History Main / SelectiveEnforcement

* In ''{{Friends}}'', Ross tries to get the library to crack down on people using a particular aisle for sex, and then is the first person to get reprimanded.

* Happens a lot on ''The Andy Griffith Show'' whenever the plot requires it. Andy seems less intent on actually enforcing the law than he is in promoting his own sense of values, and it always seems to work out. Barney, on the other hand, can't seem to tell where to draw the line on anything he's involved in.

** In one episode of Lenny and Barney play pranks on Moe which involve setting him on fire and setting a cobra on him. Homer, in an attempt to join in the "harmless" fun loosens the lid on a salt shaker. He gets kicked out of the bar.

* In ''{{Subnormality}}'', there is a page featuring a man trying to sleep who [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page472.html cops this trope.]]

** In one episode of Lenny and Barney play pranks on Moe which involve setting him on fire and setting a cobra on him. Homer, in an attempt to join in the "harmless" fun loosens the lid on a sugar shaker. He gets kicked out of the bar.

* In the "SouthPark" episode, Fingerbangin' Into The Night, the mall security guard allows a [[ObviouslyEvil mad scientist with a jar full of anthrax to pass by]], but will immediately attack anyone else with pepper spray for even a minor rule breach, if even that.

** In one episode of Lenny Carl play pranks on Moe which involve setting him on fire and setting a cobra on him. Homer, in an attempt to join in the "harmless" fun loosens the lid on a sugar shaker. He gets kicked out of the bar.

** A darker comedic version is played out with Homer and Frank Grimes. When Frank Grimes tries to live and work like Homer does, but quickly discovers that only Homer can [[PlotArmor grab high-voltage wires without safety gloves.]]

** A darker comedic version is played out with Homer and Frank Grimes. When Frank Grimes tries to live and work like Homer does, he very quickly pays the awful price.

* I can't remember where I saw this, but a boy at school sees a girl being let off some strenuous activity because it's "that time of the month" and tries the same excuse to be let off games (or something similar). Hilarity ensues, no doubt.

Almost always played as comedy trope, this trope can range from a single scene to a whole plotline. It is is rarely done as drama, despite the dramatic potential. In dramas it is a fairly subversive trope, showing a poor fit between actions and consequence.

Almost always a comedy trope, this can be either a single scene or a whole plotline: Bob observes Alice getting away with some kind of annoying, illegal or immoral activity. He usually comments on those activities, but everyone else either ignores him or talks away the crimes. So, Bob decides to "join-in-the-fun", and commits some very minor crime. He gets the book thrown at him for his trouble.

This is rarely done in a drama, despite the huge dramatic potential being demonstrated as long ago as 1948's ''[[BicycleThieves The Bicycle Thief]]''. This may be because the lesson people usually end up learning from this is that the odds are on their side if they try and get away with stuff, instead of the intended lesson of "just because they get away with it doesn't mean you will".

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* The AdamSandler movie ''AngerManagement'' draws this trope out to 90 minutes when an excessively passive man is sentenced to anger management classes for allegedly (but not really) starting a commotion on an airplane.
** And it happens again, each time with him accidentally insulting or harming a [[MistakenForRacist woman/ disabled person/ ethnic minority]] that would ensure that no jury would pity him.
*** Of course it was all a MassiveMultiplayerScam, though unlike most, the intentions of the scammers were good.
* Played straight, dramatically, in the 2007 film ''Outlaw''; the London Metropolitan Police is horrendously ineffective at dealing with professional criminals and hooligans, but when the protagonists form a vigilance committee and start beating up dealers and robbing money launderers a corrupt cop turns them into public enemy #1. [[spoiler: 2/3rds of the remaining protagonists wind up getting gunned down by armed Flying Squad members in the end.]]
* Another non-comedic example is in the classic Italian film ''BicycleThieves''. The protagonist, Antonio, has his bicycle stolen which he needs for his job. Eventually, he tracks down the thief, but the police lets him go, because Antonio doesn't have any proof and his neighbors lie for him. Out of desperation, Antonio tries to steal a bicycle himself, and is caught immediately.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* In the ''WaysideSchool'' books, Todd always gets in trouble three times over the course of the day and is always sent home early on the kindergarten bus. On multiple occasions, this is due to a selective enforcement plot when the rest of the class gets away with things, but he gets caught for a minor infraction. For example, the whole classroom will be talking loudly with the teacher not paying attention, but the second Todd opens his mouth, [[SevenMinuteLull the entire class is silent]] and he's caught talking in class.
** Similarly, one scene has Joy bugging him over what page he's on in the math book, and mocking him for being so far behind her. Her mocking gets very, very loud. But when he finally loses his cool, he's the one who gets in trouble.
*** And ''that'' was immediately after he saved the lives of everyone in the class!
*** Heck, sometimes he is punished for ''complaining about being punished all the time''.
** Taken further with the InNameOnly animated series, where Ms. Jewls decides in one episode that he should always take the early bus: '''whether he has gotten in trouble or not'''.

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* In ''{{Becker}}'', Dr. Becker makes several attempts to go see a particular movie which fail because of loud, disruptive people in the cinema. At a later attempt he practically gets crucified because Margaret keeps talking to him.

* ''{{How I Met Your Mother}}''. Marshall talked his way out of a ticket by offering to bring the cop to his barbecue. Robin, being a pretty girl, can get out of a ticket easily. Barney? No way.

* Happens a lot on ''The Andy Griffith Show'' whenever the plot requires it. Andy seems less intent on actually enforcing the law than he is in promoting his own sense of values, and it always seems to work out. Barney, on the other hand, can't seem to tell where to draw the line on anything he's involved in.

[[AC:{{Webcomics}}]]
* In {{Subnormality}}, there is a page featuring a man trying to sleep who [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page472.html cops this trope.]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* In one episode of TheSimpsons Lenny and Carl play pranks on Moe which involve setting him on fire and setting a cobra on him. Homer, in an attempt to join in the "harmless" fun loosens the lid on a sugar shaker. He gets kicked out of the bar.

* In the ''InvaderZim'' episode "Parent Teacher Night", everybody is conveniantly staring silently in the opposite direction of the mess loudly made by Zim's robotic parents. But after they leave, and Dib tosses his juice cup to the ground in frustration, someone turns around and shouts "Hey! That kid's throwing punch!" and the episode ends with Ms. Bitters descending on Dib like the wrath of [[strike:God]] [[BuffySpeak some kind of snaky demonic Satan]] ''[[NoodlePeople thing]]''.
* Inverted as a SpringtimeForHitler in the ''[[FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends]]'' episode "Crime After Crime". The episode's B-plot has Frankie [[LethalChef cooking something disgusting]] for dinner, so Bloo causes trouble in an effort to get sent to his room without dinner. Unfortunately the episode's A-plot was Mr. Harriman acting hyper-paranoid over someone discovering his addiction to carrots, leading him to punish everyone else in the house for relatively minor infractions due to thinking they're "on to him" while completely ignoring or even ''congratulating'' Bloo.
* Apparently, in [[SpongebobSquarepants Bikini Bottom]], harassing your business rival to [[DrivenToSuicide near-suicide]], destroying stuff because you've got the IQ of a turnip, or being an all-around annoying jackass with NoIndoorVoice is perfectly acceptable. Littering, however, can get you an orange jumpsuit. Just ask Squidward or Mrs. Puff.

[[AC:TruthInTelevision]]
* Admit it, you've been pulled over for doing 68 MPH in a 65 MPH zone when the flow of traffic was going 70 MPH. Or at least, you know someone who has.
* Al Capone, the infamous mobster who killed hundreds, was arrested and imprisoned for "forgetting" to pay his taxes.
** This was a XanatosGambit by the government - the only airtight case they had against Capone was tax evasion. Theoretically, he could have actually gotten out of it. But to do so, he would have had to give them all the evidence they needed to nail him on even worse crimes with longer sentences. Capone decided to take his chances with dealing with the lesser charge of tax evasion.
* If you're the firstborn child in your family and you've got more than one younger sibling, you've probably experienced this yourself because you're supposed to be setting an example, and your siblings can't be expected to know any better if you don't. If you're the ''youngest'' child in your family, you're likely to experience it just because your parents assume that, because they're familiar with how your siblings behaved at your age, they can anticipate your behavior in advance regardless of how alike or unlike you and your siblings are.

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* Inverted as a SpringtimeForHitler in the ''[[FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends]]'' episode "Crime After Crime". The episode's B-plot has Frankie [[LethalChef cooking something disgusting]] for dinner, so Bloo causes trouble in an effort to get sent to his room without dinner. Unfortunately the episode's A-plot was Mr. Harriman acting hyper-paranoid over someone discovering his addiction to carrots, leading him to punish everyone else in the house for relatively minor infractions due to thinking they're "on to him" while completely ignoring Bloo.

* The Pentagon paid the Swedish government to trump up rape charges against Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks.

* In the ''InvaderZim'' episode "Parent Teacher Night", nobody seems to take much notice of the mess made by Zim's robotic parents. But after they leave, and Dib tosses his juice cup to the ground in frustration, someone shouts "Hey! That kid's throwing punch!" and the episode ends with Ms. Bitters descending on Dib like the wrath of [[strike:God]] [[BuffySpeak some kind of snaky demonic Satan]] ''[[NoodlePeople thing]]''.

* Al Capone, the infamous mobster who killed hundreds, was arrested and imprisoned for "forgetting" to pay his taxes