Good Cops, Bad Cops, Whatcha Gonna Do?

The American television show Cops debuted on Sunday, March 11, 1989, on Fox and has become one of the longest-running series in television history. The scenes in the show undoubtedly contribute to many people's perceptions of police officers and of the nature of modern police work. This study examines the behavior of police officers in the show Cops to see whether the police are protecting or violating people's rights to their persons and property independent of whether the police are enforcing the law.