‘. . . And after the break’: Police officers’ views of TV crime drama

Cummins, ID ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7814-3835, Foley, M and King, M 2014, '‘. . . And after the break’: Police officers’ views of TV crime drama' , Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 8 (2) , pp. 205-211.

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Abstract

The police procedural drama is a staple feature of the TV listings. Detective fiction dominates the best sellers’ lists. Despite this, the day-to-day reality of policing is obscured from the vast majority of the public who have little direct contact with the Criminal Justice System (CJS). Skolnick [Skolnick, J. (1966). Justice Without Trial: Law Enforcement in a Democratic Society. New York: Wiley] argues that the police, as an organization, are one of the most hidden parts of the CJS. Reiner [Reiner, R. (2003). Newburn, T. (ed.), Policing and the Media in Handbook of Policing. Willan: Abingdon.]notes that the debate about the relationship between the media, policing, and crime has been a key feature of wider societal concerns about crime since the establishment of the modern police force. From a police perspective, Reiner [Reiner, R. (2003). Newburn, T. (ed.), Policing and the Media in Handbook of Policing. Willan: Abingdon.] notes that TV drama creates a simplistic narrative of crime solving that is almost completely divorced fromthe reality of modern police work. This article will discuss the findings of a pilot study, which sought to explore theattitudes of retired police officers to representations of policing in popular culture with a particular focus on TV dramas.

Item Type:	Article
Schools:	Schools > School of Health and Society
Journal or Publication Title:	Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Refereed:	Yes
ISSN:	1752-4512
Related URLs:	Publication
Funders:	Non funded research
Depositing User:	ID Cummins
Date Deposited:	18 Aug 2015 17:55
Last Modified:	15 Feb 2022 19:47
URI:	https://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/36102

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