Police Research - Media Magazine (Sept 2007)

• They are an unmarginalised group, powerful, not a minority group in society.
• Sum up of their reprersentation nowadays: 'Gradual erosion of respect and authority'. Most traditional representations tend to move in an opposite direction.

• 'Crime over time':

Dixon of Dock Green: 1955-1976- 'Golden age of policing', image of the enduring good police officer.
Juliet Bravo: 1980-1985- A look at the feminist movements in the 1970's.
Gentle Touch: 1980-1984- Looks at the similar issues to that of Juliet Bravo.
Heartbeat: 1984-2010- A nostalgic look at simpler time, 1960's (aimed at an older audience)
The Bill: 1984- 2010- Definitive British representation of the police.

These are the options for me to look at for the section of Police TV Drama for the exam, my second section being the looking into the Police out of the major Newspaper companies.

• Iconography: Uniforms and flashing lights on cars symbolise the element of 'good' in the 'good vs. evil' binary opposition. The assumption that a police officer necessarily represents good vs. evil is the defining thing of representation.
• Early TV years: Dixon of Dock Green represented the 'golden years' of policing. Crime was totally preventable by a good Bobby at the time. Dixon contributed to the original stereotype, white man, not bright but reliable, honest & morally sound. Stereotype served for the 50's and 60's. Crime was on the rise and urban areas were changing. Police still did much good such as controlling mods & rockers and even battling ethnic groups at the Notting Hill Carnival riots. The Media was also changing rapidly.
• The 70's Power and Gender: Juliet Bravo & The Gentle Touch show women in positions of power. They are a result os a second wave of feminism in the 70's, results of Equal Pay act, Sex discrimination act of 1975 allowed women to rise higher in chosen professions. Juliet Bravo dealt with how a women with power dealt with 'Old-Fashioned' men.
• Police Under Threat: By the time The Bill started in 1984, lawlessness was at an epidemic that police couldn't solve every crime. Crime was firmly in society. The 'Good vs. Evil' had gone and that crime could be cured, had gone. A great change in view came with the Miners Strikes of 1984. The polic were in conflict with 'normal' people. The strikes showed the police were fighting 'us' which made them get seen as a 'political army'. The police were the aggresors.
• The 90's & Beyond Race and Reputation: The Stephen Lawrence case of 1993, the police reputation fell to an all time low. Macpherson Report of 1999 which discovered the police were racist. The Bill reflected this new understanding with more rounded characters. It changed to reflect the characters and not the police.
• Thinking Positive: The differences between Police and Criminals are far more blurred than they ever were in earlier TV series. The Bill always tried to make a positive representation.
• Crime Never Pays: Despite not all police being 'good' and criminals being 'bad'. Most cases are still eventually solved and criminals caught. Programmes could be seen as irresponcible for encouraging illegal or lawless behaviour. There is no longer a time of police being good and criminals just being tearaway teenagers.