Positions in the field of law enforcement are some of the most publicized in the world. Almost everybody is fascinated with how police officers catch the criminals and the amount of thinking and hard work that goes into their jobs. There are a multitude of shows on television that feature police officers. These cop shows range from complete and utter fiction to more real shows that involve actual police officers rather than just actors. Often times on these shows officers will get into foot races with their suspects that involve the alleged criminals hopping over CT fencing and CT fences to try and get away from their pursuers, which more often than not still results in them getting caught.
The classic cop show that really got the ball rolling so to speak is Cops. Nearly everybody in the country knows what Cops is and it has turned into a very successful and long running show. The show centers around a camera crew following police officers in their cars all across the country and filming them doing their job. Of course the job entails lots of different things and sometimes the police are called to settle some kind of dispute, sometimes they have to pull people over in their cars and other times they have to make arrests and break up fights. Some really funny things happen on the show such as one episode where a man had manufactured and smoked drugs in someone's home, then decided that he would hide in the trunk of his car. The police spent a fairly lengthy amount of time figuring out how to get him out of the trunk and, to everyone's surprise, when they got him out charged him with crimes related to producing drugs.
Another popular show about police falls under the genre of comedy and is essentially a fictional, humorous take on the aforementioned Cops. Reno 911 also features a camera crew following around the police, this time only in the city of Reno. The characters on the show are all very funny including the Lieutenant Dangle, a down on his luck head of the department who can not control any of his employees. The officers on the show do ridiculous things and meet ridiculous people, such as one man who plays Dungeons and Dragons in his backyard and continually assaults people, and then tries to justify it within the context of the game.
Finally, another hit police show from the current decade is called, "CSI", and it is various and seemingly never ending spin off shows of the same name but with a city attached. "CSI", obviously to anybody who has ever seen it, is not funny but takes a look at the world of crime scene investigation and the use of forensics to track down criminals. Although the show is of course not entirely accurate, there are a few true things involved in that forensic evidence is often very important in solving crimes.
The world will probably not ever end its fascination with police work and watching TV shows that, sometimes accurately and sometimes inaccurately, display it.