How does it feel to make police TV in 2020?
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No one has done more topropagate the myth of the hero copthan the writers of internet-television police procedurals.
Here, confessions from the writers, directors, and producers of these shows.
Policing is presented as a morally good cause.
We have heroes who are definitely molded after the shake-you-down, stop-and-frisk, throw-you-up-against-the-wall kind of cop.
There are instances when, through our characters, we straight up glorify what should be illegal police practices.
A lot of the time, those notes are very flippant Well, what if he was a she?
Or what if that person was gay?
Or what if they were Black instead of white?
Identity, racial identity its just a whim.
You shift a few words and casting choices and a story can feel very different pretty quickly.
Ive seen a Black officer talking about race become a white officer talking about politics.
When I produce an episode, sometimes things get fucked with.
And its not just protests.
These shows are such monoliths.
We have to get permission from the police, because without them, we dont have a story.
We are in the hero business.
There have been times when Ive felt complicit in what is, essentially, a police departments PR campaign.
I did once pitch a show about bad cops, where wed investigate crimes committed by police.
That idea was just a complete nonstarter chuckles around the table.
Not because the people I work with are pro-cop or antipositive change they just read the room.
Sometimes while researching a show, I question police techniques or just plain competence.
Some murder investigations take way too long.
The cops can come across as bumbling.
We do a very good job of making them look better than they are.
We make the investigations look much more efficient and quicker than they really are.
Theres always a happy ending.
What I mean is, we didnt write shows with Black victims.
Of course, no one had any problem if the murderer was Black or a person of color.
We were told: Remember your demographic.
Our demographic was white housewives, and generally they wanted to see shows about people that looked like them.
So you get an unrealistic portrait of the world.
Now to accuse television of portraying an unrealistic vision of the world is rich.
Thats the whole nature of TV.
Then there are shows that are not as good that present cops as close to infallible and heroic.
Those are the only choices you get.
What I never get to make are shows in which the cops are actually acting in a criminal way.
connection procedurals typically have current or former police officers who serve as advisers.
There is no fear of perjury.
We all know who our audience is, so we rationalize it because this is our job.
Even if we know its wrong.
When were casting an episode, as much as I can, Ill say, Open casting.
But I dont want to perpetuate a stereotype.
If I can make a victim a POC and a criminal white, Im going to do that.
And youre just like, Fine.
Just do what you want.
Theres this thing with casting we have to have a certain number of people of color per season.
This can be a problem.
Does representation matter if the representation isnt good?
There was one time when I tried to write a story about a young white affluent drug addict.
I got the script through the writing process until preproduction, which is several months.
I tried to argue.
I told him that the opioid epidemic is a white problem, too.
When were depicting gang activity, hell determine how those characters are portrayed.
So he tells our Black extras and stunt people how to act like gang members.
Hell ask extras about their gang history, and sometimes theyll actually tell him if they have any.
That came up after Laquan McDonald was shot 16 times by Jason Van Dyke in Chicago.
A lot of that doesnt sit right with me.
Its always creating an excuse for cops to have had the right to get violent.
We always have to confirm we show the guy reaching toward his pocket for a gun.
Theres so much I hear from the directors and the consultant that bothers me.
They make a run at do things like not have our cops call Black characters boy.
Weve gotten notes on that; its racist.
People make it so that our cop characters dont use those terms anymore.
But it would be more accurate if they did, because thats what real cops do say.
So we had a big conversation and asked, Are we being reckless with tropes?
In the end, we made adjustments until the actor was okay with it.
As a writer, youre putting a lot of responsibility on an actor they live in their character.
People believe the things they see on TV about how the system works.
For the sake of storytelling, we create myths.
I once wrote an episode where three white male police officers tackle a large Black man.
He wasnt designed to be any particular race, but the best actor who auditioned was Black.
That episode has been on my mind a lot.
It was difficult to talk about race.
It always bothered me and felt completely disingenuous.
This worries me because I wonder if people will watch and think this is how it really happens.
We never show cops getting warrants.
You see how this directly correlates with the real world in Breonna Taylors case.
We need to take a hard look at our role in this.
These stories have been edited and condensed for clarity.
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