Using Cops in Comic & Animation

[foxnflames]

There isn’t anything inherently wrong with having cops in your story but if you think that it will get impeded by your audience due to “controversy”, then you haven’t really thought through what your cops in your story will represent. As said, if you use them for social commentary or show them in an ideal way, then you should be fine.

And not everyone who is with BLM, ACAB, and for defunding the police will automatically jump down your throat for featuring cops. Give your potential audience some credit to actually see what you’re presenting them.

[NickRowler]

It depends on if you are smart about it. I think how you show the cops and racism is something you need to be aware of. I've seen media address the issue and I've seen media avoid the issue. If you want to make your cop racist and corrupt yet the hero who saves the day, I would probably tell you no, don't do that.

I know some people are very sensitive and I think it is important to be mindful however, they also have the option to not read your comic if they don't want to.

Also going to point out, COPS was highly criticized of being unethical before it was cancelled. I think the recent movement just reenforced why it was problematic.

[CommanderMarty]

What if the point of them being racist and corrupt is for a starting point for a character arc?

[KRWright]

Guardians of the Galaxy, and even the cartoon Buzz Lightyear of Star Command.

Some of those aren't really police forces. I mean, you could also look at Star Trek for inspiration there. Military command structure in a world where war is meant to be a thing of the past and humankind has risen above a lot of the social issues that plagued us. The utopian vision of what the future would be - but still using what people see as an anachronistic command structure with Captains etc. and a focus on exploration rather than domination.

One thing that I'd be wary of is setting up your police force as arbiters of justice. Guardians of the Galaxy works because it's a bunch of bad people essentially doing the right thing but outside formal command structures or without a sense that they are doing what's right because they have a totalitarian/authoritarian idea of right and wrong. They're a ragtag crew and they do the right thing sometimes because it's the right thing, sometimes for selfish reasons, sometimes because of a vendetta etc.

You basically want to avoid your police force being a Watchmen style force as well. No one likes Ozymandias (and you're not meant to like Rorschach either even though I know he's a fan favourite!).

[TAMAnnoying]

Hey so long as you do your research on how investigations are meant to be handled, most sane people will be happy I remember watching Knifes Out and seeming how incompetent the police are even tho their are plenty of routines they have to do in order to make any kind of claim of death. Was eye rolling. same goes for shows like batwomen where police are not people but just props to be used in the set.

Just gotta rememeber that there are the good and bad in every profession. As someone who used to work in the food industry I can tell you a lot of horror stories of the good associates and bad associates doing things that could potentially harm costomers cause they just dgaf.

Just make them well written and invest time an energy into research just like every other part of your writing and people (the sane ones) will be happy

[DiegoPalacios]

Saying people are "mad" about Toph becoming a cop is a bit of an exaggeration.

Some people got mad about Paw Patrol having a police dog.......i would not be surprised someone unironically gets mad about Toph being a cop......just because of cops.....

People are frustrated because it's so out of character for Toph to up and become a cop.

That argument seems to make more sense. On one side, she doesnt seem to be interested in keeping order , but on the other side, she enjoys a good battle and dealing with criminals who bend all kind of elements seems like a way to get that thrill. I would expect her to participate in a combat oriented bending sport, but pro-bending seems to have too many limitations for her enjoyment.

I don't think people were really saying get rid of all cop characters and all cop characters are evil.

Never underestimate human's capability of nonsense.

but I do think there is an element of let's be careful on how we're doing this. We're all aware of, particularly kids shows, were police are idolised and can do no wrong because they're The Law. And there was, it's mostly faded now, a period were rouge cops who beat up suspects and disobey orders were cool and trendy because they're so badass and the system that wants to protect people and do it by the books just holds them back, which came and went in cycles as we looked at the "old fashioned" police work as brutal and now we're all CSI and then it sorta came back again because we want more action and beating up bad guys is cool and torture always works.

Yeah, the popularization of the loose cannon that doesnt follow the rules backfired. Maybe is time to try more creative angles to make cops following the rules look cool.....

[HGohwell]

I've actually seen this done really well, not with cops but with a racist main character in the military and getting to see him grow was really satisfying. It helped that his racism stemmed from being half Japanese half American and was very much a product of his own self hatred and issues with his identity, but you don't know that at the start. You just know he's a racist dick who was so bad people refused to work with him and I wanted to see our main heroine bitch slap him so hard (she didn't but she did the verbal equivalent so it was still satisfying). And the trick there was to have the rest of the cast around him be incredibly strong, to set it up as conflict and to make sure it was shown as a flaw. There's nothing wrong with having terrible people n fiction, after all, or seeing them grown as long as it's not being said yeah he's fine let's ignore those flaws.

[NickRowler]

Some people got mad about Paw Patrol having a police dog

Um, isn't this mostly a meme spread by a rumor and most people were not advocating to remove him. Same with the Legos drama, it was all fake.

[TAMAnnoying]

This is actually something I wish people had more guts to try and approach with good story telling. The only time I remember seeing it was in The movie CRASH Which was hard to watch cause i personally thought the movie was a bit too much of a mess passing wise to get any real authenticity out of character “arcs”

[HGohwell]

Never underestimate human's capability of nonsense.

You're very right, I have seen the stupidity of the internet and I should know better by now. I don't think most people are saying get rid of all cop characters.

[KRWright]

Also booping in that you'll have to consider the history of your police force as well. Why were they established? You need to avoid some of the issues that modern police forces have regarding their history. For example most police forces in the US were established as slave catchers, then continuous and consequtive laws were passed to specifically target BIPOC. In the UK, they were an authoritarian force that was born out of suppression of the Irish. So I think whatever history you have for your police force in your world will dictate their command structure and philosophy to a degree.

I recommend watching The 13th documentary so that you're familiar with the history of the laws and stuff so that you can see why interpretations of the police have moved towards this way and research how police were instituted across the globe so you can avoid some of the more problematic tropes.

[PaulieBlade]

I'd say people are overthinking this. If your story needs cops then have cops.

[TAMAnnoying]

This is actually a very good point to when your cops should be “props” and when they should be part of the actual plot or be actual people. If you have no real reason to have cops in your story then why have them in other then to be preachy or because you like the uniform?

If you are writing a murder mystery or a cop drama on the other hand you need to make sure that the world your making is “alive” in the sense that the cops do in fact have a place and rules that they follow or at least or meant to follow and they should only follow or break rules if it is consistent with their character. For example if you have a cop character who likes to pick on speeders- they should have a reason for picking on speeders for some reason- it can be as drastic as someone they loved died in a car accident due to a speeding driver, or as petty as their ex wife was a speeder and they still have some issues to sort out. Just so long as you remember to make them internally consistent with themselves

[rainbowolfe]

Funny you mention Paw Patrol, because whether that one was a meme or not, it's still cop propaganda. "cops know everything and always have your best interest in mind" isn't a great message to send particularly to children of color. Teaching children to idolize any profession isn't a great move.

Kinda weird that you really want to frame this as "people being mad for no reason at all" when there's good reason to be wary of how cops are depicted in media. yeah, someone somewhere might not understand why they're mad (thus it comes off as being mad just to be mad) but they know other people with actual reasons are upset, thus they're following their lead. There's never just "no reason".

[saintc]

I promise you no one cares. Depends on the audience you're trying to cultivate. If you're not trying to write anything where people are supposed to think too deeply you're good to go.

I mean people are actually getting mad that Toph from Avatar the Last Airbender became a cop in the sequel spin-off The Legend of Korra.

I have not seen angry people about this. I have seen people who say it's very counter what is expected from her rebellious character, and I agree. I like her regardless though.

[DiegoPalacios]

Funny you mention Paw Patrol, because whether that one was a meme or not, it's still cop propaganda. "cops know everything and always have your best interest in mind"

Just because a story has a good cop, that doesnt make it police propaganda.

Also, the police dog doesnt "know everything". None of the characters are constantly monitoring the city or anything, they are called by the people who needs help.

particularly to children of color

Anything against blacks being cops?. Black people in law enforcement can help people overcome racial profiling.

Kinda weird that you really want to frame this as "people being mad for no reason at all" when there's good reason to be wary of how cops are depicted in media.

There is a huge difference between being wary of how cops are despicted and trying to ban any positive portrayal of cops in media.

The first one is a valid concern, the second one is blowing things out of proportion.

but they know other people with actual reasons are upset, thus they're following their lead. There's never just "no reason".

While i understand that some may want to help, blindly following others without knowing the full picture is not a smart move, it can even backfire for the people they are trying to help.

[DiegoPalacios]

The fact this thread exist and the outrage in many social networks shows why the "cancel Paw Patrol" meme was believable.....

[KRWright]

The fact this thread exist and the outrage in many social networks shows why the "cancel Paw Patrol" meme was believable.....

May I point you towards the Satanic Panic in the 80s to show that sometimes, just because something is widely believed and talked about, it doesn't actually mean that anyone ever said that or that the thing you believe is happening is actually happening?

Satanic ritual abuse

"Official investigations produced no evidence of widespread conspiracies or of the slaughter of thousands; only a small number of verified crimes have even remote similarities to tales of SRA."

We are a dumb race who believe dumb things sometimes if the hysteria is whipped up enough.

[But_a_Jape]

I'd say you should be aware that some pretty prominent cop tropes haven't really aged well in today's context. For example, one of the most popular archetypes is the "loose cannon cop who doesn't play by the rules." Once upon a time, people looked up to these kinds of characters - if they didn't have to deal with so much red tape and all this dumb paperwork, they'd be able to go right after the bad guys and stop them! But put this guy in today's environment - a lot of people are going to look at him and say "That dude's dangerous and should not be responsible for keeping us safe."

Even when the media isn't about a "loose cannon cop," fictional police are always breaking the rules or violating people's rights - either because the characters they're brutalizing are "bad guys" (and thus deserve it) or it's a comedy and we're supposed to laugh at how bad these guys are at their jobs. These are actions that people used to either cheer on or laugh off as a joke, but nowadays, if your heroic character does this, don't expect today's readers to be as sympathetic towards them as they used to.

Anyway, some extra thoughts on other topics brought up. I don't think there are any serious efforts against Paw Patrol to concern yourself with these hypothetical people who are outraged about puppy police. You can hypothesize any number of ridiculous people to be outraged over, if they don't exist in reality with enough numbers, I wouldn't suggest wasting emotional effort on being upset about them.

I'm not familiar with people being upset about Toph becoming a cop, but I wouldn't be surprised they exist. In terms of characterization, I see no issues. For one, Toph is 10 during The Last Airbender - people usually end up very differently from who they were at 10. And even if Toph still had a rebellious streak as an adult, you should be aware that these people exist in real life and very often do end up becoming cops, for better or worse.

[joannekwan]

Relevant video series about portrayals of the police in media. I'll post them in order.

And particularly pertinent, since Jack Saint wrote this one amid the protests