Crime Drama vs Reality TV

The recent increase in the number of reality television shows has expanded to incorporate police and crime. In Australia this can be seen in shows such as ‘The Force’ or ‘Recruits’, a show produced by Network Ten that documents a number of new police recruits going through their training at Goulburn and continues on to their early life on the street. This form of television program is shown alongside traditional crime genre shows such as CSI, The Wire, and Blue Heelers etc.

The show such as Recruits and The Force give an account of true stories and “are promoted as behind the scenes accounts of true policing activities” (McGovern, 2009, pg 164) with the shows painting a rosy picture of police life. Generally the story is one of a successful nature, with ‘the bad guy getting caught’ type scenario played out. According to McGovern (2009) these are “good money earners for police agencies” and “give good publicity and a chance to portray an image which they want to be seen.” This can lead to an improved perception of the police, improved quantity and quality of new recruits and can allow the police to perform their duties with the added revenue gained from the production of the shows.

The fictional shows such as CSI, The Wire and Blue Heelers are independently produced and their profitability are determined by the viewer numbers. This viewership demands an entertaining, cutting edge show that in some cases show more extreme forms of policing. This can range from bizarre cases and scenarios in CSI, portrayals of murder policing and corruption in The Wire and the large number of murders, thefts, kidnappings etc that were seen in the small country town of Mt. Thomas in Blue Heelers. This uncontrolled side of crime and police portrayal can at times be detrimental to the polices’ efforts of public relations.

There is no doubting the usefulness of the reality television shows in producing a favourable image of policing but these are often countered by the sometimes extreme story lines seen in the fictional productions on air also.