History Main / CopsNeedTheVigilante

--->'''Inspector Richard Shriker''': I'll minimize the "vigilante" stuff in the press; tell them it's creeps killing creeps. Nobody cares, anyhow. It'll be just like before, Mr. Vigilante. With one important difference: you're gonna work for me.
--->''Film/DeathWish3''

-->''Film/DeathWish3''

** Since MistyKnight, the female lead in ''Series/LukeCage2016'', is an NYPD Detective, the show delves into a much deeper case study of this trope. Whether or not cops can trust, let alone need, the "gifted" people is a {{discussed|Trope}} plot point between Misty and Rafael Scarfe. Scarfe is a DirtyCop on Cottonmouth's payroll, but he celebrates a VigilanteMan helping cops out when years of investigation have no payoff, especially when crime bosses like Wilson Fisk and Cottonmouth have cops and government officials on their payroll and "gifted" people exist everywhere. Misty, though, believes vigilantes (especially superpowered ones) are dangerous and should not be left untouched, and has a very adversarial relationship with Luke. The show goes to great lengths to show that [[BothSidesHaveAPoint both sides make good cases]]: the NYPD are sometimes in way over their heads and gifted vigilantes can really be a boon for them. However, since Luke Cage has a code against killing, at some point he's going to need the system again or else the criminals he beats up will just come back. This is best highlighted in the final episode: Diamondback is taken off the streets, but Misty's only witness against Mariah Dillard got killed by Shades because no one trusted the system enough to make sure she was protected.

-->'''Rafael Scarfe:''' How many investigations from the time we put boots on the ground, begin and end in these projects?
-->'''Misty Knight:''' Dozens.
-->'''Rafael Scarfe:''' And now somebody comes along and wants to clean up a year's worth of patrol work by himself? I don't see anything wrong with that.
-->'''Misty Knight:''' A vigilante? Yeah. There's something wrong with that: it's anarchy. A complete breakdown of the system. There are rules and regulations to what we do.
-->'''Rafael Scarfe:''' And lawyers and paperwork and excuses? Other than mopping up blood... and arresting the same piece of shit over and over, you know? There's not much we can do as cops.
-->'''Misty Knight:''' Jesus, Scarfe, whose side are you on?
-->'''Rafael Scarfe:''' I saw [[Film/TheAvengers2012 the Incident]] up close. What we ''can'' do as cops, what we ''can't'' do. ''[motions to his duty pistol]'' Now, unless this sidearm that I'm wearing suddenly turns into [[Film/{{Thor}} some kind of magic hammer]], this whole job is irrelevant.
-->'''Misty Knight:''' They have no training! No responsibility. You ''have'' to know what you're doing. They don't have the ''right'' to just start weeding out justice. Come on!
-->'''Rafael Scarfe:''' Some guy in a hoodie hits various gun running spots around the city today? I think that's wonderful. I think we should thank him.
-->'''Misty Knight:''' For doing ''our'' job?
-->'''Rafael Scarfe:''' Exactly. I don't like paperwork. But I'd rather get a papercut on my finger than a bullet in my ass. Look at--look at all them rounds! Look! ''[motions to Misty's wall of crime scene photos]'' You really wanna be in the middle of all this? And for what? For-for a chicken banquet dinner, and a photo with the Mayor as a reward? Shit. Hell no.
-->'''Misty Knight:''' [[SarcasmMode Wow. You are a credit to the badge, Scarfe.]]
-->-- ''Series/LukeCage2016'', "[[Recap/LukeCage2016S1E3WhosGonnaTakeTheWeight Who's Gonna Take The Weight?]]"

-->'''Rafael Scarfe:''' And lawyers and paperwork and excuses? Other than mopping up blood... and arresting the same piece of shit over and over, you know, not much we can do as cops.

-->'''Rafael Scarfe:''' I saw [[Film/TheAvengers2012 the Incident]] up close. What we can do as cops, what we can't do. ''[motions to his duty pistol]'' Now, unless this sidearm that I'm wearing suddenly turns into [[Film/{{Thor}} some kind of magic hammer]], this whole job is irrelevant.

* Marvel's Netflix shows do this a lot better than most, given that they focus on the street-level superheroes, and naturally, the NYPD plays a role in their plots.

** Since MistyKnight, the female lead in ''Series/LukeCage2016'', is an NYPD Detective, the show delves into a much deeper case study of this trope. Whether or not cops can trust, let alone need, the "gifted" people is a {{discussed|Trope}} plot point between Misty and Rafael Scarfe. Scarfe is a DirtyCop on Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes' payroll, but he celebrates a VigilanteMan helping cops out when years of investigation have no payoff, especially when crime bosses like Wilson Fisk and Cottonmouth have cops and government officials on their payroll and "gifted" people exist everywhere. Misty, though, believes vigilantes (especially superpowered ones) are dangerous and should not be left untouched, and has a very adversarial relationship with Luke. The show goes to great lengths to show that [[BothSidesHaveAPoint both sides make good cases]]: the NYPD are sometimes in way over their heads and gifted vigilantes can really be a boon for them. However, since Luke Cage has a code against killing, at some point he's going to need the system again or else the criminals he beats up will just come back. This is best highlighted in the final episode: Diamondback is taken off the streets, but Misty's only witness against Mariah Dillard got killed by Shades because no one trusted the system enough to make sure she was protected.

Private citizens, though of course bound by the law, aren't bound by the rules cops have to follow. A lot of cop shows/movies like to throw a cop and a civilian together so that the civilian can work around the annoying rules and the cop can nab the bad guy ''officially''. Unless he



[[WhyDontYouJustShootHim just shoots him]], possibly when he [[HostageSituation takes the civilian hostage]].

Private citizens, though of course bound by the law, aren't bound by the rules cops have to follow. A lot of cop shows/movies like to throw a cop and a civilian together so that the civilian can work around the annoying rules and the cop can nab the bad guy ''officially''. Unless he [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim just shoots him]], possibly when he [[HostageSituation takes the civilian hostage]].

** Since MistyKnight, the female lead in ''Series/LukeCage2016'', is an NYPD Detective, the show delves into a much deeper case study of this trope. Whether or not cops can trust, let alone need, the "gifted" people is a {{discussed|Trope}} plot point between Misty and Rafael Scarfe. Scarfe is a DirtyCop on Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes' payroll, but he celebrates a VigilanteMan helping cops out when years of investigation have no payoff, especially when crime bosses like Wilson Fisk and Cottonmouth have cops and government officials on their payroll and "gifted" people exist everywhere. Misty, though, believes vigilantes (especially superpowered ones) are dangerous and should not be left untouched, and has a very adversarial relationship with Luke.
--->'''Rafael Scarfe:''' Other than mopping up blood... and arresting the same piece of shit over and over, you know, not much we can do as cops.
--->'''Misty Knight:''' Jesus, Scarfe, whose side are you on?
--->'''Rafael Scarfe:''' I saw [[Film/TheAvengers2012 the Incident]] up close. What we can do as cops, what we can't do. ''[motions to his duty pistol]'' Now, unless this sidearm that I'm wearing suddenly turns into [[Film/{{Thor}} some kind of magic hammer]], this whole job is irrelevant.
*** The show goes to great lengths to show that [[BothSidesHaveAPoint both sides make good cases]]: the NYPD are sometimes in way over their heads and gifted vigilantes can really be a boon for them. However, since Luke Cage has a code against killing, at some point he's going to need the system again or else the criminals he beats up will just come back. This is best highlighted in the final episode: Diamondback is taken off the streets, but Misty's only witness against Mariah Dillard got killed by Shades because no one trusted the system enough to make sure she was protected.

--->'''Rafael Scarfe: I saw [[Film/TheAvengers2012 the Incident]] up close. What we can do as cops, what we can't do. ''[motions to his duty pistol]'' Now, unless this sidearm that I'm wearing suddenly turns into [[Film/{{Thor}} some kind of magic hammer]], this whole job is irrelevant.

** Since MistyKnight, the female lead in ''Series/LukeCage2016'', is an NYPD Detective, the show delves into a much deeper case study of this trope. Whether or not cops can trust, let alone need, the "gifted" people is a {{discussed|Trope}} plot point between Misty and Rafael Scarfe. Scarfe is a DirtyCop on Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes' payroll, but he celebrates a VigilanteMan helping cops out when years of investigation have no payoff, especially when crime bosses like Wilson Fisk and Cottonmouth have cops and government officials on their payroll and "gifted" people exist everywhere. Misty, though, believes vigilantes (especially superpowered ones) are dangerous and should not be left untouched, and has a very adversarial relationship with Luke. The show goes to great lengths to show that [[BothSidesHaveAPoint both sides make good cases]]: the police are sometimes in way over their heads and gifted vigilantes can really be a boon for them. However, since Luke Cage has a code against killing, at some point he's going to need the system again or else the criminals he beats up will just come back. This is best highlighted in the final episode: Diamondback is taken off the streets, but Misty's only witness against Mariah Dillard got killed by Shades because no one trusted the system enough to make sure she was protected.

** ''Series/Daredevil2015'' sees Matt Murdock, as Daredevil, develop an uneasy secret alliance with Sgt. Brett Mahoney. Ultimately, in season 1, Matt's role as Daredevil was necessary given how many of Hell's Kitchen's cops were in Wilson Fisk's pocket. By season 2, Brett is not too fond of the alliance, even nearly arresting Matt on a couple of occasions. In one scene, Brett mentions to Foggy and Karen that the NYPD rank and file are split on their views of vigilantes like Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and the Punisher. Some cops see the vigilantes as making their jobs much easier, but others think they're just making the issue worse. Brett is in the latter category, explicitly saying in "Penny and Dime" that just because Matt stopped Wilson Fisk from escaping doesn't mean they're on the same side. Later in the episode, Matt does acknowledge the need for the police. So he persuades Brett to take all the credit for the Punisher's arrest and not make any mention of Daredevil's presence at the scene.

** Since MistyKnight, the female lead in ''Series/LukeCage2016'', is an NYPD Detective, the show delves into a much deeper case study of this trope. Whether or not cops can trust, let alone need, the "gifted" people is a {{discussed|Trope}} plot point between Misty Knight and Rafael Scarfe. Scarfe is a DirtyCop on Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes' payroll, but he celebrates a VigilanteMan helping cops out when years of investigation have no payoff, especially when crime bosses like Fisk and Cottonmouth have cops and government officials on their payroll and "gifted" people exist everywhere. Misty, though, believes vigilantes (especially superpowered ones) are dangerous and should not be left untouched, and has a very adversarial relationship with Luke. The show goes to great lengths to show that [[BothSidesHaveAPoint both sides make good cases]]: the police are sometimes in way over their heads and gifted vigilantes can really be a boon for them. However, since Luke Cage has a code against killing, at some point he's going to need the system again or else the criminals he beats up will just come back. This is best highlighted in the final episode: Diamondback is taken off the streets, but Misty's only witness against Mariah Dillard got killed by Shades because no one trusted the system enough to make sure she was protected.

* Marvel's Netflix shows
** ''Series/Daredevil2015'' sees Matt Murdock, as Daredevil, develop an uneasy secret alliance with Sgt. Brett Mahoney. Ultimately, in season 1, Matt's role as Daredevil was necessary given how many of Hell's Kitchen's cops were in Wilson Fisk's pocket. By season 2, Brett is not too fond of the alliance, even nearly arresting Matt on a couple of occasions. In one scene, Brett mentions to Foggy and Karen that the NYPD rank and file are split on their views of vigilantes like Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and the Punisher. Some cops see the vigilantes as making their jobs much easier, but others think they're just making the issue worse. Matt even acknowledges the need for the police, to the point that he has Brett take all the credit for the Punisher's arrest and not make any mention of Daredevil's presence at the scene.
** ''Series/LukeCage2016'' is probably one of the best case studies of this trope. Whether or not cops can trust, let alone need, the "gifted" people is a {{discussed|Trope}} plot point between Misty Knight and Rafael Scarfe. Scarfe is a DirtyCop in Cornell Stokes' pocket, but he celebrates a VigilanteMan helping cops out when years of investigation have no payoff, especially in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where corruption is rampant at every level of government and "gifted" people exist everywhere. Misty, though, believes vigilantes (especially superpowered ones) are dangerous and should not be left untouched. The show goes to great lengths to show that [[BothSidesHaveAPoint both sides make good cases]]: the police are sometimes in way over their heads and gifted vigilantes can really be a boon for them. However, since Luke Cage has a code against killing, at some point he's going to need the system again or else the criminals he beats up will just come back. This is best highlighted in the final episode, as Diamondback is taken off the streets, but Misty's only witness against Mariah Dillard ends up killed because no one trusted the system enough to make sure she was protected.

** ''Series/LukeCage2016'' deconstructs it. Whether or not cops can trust, let alone need, the "gifted" people is a {{discussed|Trope}} plot point between Misty and Scarfe. On the one hand, without Luke, most of the criminals who are in power would have remained in power. On the other hand, Luke tipping the scales of power in Harlem causes a ''lot'' of bloody chaos that'd be impossible for any single man to control, superhuman or not. No one ever finds the perfect balance in the first season, and as a result, [[spoiler:[[TheBadGuyWins Mariah Dillard walks away clean.]]]]

* ''Series/NYPDBlue'': In one episode a civilian comes to the cops with evidence that another man is an active pedophile. They met while in an "ageplay" online group and the civilian pretended to be a little girl interested in sex. To get the other guy hot, our civilian sent him some child porn. The cops tell the civilian that not only was that planting evidence, he just confessed to the cops that he had child porn to send to someone else.

** ''Series/Daredevil2015'' sees Matt Murdock, as Daredevil, develop an uneasy secret alliance with Sgt. Brett Mahoney. Brett is not too fond of the alliance, even nearly arresting Matt on a couple of occasions. In one scene, Brett mentions to Foggy and Karen that the NYPD rank and file are split on their views of vigilante types like Daredevil and the Punisher, with some thinking the vigilantes are making the job much easier, and others thinking they only make the issue worse. Matt even acknowledges the need for the police, to the point that he has Brett take all the credit for the Punisher's arrest and not make any mention of Daredevil's presence at the scene.

* ''Series/Daredevil2015'' sees Matt Murdock, as Daredevil, develop an uneasy secret alliance with Sgt. Brett Mahoney. Brett is not too fond of the alliance, even nearly arresting Matt on a couple of occasions. In one scene, Brett mentions to Foggy and Karen that the NYPD rank and file are split on their views of vigilante types like Daredevil and the Punisher, with some thinking the vigilantes are helping the police and others thinking they make the issue worse. Matt even acknowledges the need for the police, to the point that he has Brett take all the credit for the Punisher's arrest and not make any mention of Daredevil's presence at the scene.

* ''Film/TheDarkKnight''. While officially maintaining the fiction that Batman is a wanted vigilante, the Gotham P.D is openly working with him, even bringing in Batman to conduct a violent interrogation of the Joker while the detectives look on. However by the end of the movie this changes when Batman takes the blame for the death of Harvey Dent. Commissioner Gordon is even shown smashing up the Bat Signal with an axe.

* ''Film/TheDarkKnight''. While officially maintaining the fiction that Batman is a wanted vigilante, the Gotham P.D is openly working with him, even bringing in Batman to conduct a violent interrogation of the Joker while the detectives look on. However by the end of the movie this changes when Batman takes the blame for the death of Harvey Dent.

Compare RecruitingTheCriminal and BoxedCrook. See also BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork.

* ''Series/WhiteCollar'': The series plays with this, as the FBI ''know'' the crook-of-the-week is operating out of a warehouse, but they do not have a warrant. So convicted felon Neil Caffrey, who works as a consultant, simply runs to the warehouse - where the FBI then tracks him using his monitoring bracelet, and can use probable cause to go inside. This follows under the heading of "an agent of the police can't do what the cops can't do".

* ''Series/{{Bones}}'' is particularly terrible about this. Agent Booth will tell Dr. Brennan to step in ''in the middle of an interrogation'' if a suspect lawyers up. She dives in and steals evidence right in front of him. The entire team colludes to hide that one of their own tampered with evidence in an investigation he should have recused himself from. They have to have the worst record of any team ever for case closure.
* ''Series/BurnNotice'' is at least honest that their main characters are all criminals. Good guys, but criminals nevertheless. As the police never ask for their help (the CIA is another matter), this should actually pass muster.
* ''Series/{{Castle}}'' both acknowledges that Rick Castle is an agent of the police and that his actions routinely screw the pooch. Good job, ABC!
* The ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'' is once hired to assist a DEA operation. As the Dollhouse is already an illegal entity, everyone involved is up front about the iffy nature of this operation.
* The pilot of ''Series/{{Fringe}}'' brings us Peter Bishop walking into an interrogation room after Agent Dunham walks out so that he can torture information out of a suspect.
* ''Series/LawAndOrder'', with its passion for legal truthiness, was typically careful about this. Cops weren't allowed to break the rules and neither was anyone else. When someone did break a rule, it usually meant the DA's office had to tap dance on quicksand to keep the perp from getting away with it.

* In one episode of ''Series/NYPDBlue'' a civilian comes to the cops with evidence that another man is an active pedophile. They met while in an "ageplay" online group and the civilian pretended to be a little girl interested in sex. To get the other guy hot, our civilian sent him some child porn. The cops tell the civilian that not only was that planting evidence, he just confessed to the cops that he had child porn to send to someone else.
* ''Series/{{Psych}}'''s Shawn usually commits about two dozen serious infractions solving every one of his cases. He usually gets called on it by the people he works with. Only once did it actually screw up a case.
* ''Series/WhiteCollar'' plays with this, as the FBI ''know'' the crook-of-the-week is operating out of a warehouse, but they do not have a warrant. So convicted felon Neil Caffrey, who works as a consultant, simply runs to the warehouse - where the FBI then tracks him using his monitoring bracelet, and can use probable cause to go inside. This follows under the heading of "an agent of the police can't do what the cops can't do".

* ''Series/{{Angel}}'' the series mostly skirted this issue, as Angel Investigations tended to stick with demonic activity (though the fact is I don't think the law would particularly care that the murderer was an immortal demonic entity). They tended to operate without police sanction, but they were called in by Detective Lockley a few times.

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!!Indices: ArtisticLicenseLaw, CrimeAndPunishmentTropes