TV Drama - Historical to Contemporary Comparison

Clearly changes in uniform for the police comes into place over the time period but the basics do remain the same, there has been further female integration in the workplace over the last century but what has changed drastically the WAY in which the Police have been viewed by the public and the difficulties that have had to be faced.

From the times of Dixon of Dock Green and the police officers being a much more close knit, community supporting friendly group with only the best, honest working man intentions in mind the police have changed hugely into the modern day The Bill style force that have to overcome terrors and issues which trouble the most emotionally hardened people and huge criticism for not fulfilling their obliged duty from time to time as with the April Jones case of 2012. The police now face masses of scrutiny all over the planet, not just the UK. But since the times of Dixon's simple crime prevention and patrolling police do face much stiffer issues with modern society in their defence. The furthering of technology in any job can help and hinder equally with some people gaining easier access to things, even smaller issues such as music on-line which is illegally downloaded and even redistributed at times. The modern police job description would certainly involve dealing with much more variation compared to that of the 50's and 60's. In assisting the amount of crime that does go on, the economic climate never manages to help keep down crime levels. Modern prosperity is suffering even at this very moment and this affects most people in all areas. People become more desperate when money is minimal and someone cannot afford to feed their family, people turn to risking taking some food from a shop or robbing a shop, not that it is moral but it becomes necessary to some to survive. These kinds of ideas do reflect on the view of modern police because they are seen as the first line of defence against this, with it happening frequently not every crime can be prevented or dealt with because the force is smaller and there are more issues. With criticism and scrutiny that does come their way officers have to at times watch their own backs in many cases especially since renewed doubts since the Hillsborough re-done report. These modern, gritty issues were reflected fairly often within The Bill before it stopped and it showed the increasingly difficult crimes and moral decisions that need to made by the police.