# Another cop show pet peeve **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 13, 2012, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-cop-show-pet-peeve/609391 "2012-01-13T15:14:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-cop-show-pet-peeve/609391/21 "2012-01-13T23:44:43Z")
Mine is that witnesses of various sorts keep giving the cops the finger (legitimately) and ask if they have warrants. The cops make ridiculous threats which would become a PR nightmare for the police, as well as brining possible charges of corruption and harrassment upoin their own heads. The witness folds on the spot. That’s really annoying, because it never amounts to anything. It’s particularly infuriating when they do this to medical professionals, psychologists, and whatnot who have serious reasons not to give in. Plus, those same shows also use the fact that said personnel cannot legally give information as major plot points in other episodes. I know it sounds trivial, but this takes me instantly out of the show. Once they do that, I’m no longer suspending disbelief. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-cop-show-pet-peeve/609391/22 "2012-01-14T00:25:57Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > One more thing… do cops REALLY put down their guns immediately, as soon as a bad guy grabs a hostage, allowing the bad guy to grab a car and get away? Pop quiz, hotshot. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-cop-show-pet-peeve/609391/23 "2012-01-14T00:38:19Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > However, I’ve been watching Hawaii 5-0 (a current guilty pleasure), and when one of the 5-0 (usually Grace Park) makes this grand gesture to move an image from the table-top display to a big screen, it takes me out of the show. Yes, that’s quite silly. I know they’re trying to look all high tech and all, but it just comes off wrong. Oh, looking at it on this LCD covered table top is too easy, better “throw” it over to the monitors hanging on the wall 10 feet away! ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-cop-show-pet-peeve/609391/24 "2012-01-14T01:11:19Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Nice username/post combo! > > My biggest pet peeve is when the Feds move in to take over a case, and the local cops fight them over it. “Hey, this is OUR case!” > > How many government workers do \*you \*know who get upset when someone else tries to do their work for them? That one, I can believe. It happens in my own agency. It’s not really about who does the work- it’s about who _decides_ who does the work and who gets the credit. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-cop-show-pet-peeve/609391/25 "2012-01-14T16:29:20Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Among the many police TV/movie cliches that annoy me: > > 1. The serial killer is a GENIUS who knows the names and addresses of all the detectives who are investigating him, and has all kinds of diabolical ways of finding and killing the investigators’ families. > > To put it mildly, serial killers are rarely brilliant! Most are downright stupid losers. The FBI serial killers unit classifyd serial killers as “organized” or “disorganized.” The organized type are extremely good at getting away with their crimes. Some of them kill for years before being caught, like Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, Gary Ridgeway. I suspect the two classifications are probably split 50/50. However, more of the organized serial killers get away with it.They are not all, or even most “downright stupid losers.” ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-cop-show-pet-peeve/609391/26 "2012-01-14T16:45:00Z")
> [@Scubaqueen](#): > > And yet sometimes, the opposite is true. Half the United States was once looking for serial killer Ted Bundy. What got him caught? A traffic violation stop. > > ‘Son of Sam,’ David Berkowitz, was captured because of a parking ticket. British serial killer Peter Sutcliffe was caught by a routine red light area patrol. Something about him tickled the cop’s spidey senses. ---
**Author:** ![svd678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@svd678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/svd678)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-cop-show-pet-peeve/609391/27 "2012-01-14T17:13:45Z")
I’m irritated when cops are looking for someone, spot him halfway down the block, and yell at him - giving him a good head start for a race. Seems to me it would make sense to get close, even surround him before alerting him! ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-cop-show-pet-peeve/609391/28 "2012-01-14T18:18:59Z")
I have seen enough heroes running-then-diving away from the explosion that boils up behind them but the heroes somehow outrun the massive screen-filling expanding burning bubble… And the hero never ever has the “Holy S\*\*\*, I’m about to get burned up like a matchstick” panic on their faces. Just the gritty look of determination. I’m always rooting for the fireball. Also, the lead cop, when taking his SWAT team in on an attack yells, “Go, go, go, GO!” just as the group storms whatever it is that they are storming. Never three “go’s”, never five “go’s”…always four, with heavy emphasis on the last. When the SWAT team enters the building, the lead cop always points at his nose or something and then twitches and points his fingers in a certain way such that the other team members always know exactly what to do and where to go no matter how complicated the situation is… Just once I want one of the other cops to look at our hero and mouth “What?” Then the SWAT team starts entering various rooms and yelling “CLEAR” when they don’t find the villain. If it is OK to yell, thus alerting the heel hiding deeper in the maze of rooms, why bother with the hand signals when directing the team at the start? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-cop-show-pet-peeve/609391/29 "2012-01-16T01:57:47Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > The primary purpose of these shows is (IMNSHO) to take us out of our mundane existences and transport us to some fictional reality. If that requires us to believe that skinny women can whip butt on big men, well that is going to attract a female audience, isn’t it? Women who enjoy seeing empowered women. Heck, some of us guys like that as well. As a man who was married to a judoist for almost 30 years, I kind of like it myself. My wife was a slim person. But she could kick some butt. > But, that is just me. > YMMV. A scrawny but trained fighter could probably take me too. My issue is when they take someone similarly trained, or even worse, when they take several someones similarly trained. It’s about what specifically breaks my personal suspension of disbelief. Regarding the SWAT teams, just the fact that a non-SWAT trained detective leads the charge (usually without a helmet) while the nameless, faceless, helmeted SWAT officers follow. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-cop-show-pet-peeve/609391/30 "2012-01-16T02:02:25Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > How many government workers do \*you \*know who get upset when someone else tries to do their work for them? So you’re saying you’ve never met a government worker in your entire life, right? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-cop-show-pet-peeve/609391/31 "2012-01-16T06:31:51Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > The FBI serial killers unit classifyd serial killers as “organized” or “disorganized.” The organized type are extremely good at getting away with their crimes. Some of them kill for years before being caught, like Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, Gary Ridgeway. > > I suspect the two classifications are probably split 50/50. However, more of the organized serial killers get away with it.They are not all, or even most “downright stupid losers.” Fair enough… but even if Ted Bundy was not a “stupid loser,” neither was he a diabolical mastermind who knew the names and addresses of all the FBI agents seeking him. Every agent on\*\*\* Criminal Minds \*\*\*seems to have lost a friend or family member to a super-genius killer who knows just where to find them. Did Gacy or Ridgway ever attempt such a thing? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-cop-show-pet-peeve/609391/32 "2012-01-16T07:36:55Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > I’m often amazed at what it is that disturbs one person’s suspension of belief. I have my own list of items that take me out of shows. This, while annoying, doesn’t break mine. However, I’ve been watching Hawaii 5-0 (a current guilty pleasure), and when one of the 5-0 (usually Grace Park) makes this grand gesture to move an image from the table-top display to a big screen, it takes me out of the show. > > Another item that often takes me out of shows are tiny women beating up large men. I understand that a skilled small fighter stands a good chance against an unskilled big fighter, but there is no way Maggie Q or Gabrielle Anwar, walking skeletons both, beat trained, bigger opponents on a regular basis. If you want a kick-ass woman, fine - just make her look kick-ass. I always though Angela Basset handled sexy and kick-ass simultaneously the best. Yeah, they call it “waif-fu” and it’s one of those things that was cool to watch… the first dozen times, maybe. Now, it’s going on to a zillion, it’s too fucking overdone. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-cop-show-pet-peeve/609391/33 "2012-01-16T08:46:09Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Nice username/post combo! > > My biggest pet peeve is when the Feds move in to take over a case, and the local cops fight them over it. “Hey, this is OUR case!” > > How many government workers do \*you \*know who get upset when someone else tries to do their work for them? Actually, that’s not really unrealistic. It’s genuine territorialism and, to a large extent, ego. The local cops are on a big case with a lot of publicity, _and the Feds show up to steal all the credit for solving the case_. The same is true in pretty much any profession — nobody likes a “higher-up” coming in and taking over their project. It’s like, say, the Seattle Mariners _finally_ win the American League Championship and are ready to play Game 1 of the World Series, and the New York Yankees show up and say, “Good job, guys. We’ll take it from here.” ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-cop-show-pet-peeve/609391/34 "2012-01-16T17:44:53Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Every agent on\*\*\* Criminal Minds \*\*\*seems to have lost a friend or family member to a super-genius killer who knows just where to find them. Did Gacy or Ridgway ever attempt such a thing? As silly as that show is I have to recognize them for one thing. Very often they do go after serial/spree killers who aren’t that bright. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-cop-show-pet-peeve/609391/35 "2012-01-16T17:52:39Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > It’s like, say, the Seattle Mariners _finally_ win the American League Championship and are ready to play Game 1 of the World Series, and the New York Yankees show up and say, “Good job, guys. We’ll take it from here.” Can I just say how much I love this analogy? Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-cop-show-pet-peeve/609391/36 "2012-01-16T19:41:28Z")
> [@svd678](#): > > I’m irritated when cops are looking for someone, spot him halfway down the block, and yell at him - giving him a good head start for a race. Seems to me it would make sense to get close, even surround him before alerting him! Yes! That bugs the hell out of me and it happens all the time on these shows, and in movies, too. Once you notice it, you start to realize how often this is used. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2012, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-cop-show-pet-peeve/609391/37 "2012-01-16T20:01:43Z")
This one is very minor but it annoys the shit out of me. Happens in other shows as well, but it happens in almost every single cop show. RebelCop is in his boss’ office, gets instructions and starts to walk out. Boss waits until he’s almost out the door, before this happens: Boss: “Oh, and RebelCop?” ::RebelCop slowly turns around:: Boss: “Try not to \” RebelCop: “Smart-assed rejoinder!” What the eff? Why must **every** scene end this way? Has this ever happened in real life? More like “Is that all?” “Yep. See ya.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-cop-show-pet-peeve/609391.md?page=1)