History Main / CopsNeedTheVigilante

* In ''WesternAnimation/SwatKats: The Radical Squadron'', this is subverted by Commander Ulysses Feral of Megakat City's Police force, The Enforcers. Feral believes the SWAT Kats are lawless vigilantes and should be brought to justice, especially considering the SWAT Kats T-Bone and Razor are Ex-Enforcers themselves. Also borders on downplayed, however, when Commander Feral has reluctantly accepted the SWAT Kats' help on a few occasions.

* ''Series/{{StarTrekDeepSpaceNine}}'': Non-cop example, but Sisko frequently involves Garak for this purpose.

* In the ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse, including ''ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures'', Duckburg's police department knows they can't deal with the far too numerous criminals without Paperinik's help, though [[DependingOnTheWriter the exact relationship may vary with the story]]: while Paperinik is ''never'' an official member or associate of the police, the cops in the streets tend to look the other way, while the brass either condones such actions or try and get him arrested. And the one time cops on the ground openly asked for Paperinik's help against orders of a chief of the police (actually a criminal in disguise who wanted to get rid of Paperinik) to ''not'' work with him at all, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome the judge had to let all thieves arrested by Paperinik that night go]].

* Anime/GunBuster has this as part of the backstory (which largely comes from [[AllInTheManual supplemental materials]]), in which Japan wins World War III and forms a global empire. This is only hinted at in the main story, however. With the only big indicator being that most of the military is stated to be part of the 'Imperial Earth Forces.'
** Seemingly continues into the DistantSequel Anime/DieBuster, where an "Imperial Family" is in charge and rules from a city called "Lunar Tokyo", [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a replica of Tokyo built on the Moon]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands 3}}'': In a ''Borderlands 2'' ECHO log, it's mentioned that Amara took it upon herself to clean up crime on her homeworld. It's unclear whether the cops ''needed'' her to handle criminals for them, but since she's an [[ExtraordinarilyEmpoweredGirl uber-powerful Siren]], they decided to stay the hell out of her way. They also seem to appreciate her presence -- one lets slip a "you go, girl!" before panicking and pleading his interviewer to cut that bit out (they didn't).

* ''Series/{{Dexter}}'': Zigzagged. Dexter is a legitimate agent of the police whose nighttime activities as a SerialKillerKiller are beneath notice by the rest of the department. When Dexter himself becomes a target of the FBI after a mass grave of his victims' corpses are discovered, most of his colleagues are quick to denounce the "Bay Harbor Butcher" and his one-man war on crime. Later, when Dexter was going after the Barrel Girl Gang, a group of criminals who raped and murdered numerous young women, Debra walked in on him in the middle of his kill ritual after he and Lumen, [[RapeAndRevenge one of the gang's would-be victims]], captured their leader. Dexter and Lumen were concealed behind a sheet of plastic, but Debra just said that she was going to let them get away with it because their victims were just that horrible.

* Anime/GunBuster has this as part of the backstory (which largely comes from [[AllInTheManual Supplemental Materials]]), in which Japan wins World War III and forms a global empire. This is only hinted at in the main story, however. With the only big indicator being that most of the military is stated to be part of the 'Imperial Earth Forces.'
** Seemingly continues into the DistantSequel Anime/DieBuster, where an "Imperial Family" is in charge and rules from a city called "Lunar Tokyo." ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin A replica of Tokyo built on the Moon]]).

** Both undergo Character Development, with Captain Stacy realizing that, with things like The Lizard running around, there are things Spider-Man can do that the police can't, and Peter realizing that Spider-Man needs to be more than just a way to avenge his uncle's murder.

* In [[WesternAnimation/SwatKats Swat Kats: The Radical Squadron]], this is subverted by Commander Ulysses Feral of Megakat City's Police force, The Enforcers. Feral believes the Swat Kats are lawless vigilantes and should be brought to justice, especially when the Swat Kats T-Bone and Razor are Ex-Enforcers themselves. Also borders on a Downplayed, however, when Commander Feral has reluctantly accepted the Swat Kats help on a few occasions.
** Played Straight by some of the other Enforcers, especially Lieutenant Felina Feral (an elite Enforcer and Commander Feral's Niece), who is more than happy to assist with the Swat Kats almost every time they meet.

->''"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."''
-->-- '''Inspector Richard Shriker''', ''Film/DeathWish3''

** Seemingly continues into the DistantSequel Anime/DieBuster, where an "Imperial Family" is in charge and rules from a city called "Lunar Tokyo." ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin A replica of Tokyo built on the Moon]])

* Anime/GunBuster has this as part of the backstory (which largely comes from [[AllInTheManual Supplemental Materials]]), in which Japan wins World War III and forms a global empire. Notably, most of the military is stated to be part of the 'Imperial Earth Forces.'
** Seemingly continues into the DistantSequel Anime/DieBuster, where an "Imperial Family" is still in charge and rules from a city called "Lunar Tokyo",

* ''Series/NYPDBlue'' has one episode [[RealityEnsues that applies reality to such a scenario]]. 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.

** In ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', it's brought up several times that vigilantes taking care of criminals is making the cops look bad and has a negative effect on morale. Legally, the city varies between trying to ignore the vigilantes to actively hunting them. This usually depends on whether or not a villain is framing them at the moment.

** ''Series/LukeCage2016'': Misty Knight is an NYPD Detective, and after Luke hits Cottonmouth's main stash house at Crispus Attucks, she and Rafael Scarfe briefly discuss whether or not "gifted" people like Luke Cage are a boon for the NYPD or a thorn in their side. 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.
*** In season 2, the events of ''Series/TheDefenders2017'' have left Misty more trusting of Luke, to the point she's his sidekick at several points as they investigate leads on Bushmaster since she doesn't trust her police colleagues (especially considering that her boss Captain Thomas Ridenhour is stonewalling her investigations into Mariah).

There are two different ways this can go. If a cop asks someone to do something he can't, the law has been broken, the evidence is inadmissible, and everyone walks away with egg on their faces; fiction typically ignores this except to ratchet up the tension. If the cop didn't ask, but gets an unexpected windfall, then the law was still broken, but many jurisdictions will still allow the evidence (providing it can be authenticated).

** This was deconstructed in one storyline: ''ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand.'' After a massive earthquake devastates Gotham and the US Government declares it to be "No Man's Land", various gangs end up claiming territories for themselves. The Gotham PD themselves become such a gang, the ''Blue Boys'', with Jim Gordan at the head, egged on by Petit to be more ruthless, and causing him to resent Batman for seemingly abandoning them in their time of need. Another officer questions ''why'' Gordon is really that mad at Batman, and Gordon's wife Sarah explains that he initially tried to ''leave'' Gotham and join another Police Department, but was laughed out of all of them since he's considered incompetent for relying on a costumed vigilante, resenting Batman for making him look like a fool, and his forces now never mentioning him by name, instead calling him "The B". When Batman returns and claims Scarface's territory as his own, Gordon just sees him as another enemy, with even Batman's attempt at revealing his identity to regain trust failing [[SecretIdentityApathy since Gordon refuses to look at his face.]] Gordon doesn't manage to get much done on his own however, relying on an alliance with ComicBook/TwoFace that quickly turns sour, Petit breaking off and forming his own gang after Gordon doesn't go far ''enough'', nearly gets killed by David Cain only being saved thanks to [[ComicBook/{{Batgirl}} Cassandra]], and capped off with [[spoiler:ComicBook/TheJoker killing Sarah right before NML was lifted.]]

* ''Film/BeverlyHillsCop'' (I'm sensing a trend here, [[Creator/EddieMurphy Mr. Murphy]]) does this, too, in a funny way. Detective Axel Foley isn't a cop ''in Beverly Hills''. His antics are amusing, but illegal.

* ''Film/TheDukesOfHazzard'' movie actually did this mostly right. The Duke cousins all broke the law, but they did so not only without permission, but in the face of police antagonism.

* ''Film/ManOnFire'': Although they never directly interact, Detective Manzano is fully aware that Creasy is carving a bloody path through the Mexican underworld and accomplishing more in a week than he could in a lifetime. After keeping tabs on Creasy's progress throughout the movie, [[spoiler:Manzano personally takes care of the main villain after Creasy sacrifices himself to save Pita]].
* Discussed in ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan''. When Peter has dinner with Gwen's family, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph5Vk6sC6SQ discussion turns to Captain Stacy's pursuit of Spider-Man]]. Peter tries to point out that he thinks Spider-Man is trying to help, but Captain Stacy is firmly convinced Spider-Man is a danger, and points out that he's targeting criminals who all look the same, "like he's got some personal vendetta," not to mention his actions have interfered with long-term police stings.

-->'''George Stacy:''' Let me illuminate you. See, the car thief was leading us to the people who run the entire operation. It's been a six month long sting. It's called "strategy", I'm sure you're aware of the term "strategy"? You've probably heard about that in school?

-->'''Peter Parker:''' Well, no, I'm just saying if you watch the video, maybe I send you link, it looks like he's trying to help-

* ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'': The 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.

* Generally averted in ''Series/{{Lucifer}}'', especially in the early episodes, where Lucifer was more concerned about punishing the guilty (i.e. his day job). He typically does that by briefly revealing his true face to the killer, oftentimes resulting in them being committed to a mental hospital. In one episode, though, a cop killer ends up getting a Not Guilty verdict, so [[spoiler:one of the detectives contacts TheMafiya and tells them that the killer beheaded one of their own, who was about to testify against him. It's not pretty what the Mafiya ends up doing to the killer]].

[[folder:TabletopGames]]

[[folder:VideoGames]]
* In ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', the quest "Silus Treatment" has Lt. Boyd recruit the Courier to help her interrogate Silus, a captured Centurion, because NCR law prevents the torture of prisoners. One option you have is to just [[JackBauerInterrogationTechnique beat Silas into revealing information]].

[[folder:Visual Novel]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In [[WesternAnimation/SwatKats Swat Kats: The Radical Squadron]], this is subverted by Commander Ulysses Feral of Megakat City's Police force, The Enforcers. Feral believes the Swat Kats are lawless vigilantes and should be brought to justice, especially when the Swat Kats T-Bone and Razor are Ex-Enforcers themselves. Also borders on a Downplayed however, when Commander Feral has reluctantly accepted the Swat Kats help on a few occasions.

* Comic books play this every which way. Franchise/{{Batman}} is perhaps the worst offender. He is, and always has been, more or less a ''de facto'' agent of the Gotham PD. That they have the Bat-Signal up on the roof confirms that. Therefore pretty much everything he does is entirely illegal, as it contravenes all the rules of evidence gathering, chain of custody, interrogation, etc. Some recent series have gotten more sophisticated, going so far as to actually get this right (Batman is an agent of the police and therefore this is inadmissible, or Batman is entirely unconfirmed and you can't prove there's any contact, making this very murky but admissible, for example), though some have gotten it wrong while trying to be clever (no, bringing in a bureaucrat whose only job is to turn on the Bat-Signal doesn't make it okay because the bureaucrat is acting as an agent of the police, which makes Franchise/{{Batman}} an agent of the police). [[http://lawandthemultiverse.com/ Learn more here.]] This was slightly deconstructed in one storyline which had Jim Gordon point out that he can't get a position outside of Gotham since he's considered incompetent for relying on a costumed vigilante.

** Both undergo Character Development, with Captain Stacy realizing that, with things like The Lizard running around, there are things Spider-Man can do that the police can't, and Peter realizing that Spider-Man needs to be more than just find a way to avenge his uncle's murder.

* ''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, and Commissioner Gordon is shown smashing up the Bat Signal with an axe.

* In ''VisualNovel/ShinHayarigami'', Sekimoto beats the living daylights out of a suspect arrested by S Prefectural Police for killing Kazamori during a manhunt since he was getting confused due to illegal dietary prescription medicine. The beatings, however, was able to make the suspect snap out of his confusion and he wasn't in trouble since he was a BoxedCrook brought in as an occult consultant. [[FromBadToWorse But the suspect later decides to commit suicide by biting the tongue as a final "FUCK YOU" to the police as he bleeds to death]].

* ''Film/MissMeadows'': Implied by Mike's actions throughout the film [[spoiler: and especially the ending.]]

* When a ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' team is hired for some kind of illegal work, there's always a chance that the Johnson hiring them is working for the police - not as a sting operation against the runners, but in order to gather information or evidence that they can't legally go after themselves.

* ''Franchise/LawAndOrder'': This franchise, 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. This was occasionally taken to the opposite extreme. There were several episodes where civilians obtained evidence illegally through no fault of the police, and it was [[LawfulStupid suppressed anyway]].

* ''Franchise/LawAndOrder'': This franchise, 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.
** This was occasionally taken to the opposite extreme. There were several episodes where civilians obtained evidence illegally through no fault of the police, and it was [[HollywoodLaw suppressed anyway]].