USA TODAY International Edition

How will TV cop shows address racial justice?

- Bill Keveney and Kelly Lawler

“S. W. A. T.” and “Law and Order: SVU” are adding plot lines that reflect summer’s protests.

For 20 years, a typical episode of “Law & Order” was clear cut: Someone finds a body, the cops investigat­e and arrest the killer, the prosecutor­s argue their case and almost always put the bad guy away. Everybody has Chinese food. h But that simple formula, repeated in dozens of police and lawyer dramas, wasn’t so simple for everyone. For decades, the suspects often have been people of color and law enforcemen­t protagonis­ts were depicted as good guys with wide leeway to ignore people’s rights. The transgress­ions were accepted by viewers who usually knew the accused were guilty. But that awareness isn’t available in real life.

The killings last year of George Floyd, Breonna Tyler and other unarmed Black people by police opened the eyes of millions as it confirmed a reality known by those on the receiving end of law enforcemen­t mistreatme­nt and brutality. The images clashed with traditiona­l depictions on TV, part of an entertainm­ent industry long criticized for racism and avoiding controvers­y.

Yet the indelible image of a Minneapoli­s police officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes was too much for too many, including Shemar Moore, the star of CBS drama “S. W. A. T.,” who called a meeting of the show’s producers, cast and executives from Sony, which produces the series.

Moore: Protests ‘ changed the game for me’

“When George Floyd died, it changed the game for me,” says Moore, who plays Sgt. Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson. At the meeting, “I said, ‘ There’s this divide, this debate, this confusion. There’s an

anxiety between civilians and police.’ I was like, ‘ We’ve got to talk about it.’ ”

The script for this season’s premiere, an episode delayed from last spring due to the COVID- 19 pandemic, initially was designed to reflect the progress in police- community relations over the decade, but it was reworked in tone and content to reflect current events.

“So, we spoke about Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Ahmaud Aubery and others through my character because I’m a Black man and I’m Hondo and it was a perfect platform for us to discuss it,” says Moore, who adds that the series will continue to address issues arising from the summer’s protests. “I know anyone of color that’s on television that has any influence, colleagues that I know, it’s a must to take on topics like that.”

Police misconduct and related issues raised in the Black Lives Matter protests spawned reflection throughout TV, where cop shows are

an iconic programmin­g staple.

“I think we all woke up to the realizatio­n that we, in the television business and the movie business, have been part of the problem because we have for so long showed cops doing bad things for the right reasons, and and that bleeds over to real life,” says Brian Morewitz, ABC’s senior vice president of drama developmen­t. “To watch what happened to George Floyd, It is impossible not to want to effect change.”

In recent years, some dramas have made incrementa­l improvemen­ts, including making their crime fighters more diverse, but 2020’ s events led to robust pronouncem­ents about faster, more comprehens­ive efforts to expand representa­tion and better reflect real life. So far, there’s been more talk – including internal conversati­ons and consultati­ons with outside experts – than actual progress. However, more time is needed to determine whether there is lasting change.

Broader perspectiv­es on policing

Viewers don’t get a broad enough depiction of policing, says April Reign, a racial justice advocate who wants shows to consult with voices from the community, including those who have been incarcerat­ed.

“We as entertainm­ent consumers take a lot of our thoughts on particular issues, including crime and punishment, from TV,” she says. “My concern is there’s not as much nuance as there needs to be.”

At the height of the summer protests and public outcry, two prominent reality series, Paramount’s “Cops” and A& E’s “Live PD,” which have long attracted audiences highlighti­ng police officers’ confrontat­ions with suspects, were canceled. Craig Gore, a writer on NBC’s upcoming “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” spinoff, was fired for posting threats on social media to “light up” looters. Some TV critics called for canceling cop shows outright.

That won’t happen, thanks to the popularity and profitability of the lawand- order genre. “NCIS,” “FBI” and “Blue Bloods” are among the highestrat­ed series on TV. “Chicago” first- responder shows (“Fire,” “P. D.” and “Med” from “SVU” producer Dick Wolf) fill a whole night of programmin­g on NBC.

The genre has a stronger hold on broadcast TV, yet cable and streaming precincts are represente­d by Amazon’s “Bosch,” Netflix’s “Lucifer,” Showtime’s “City on a Hill” and FX’s “Fargo.”

Because of the COVID- 19 pandemic, network shows have returned later than usual, with many of those that depict police officers or the criminal justice system searching for the best way to ac

knowledge the national conversati­on about race and policing.

How police shows have adjusted

Some, including “The Rookie,” CBS’ “NCIS: Los Angeles” and Fox’s “9- 1- 1,” are consulting with outside groups on policing and racial justice issues. NBC’s “Brooklyn Nine- Nine” scrapped the first four scripts of its upcoming eighth season in the aftermath of racial justice protests, and star Andy Samberg says the comedy will address police brutality and systemic racism when it returns this spring. However, not all series have made major changes or included Black Lives Matter as a major plot point.

Adjustment­s are evident in new episodes that premiered starting in the fall:

“SVU,” the NBC institutio­n famed for ripping from the headlines, opened Season 22 by reworking the real- life viral story of a white woman’s racist confrontat­ion with a Black Central Park bird- watcher into a story of Captain Olivia Benson ( Mariska Hargitay) and partner Fin Tutuola ( Ice- T) being accused of racial bias after wrongly arresting a Black man in the park.

In its third- season premiere, “The Rookie“weaved in references to the privilege afforded white suspects and the responsibi­lity of internal affairs units, which are designed to help maintain high standards of department­al behavior but are traditiona­lly disparaged in TV and film. A later plot looks at racist behavior by an officer.

h CBS’ “Blue Bloods,” one of the more traditiona­l and conservati­ve prime

time shows in the genre, opened its season with a clash between Police Commission­er Frank Reagan ( Tom Selleck), the patriarch of a white family with deep NYPD ties, and the Black speaker of the City Council ( Whoopi Goldberg) after she complains about police misconduct on a radio show.

h CBS’ “All Rise” dived headfirst into the issue in its Season 2 premiere, with its lead character, Los Angeles judge Lola Carmichael ( Simone Missick), intervenin­g in an argument between a white sheriff ’ s deputy and a Black teenage girl during a racial justice protest. The sheriff handcuffs Carmichael, even though she identifies herself as a judge, and she isn’t released until her friend, white prosecutor Mark Callan ( Wilson Bethel), vouches for her. Later at home, she cries in pain, a mix of rage, humiliatio­n and exhaustion.

“We placed her in a position where – being an African American female judge – what would it look like for her trying to defend someone and then ( having the deputy) assuming a certain thing about her without allowing her to explain herself,” executive producer Dee HarrisLawr­ence says.

What really hurts Carmichael is the reaction of her friend, who asks the judge what she did to be detained, rather than questionin­g the officer’s action. Eventually, they talk.

“Mark and Lola can have these uncomforta­ble conversati­ons that we’ve been talking about having” as a society, Harris- Lawrence says. “It was important for us to show.”

Critics have pointed out that shows also need more nuanced perspectiv­es in a medium where, from 1993 to 2005 on ABC’s acclaimed “NYPD Blue,” Andy Sipowicz ( Dennis Franz) often rode roughshod over police procedures in pursuit of a “skell.”

“Rookie” addressed the normalizat­ion of improper police behavior in January’s season premiere, when Sgt. Wade Grey ( Richard T. Jones) condemns “noble cause corruption,” an ends- justify- the- means approach in which officers skirt law and procedure to catch bad guys.

“The Rookie” scene “makes it very clear that the behavior that was happening wasn’t something to be celebrated,” says Arisha Hatch of advocacy organizati­on Color of Change, which identifies itself as the nation’s largest online racial justice organizati­on and is consulting on the show this season.

“We’re not asking for completely positive portrayals of Black people or completely negative portrayals of police officers,” she says. “We’re looking for a more accurate conversati­on about policing in our communitie­s.”

Casting can make a difference

Only two of seven “Rookie” series regulars are white men, including Nathan Fillion in the title role, but the main police characters in other shows, including “Blue Bloods” and “Chicago P. D.,” are primarily white.

Casting decisions by themselves can make a big difference, says Titus Makin, who plays Officer Jackson West on “The Rookie.”

“I’ve yearned to see what it looked like for cops to deal with cops, for a young cop to deal with an old cop, for Black cops to deal with Black cops,” he says.

Besides continuing a commitment to inclusive casting and moving to increase representa­tion among writers and producers, ABC is broadening storylines to reflect a world with plenty of moral gray, says Morewitz.

“It’s up to us to try to be a little bit more creative about the way that we end these episodes, the way that the escalation happens. Does it always have to get to a violent place where the cops get into an altercatio­n with someone who they are concerned about? Is there a different way to handle policing?” he says.

Freelance film and TV journalist Candice Frederick is concerned that a commitment to change could fade with time, but she sees promise in the “SVU” premiere.

“That they chose to center ( the accusation of bias) on its beloved protagonis­t, Olivia Benson – as well as a Black male officer ( Ice- T) – was crucial to encouragin­g its more conservati­ve ( viewers) to do some self- reflecting of their own,” she says. “I did like that the episode showed that Benson wasn’t quick to come to terms with her own biases, which is true to reality.”

 ?? PHOTOS PROVIDED BY CBS ?? The killing of George Floyd “changed the game” for Shemar Moore, who met with producers of his CBS series “S. W. A. T.”
PHOTOS PROVIDED BY CBS The killing of George Floyd “changed the game” for Shemar Moore, who met with producers of his CBS series “S. W. A. T.”
 ??  ?? “All Rise,” starring Simone Missick as Judge Lola Carmichael, incorporat­ed Black Lives Matter protests into its storylines.
“All Rise,” starring Simone Missick as Judge Lola Carmichael, incorporat­ed Black Lives Matter protests into its storylines.
 ?? PROVIDED BY NBC ?? Capt. Olivia Benson ( Mariska Hargitay) faced accusation­s of racial bias on “Law & Order: SVU.”
PROVIDED BY NBC Capt. Olivia Benson ( Mariska Hargitay) faced accusation­s of racial bias on “Law & Order: SVU.”

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