History Main / ByTheBookCop

* Sky from ''Series/PowerRangersSPD.'' Constant head-butting with the much more laid-back Jack, naturally.
* Alex from ''Series/PowerRangersTimeForce.'' When he travels back in time to reclaim the Red Ranger powers from Wes, his leading style is too rigid since he refuses to accept input from anybody. When Wes returns to help them out of a tough situation, the other Rangers, even his fiance, Jen, plead with him to let Wes continue as the Red Ranger.

* Commissioner James Gordon from Franchise/{{Batman}}, if it was not for his frequently calling upon the services of an unofficial masked vigilante to help police his city. ''ComicBook/BatmanYearOne'', ''ComicBook/TheLongHalloween'' and ''ComicBook/DarkVictory'' track his growing relationship with Batman and rising position in the Gotham City Police Department, and they all reiterate his commitment to Law & Order and refusal to compromise his integrity and the rules, even to convict criminals he knows are guilty. He slips once when ComicBook/TheJoker was on death row for a crime he might not have committed [[spoiler:and didn't]]. He suggested to Batman that they let Joker fry despite the possibility that he's innocent of this particular crime. Batman tells Gordon that he's going to pretend he didn't say that, and the matter is dropped.

* In ''Film/SplitSecond'', Dick Durkin is much more mindful of proper police procedure and much calmer than his new partner Stone due to his past education on killers and psychopaths. Subverted towards the end when he realizes that they're up against a supernatural monstrosity and he becomes just as gun-happy as Stone.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheRidonculousRace'': Sanders, who is a cop and partners with CowboyCop [=MacArthur=],wants to win the race without breaking any international laws. She is also willing to play fair and follow all the rules of the race, which sometimes gets on [=MacArthur's=] nerves.

* ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch'': Pleakley, during his time as an agent for the Galactic Federation, is shown to be a strict guy who follows the rules, which is part of the reason why he is partnered up with Jumba to make sure Jumba does not do anything reckless or escape from federation custody. It's shown when Pleakley insists that they capture Jumbo.so creation, Stitch, without blowing their cover as aliens, which is why they pretend to be husband and wife when they reach Earth. Of course, Pleakley gets fired after many backfired attempts to capture stitch while following the book.

[[caption-width-right:350:[-Benefits include: Throwing the book at criminals, literally.-]]]

* The police officers on shows like ''Series/LawAndOrder'' and ''Series/HomicideLifeOnTheStreet'', at least in their earlier seasons, generally tended to be this sort of cop; they might not have been quite the 'friendly police officer' of earlier tropes, but they generally tended to do their jobs following procedure.
** With a rather lax interpretation of the Bill of Rights, however.

* Rob Hollins in ''Series/{{Doctors}}''.

* Sarah Ashburn from ''Film/TheHeat''.

* Kim Kitsuragi, the PlayerCharacter's partner, from ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'' is this, at least by the standards of the setting. He cares about more about rules and procedure than most police officers, and will often try to encourage the player to stay on the straight and narrow, and will frown upon them acting like a CowboyCop or a DirtyCop, but he's ultimately not above bending the rules if he sees it as necessary, though he never does so lightly. The player, however, can also themselves choose to embrace the trope, by ignoring the wackier dialogue choices and actions, and trying to adhere to regulations. This causes the game to designate the Player Character as a "Boring Cop", and notes that this kind of behavior can not come naturally for someone with his colourful past and current looks.

* ''Anime/TransformersRobotsInDisguise'' has Prowl, a relatively benign example (mostly he yells at his younger brother for speeding), and Tow-Line, who reaches LawfulStupid levels of SingleIssueWonk about illegal parking. He tows everything from children's bikes to ''bullet trains'' and ''mailmen''.

* ''Series/TheDakotas'': Ragan is the perfect example of this. The show is set in the OldWest, and Ragan believes that deviating from the law in any way devalues it.

* In Creator/SergeyLukyanenko's ''[[Literature/NightWatch New Watch]]'', Staff Sergeant Dima Pastukhov of the Moscow Police considers himself an honest cop, by Russian standards. Granted, he'll occasionally accept a small bribe (e.g. more change than what he paid) from a cafe owner when stopping by for lunch or rough up a drunk or two when they get rowdy and refuse to go to a sobering-up station. However, he will also chase down any perp without a second thought, won't harass store owners, and will let those who are only a little drunk go home (provided they don't drive). However, he avoids the Others like the plague, having been accidentally granted the ability to see them by Anton's carelessness in the first novel (he's one of the two cops he tells to go get drunk on his first case, nearly costing them their careers).

** [[TooDumbToLive Detective Elton Hodges]] has been filling this role in a very [[IncrediblyLamePun by-the-book]] fashion as Jack has become more and more influenced by Stark.

->''"I was guilty as sin, but [[SympatheticInspectorAntagonist Valentine]] couldn't prove it. And he was the rarest breed of law enforcement officer: the type who knew I was breaking the law, but wouldn't break it himself to bust me."''

* ''Disney/LiloAndStitch'': Pleakley, during his time as an agent for the Galactic Federation, is shown to be a strict guy who follows the rules, which is part of the reason why he is partnered up with Jumba to make sure Jumba does not do anything reckless or escape from federation custody. It's shown when Pleakley insists that they capture Jumbo.so creation, Stitch, without blowing their cover as aliens, which is why they pretend to be husband and wife when they reach Earth. Of course, Pleakley gets fired after many backfired attempts to capture stitch while following the book.

* Parkee and Walker, the rival detecrives to the main characters in ''WesternAnimation/FunkyCops'', are a couple of dry straight-laced MenInBlack who can't think outside the box and would ''really'' rather be working for the FBI. They even specifically allude to the FBI handbook now and again.

* Parkee and Walker, the rival detecrives to the main characters in ''WesternAnimation/FunkyCops'', are a couple of dry straight-laced MenInBlack who can't think outside the box and would ''really'' rather be working for the FBI.

** Vimes himself also fits this trope, most obviously at the end of ''Discworld/NightWatch''. While he's far more cynical than Carrot, that same cynicism is basically what makes him TheFettered. He's willing to bend the rules somewhat and tolerates bribes on the level of beer and donuts, but has cast-iron principles he will not break.

* In ''Series/{{NUMB3RS}}'', when Don is talking to a therapist about his team, he pegs David Sinclair as this. David's actions throughout the series support this.

--->'''Punisher''': "Give me your gun."
--->'''Detective''': "This is a prisoner transport van. We're not allowed to carry our guns in here when transporting someone. It's against the rules."
--->'''Punisher''': "You're a plainclothes detective. You've been on the force long enough to know what rules to ignore. ''Now hand it over.''"

* A detective tried to come off as one of these during an encounter with ThePunisher. Averted, as Frank has been around the block numerous times and knows the score.