "the German public believes or assumes, on balance, that crime has increased".
It has been further posited that the distorted public perception arising from the prevalence of police procedurals has been a factor in influencing sentencing rates. Countries such as the US, UK and Germany—while experiencing declines in crime rates—reported increases in the volume and severity of incarceration.
Recent efforts and developments
However, alongside protests against police brutality in the United States and abroad, and debates on the role of entertainment in the portrayal of law enforcement in society,
the genre has been facing increased scrutiny.
As a result, some television networks have been making an effort to address and correct the aforementioned criticism. In August 2020, it became known that the CBS writing staff will partner with 21CP Solutions,
an advisory group on public safety and law enforcement, on the network's legal dramas and police procedurals. CBS producers state that the team, including civil rights experts, lawyers and police veterans alike, has been hired in order to fill the recently identified lack of reality in crime shows and allow the genre to move with the times.
As a result, the main objectives and partnership's attention is supposed to focus on an increase of inclusivity, diversity and authenticity in the production of police procedurals.
See also
* Crime comics
* Crime fiction
* Legal fiction
* List of police television dramas
References
Further reading
* Agger, Gunhild, and Anne Marit Waade. "Melancholy and murder." in ''European Television Crime Drama and Beyond'' (Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2018) pp. 61–82.
* Arntfield, Michael. "TVPD: The generational diegetics of the police procedural on American television." ''Canadian Review of American Studies'' 41.1 (2011): 75–95.
* Bolger, P. Colin, and Glenn D. Walters. "The relationship between police procedural justice, police legitimacy, and people's willingness to cooperate with law enforcement: A meta-analysis." ''Journal of criminal justice'' (2019).
* Brunsdale, Mitzi M. ''Icons of Mystery and Crime Detection: From Sleuths to Superheroes'' (2 vol. ABC-CLIO, 2010).
* Cummins, Ian, Marian Foley, and Martin King. ...And After the Break': Police Officers' Views of TV Crime Drama." ''Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice'' 8.2 (2014): 205–211.
* Cummins, Ian, and Martin King. Drowning in here in his bloody sea': exploring TV cop drama's representations of the impact of stress in modern policing." ''Policing and society'' 27.8 (2017): 832–846
online
* Davis, J. Madison. "He do the police in different voices: The rise of the police procedural." ''World Literature Today'' 86.1 (2012): 9–11.
* García, Alberto N. "Baltimore in The Wire and Los Angeles in The Shield: Urban landscapes in American drama series." ''Series-International Journal of TV Serial Narratives'' 3.1 (2017): 51–6
online
* McGovern, Alyce, and Nickie D. Phillips. "Police, media, and popular culture." in ''Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice'' (2017).
* Primasita, Fitria Akhmerti, and Heddy Shri Ahimsa-Putra. "An Introduction to the Police Procedural: A Subgenre of Detective Genre." ''Humaniora'' 31.1 (2019): 33+
* Roberts, Les. "Landscapes in the frame: Exploring the hinterlands of the British procedural drama." ''New Review of Film and Television Studies'' 14.3 (2016): 364–385
online
* Sabin, Roger, with Ronald Wilson, et al. ''Cop Shows: A Critical History of Police Dramas on Television'' (McFarland, 2015). viii, pp. 219.
* Saunders, Robert A. ''Geopolitics, Northern Europe, and Nordic Noir: What Television Series Tell Us about World Politics'' (Routledge, 2020).
* Scheg, Abigail G. and Tamara Girardi, eds. ''Hero or Villain?: Essays on Dark Protagonists of Television'' (2017
excerpt* Stephenson, Antony. "Kinds of blue: The representation of Australian police and policing in television drama and reality television." (PhD dissertation, Charles Sturt University, Australia, 2019)
online* Stephenson, Antony. "Police as cop show viewers." in ''Crime, Media, Culture'' (2021): 17416590211005520.
{{Crime fiction
Crime fiction
Police procedurals,
Genres