(Image: Cop shadow via Shutterstock)Aaron Cantu talks about who profits and who loses when cop booster shows legitimize police violence.
Also see: “Do What You Gotta Do”: Cop Shows Bolster Idea That Police Violence Works
Are there connections between social change, the political agenda of elected officials, and the kind of dramas we see on TV? When it comes to some TV police dramas, Aaron Cantu says there is. Since the mid-1960s, many crime dramas have adopted a very simple moral structure that reflects the growing fears of crime and social chaos – spurred in part by politicians like Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush and their reactions to events like the Watts Riot in 1965, the threat of Soviet communism, or terrorism.
TV shows like “Law and Order” and “Chicago P.D.” are the creations of Dick Wolf, whose track record of producing top-rated crime dramas started with “Miami Vice” in the 1980s. Wolf isn’t alone in producing these kinds of shows, but Cantu looks at the characters and storylines of “Chicago P.D.” and compares them with the actions of the real Chicago Police Department and their involvement in the torture of African-American detainees from the ’70s to the ’90s. The unorthodox and illegal acts by members of the Chicago police and including the infamous police commander Jon Burge, were detailed in a trial wherein Burge was found guilty of lying under oath, but not of the torture he engaged in. As Cantu writes about the intersection of the TV show “Chicago P.D.” and the illegal actions of the Chicago police, “The show features a team of intelligence officers who, like some of their real-life counterparts, torture suspects, circumvent civil liberties protections and keep tight-lipped about each others’ ‘off-duty’ violence against innocent people.”
Because of public support for punishing crime (support that comes from fear campaigns directed at voters by politicians), and, in the case of the Chicago Police Department, a complete disregard for the rights individuals arrested or detained by the police, whole populations become criminalized because of their proximity to the kind of crimes our society wants to see the full weight of the law punish. “Chicago P.D.” can be seen as reflecting what public opinion already thinks about crime, but the show also reinforces a “do what you gotta do” mentality that says it’s okay for the police to use illegal forms of violence in catching criminals.
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.
You can help by giving today during our fundraiser. We have 6 days to add 379 new monthly donors. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.