You’ve got me watching Bosch (finally!) and my husband and I are mid-season four, which features the murder of a prominent black attorney (I couldn’t believe they got rid of Clark Johnson that way). Since the automatic assumption is that the police did it, you have something that is an uncomfortable watch right now. Cops don’t trust civilians, civilians don’t trust the cops, the mayor wants to appoint a civilian watchdog panel, and of course, we are rooting for our cop: jazz-loving military vet, great dad and general tortured soul, Harry Bosch.
We are consistently presented with stories of an “us against them” mentality that it’s no wonder when you hear about drugs that just fell out of a suspect’s pocket or spontaneous confessions coming out of a random stop. Cops feel like their hands are tied when trying to catch criminals; civilians feel their rights are being violated. There are probably times when both things are true. I suppose, in the end, fictional cop shows are popular for the same reason that shows about doctors and lawyers are popular: not everyone is one, and there are large assumptions about the unlimited potential for drama. I am definitely enjoying Bosch, but it’s a little difficult to watch him violating legal principles (breaking and entering or placing surveillance cameras to find evidence about a murder, for example) in pursuit of “justice”. This pleasant fiction of a rogue cop who is simply doing what he does in pursuit of some kind of greater good definitely does need to stop.
On the non-fiction side, I’ve never watched an episode of either COPS or Live PD. I DID, however, listen to Dan Taberski’s excellent podcast, “Running From COPS”, and I’d encourage everyone to do so. We shouldn’t be adopting our policing techniques from a reality TV show - unless we want to encourage our police to become more like the Real Housewives, flipping tables and dashing wine in evil doers faces. I think that could be kind of dope.
Honestly, I’m done with them and have been for awhile. Equal justice under the law is myth that shows in the Wolf-iverse and others perpetuate. I have practiced law for too long and have seen too much lawlessness perpetrated by law enforcement in the name of “getting the job done.” The people most affected by said lawlessness are almost always Black; and “getting the job done” almost always involves a civil rights violation. Sorry if that was a bit of rant.
You’ve got me watching Bosch (finally!) and my husband and I are mid-season four, which features the murder of a prominent black attorney (I couldn’t believe they got rid of Clark Johnson that way). Since the automatic assumption is that the police did it, you have something that is an uncomfortable watch right now. Cops don’t trust civilians, civilians don’t trust the cops, the mayor wants to appoint a civilian watchdog panel, and of course, we are rooting for our cop: jazz-loving military vet, great dad and general tortured soul, Harry Bosch.
We are consistently presented with stories of an “us against them” mentality that it’s no wonder when you hear about drugs that just fell out of a suspect’s pocket or spontaneous confessions coming out of a random stop. Cops feel like their hands are tied when trying to catch criminals; civilians feel their rights are being violated. There are probably times when both things are true. I suppose, in the end, fictional cop shows are popular for the same reason that shows about doctors and lawyers are popular: not everyone is one, and there are large assumptions about the unlimited potential for drama. I am definitely enjoying Bosch, but it’s a little difficult to watch him violating legal principles (breaking and entering or placing surveillance cameras to find evidence about a murder, for example) in pursuit of “justice”. This pleasant fiction of a rogue cop who is simply doing what he does in pursuit of some kind of greater good definitely does need to stop.
On the non-fiction side, I’ve never watched an episode of either COPS or Live PD. I DID, however, listen to Dan Taberski’s excellent podcast, “Running From COPS”, and I’d encourage everyone to do so. We shouldn’t be adopting our policing techniques from a reality TV show - unless we want to encourage our police to become more like the Real Housewives, flipping tables and dashing wine in evil doers faces. I think that could be kind of dope.
Honestly, I’m done with them and have been for awhile. Equal justice under the law is myth that shows in the Wolf-iverse and others perpetuate. I have practiced law for too long and have seen too much lawlessness perpetrated by law enforcement in the name of “getting the job done.” The people most affected by said lawlessness are almost always Black; and “getting the job done” almost always involves a civil rights violation. Sorry if that was a bit of rant.