History Main / TokenGoodCop

Given that the existence of a Token Good Cop requires an ''entire'' law enforcement agency to be ineffectual, they tend to appear in {{Wretched Hive}}s or any area ruled by a SmallTownTyrant, CorruptPolitician or even TheEmpire. ''Why'' the police aren't doing their job properly, however, is commonly related to RealLife concerns and attitudes surrounding policing: back in TheSeventies, the Token Good Cop might be portrayed as [[CowboyCop a rule-breaking maverick]] who is actually able to ''get things done'' in the face of [[ObstructiveBureaucrat stifling bureaucracy]], while in TheEighties and TheNineties it was more common for the cop to be the last honest man standing in the midst of an UrbanHellscape (such as TheBigRottenApple) while their would-be colleagues are either hopelessly ineffectual or in league with the CityNoir's rampant corruption. Following the rise to prominence of the UsefulNotes/BlackLivesMatterMovement and concerns of racial justice in TheNewTens, it's become more common to portray [[BigotWithABadge institutionally racist police departments]] who either blatantly target minorities or ignore the {{Rabid Cop}}s who do, in which case the Token Good Cop, often a MinorityPoliceOfficer, is the only one willing to challenge this problem.

Normally an [[FriendOnTheForce ally of the protagonists]], if not the protagonist themselves, the Token Good Cop is somehow immune to the malaise that has affected their colleagues, being genuinely committed to upholding the law, protecting innocents, and bringing criminals to justice. They tend to come in two forms: an [[NaiveNewcomer idealistic rookie]] who isn't aware of the omnipresent corruption, and might joins [[WideEyedIdealist thinking they can change things]], or a [[KnightInSourArmor crusty old veteran]] who can remember the days ''before'' said corruption and/or has been [[ItsPersonal personally wronged]] by criminals. Alternatively, there ''can'' be more than one Token Good Cop -- a [[BuddyCopShow duo]] or small group of genuinely competent/heroic/sane law enforcement personnel are also valid examples.

Normally an [[FriendOnTheForce ally of the protagonists]], if not the protagonist themselves, the Token Good Cop is somehow immune to the malaise that has affected their colleagues, being genuinely committed to upholding the law, protecting innocents, and bringing criminals to justice. They tend to come in two forms: an [[NaiveNewcomer idealistic rookie]] who isn't aware of the omnipresent corruption, or who joins [[WideEyedIdealist thinking they can change things]], or a [[KnightInSourArmor crusty old veteran]] who can remember the days ''before'' said corruption and/or has been [[ItsPersonal personally wronged]] by criminals. Alternatively, there ''can'' be more than one Token Good Cop -- a [[BuddyCopShow duo]] or small group of genuinely competent/heroic/sane law enforcement personnel are also valid examples.

* ''VideoGame/Road96'': Fanny appears to be the only member of Petria's police force that doesn't abuse authority and is caring to the hitchhikers that she meets and even helps some of the ones she encounters. She doesn't enjoy working for the corrupt Petrian government, but works for them anyway to support her adopted son, Alex.

* ''Film/ElCaminoChristmas'': Deputy Billy is a CluelessDeputy (and a weak-willed one) who was hired out of nepotism and struggles to do anything right for much of the film before getting some noticeable CharacterDevelopment. His partner Deputy Carl is a bitter man who drinks on duty and picks needless fights before inadvertently triggering a hsotage situation (although dialogue indicates that he is a FallenHero who once did good stuff like foil a robbery and protect a woman from her abusive partner). Their boss, Sheriff Fuller, is a sensible man who acts as a ReasonableAuthorityFigure and frontline leader throughout the hostage standoff.
* ''Film/ExitWounds'': CowboyCop Boyd is transferred to a "shit hole" new precinct in the opening scene and comes to learn that it is full of corrupt and/or thuggish cops, with the only two named decent ones being [[spoiler:his new partner George Clark and precinct Captain Mulcahy, a former InternalAffairs investigator]].

* ''Film/LastManStanding1996'': Sheriff Galt, his deputy, the nearest Border Patrol officer, and the local Mexican cops all do jobs for one or both of the local bootlegging gangs (although Galt gets a HeelFaceTurn). Texas Ranger Pickett, while realistic enough to know that he can't just blot out organized crime, isn't personally corrupt and, as the gang war gets bloodier and [[CopKiller Hickey kills a fellow (dirty) Ranger]], issues an ultimatum that if one or both gangs hasn't left the area or been wiped out in ten days, then [[CopKillerManhunt he'll bring in]] a {{Posse}} to [[LeaveNoSurvivors wipe them both out]].

** Clouseau's assistant In the reboot duology, Gilbert Ponton, is a CloudcuckoolandersMinder with some good fighting and observational skills, while Clouseau is a GeniusDitz who normally puts an emphasis on the Ditz and Dreyfus and his staff vaingloriously pursue the wrong leads.

* Downplayed in ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'': James Gordon [[IDidWhatIHadToDo means well]], but Gotham is such a hardcore WretchedHive that he has done some really awful decisions to try and bring order to it:
** In ''Film/BatmanBegins'' he is seemingly the one officer of the Gotham Police that has not sold out to the gangs, but he can't really do jack about it until Batman comes along. [[AllThereInTheManual The visual dictionary]] states that his superiors stuck him with the blatantly crooked Detective Flass (who openly moonlights as a low-level enforcer for TheMafia) as a partner in order to keep him in check.
--->'''Gordon:''' I'm no rat! In a town this bent, who's there to rat to anyway?
** In ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' he is forced to have crooked cops in his task force just to have ''some'' personnel. When two of them inevitably sell out to the Joker and bring [[spoiler:the death of Rachel Dawes and disfigurement of Harvey Dent]], a very irate [[spoiler:Dent, now turned into Two-Face]] comes gunning for them all (especially Gordon, who [[IWarnedYou he had warned about doing that decision]]) in a RoaringRampageOfRevenge.
** In ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'', Gordon kept quiet [[spoiler:about Harvey Dent having gone deranged thanks to the Joker and dying trying to kill Gordon's family so Gordon [[TargetedToHurtTheHero would really know how Rachel's death felt to him]]]] to create support for the Dent Act, which put enough criminals behind bars to bring Gotham to its all-time high level of tranquility. However, [[spoiler:the guilt ate at him deep enough for him to write a speech denouncing the lie, that he kept in his pocket at all times waiting for the proper time to say it, and was retrieved by Bane and broadcasted publicly to put Gotham deeper into anarchy.]] Result: a big BrokenPedestal for [[spoiler:Detective Blake.]]

* ''Literature/GuardsGuards'': At the start of the book, the [[TheRemnant three remaining men]] of the Ankh-Morpork Night Watch are Nobby Nobbs, a [[AmbiguouslyHuman debatably human]] kleptomaniac, Fred Colon, a FatIdiot who goes out of his way to avoid trouble and [[TheSlacker spends as much time as possible doing absolutely nothing]], and Sam Vimes, who's [[AlwaysGetsHisMan actually a really good cop]], but at this point is a [[TheAlcoholic booze-soaked]] derelict who crossed the DespairEventHorizon long ago. The addition of Carrot Ironfoundersson, a human raised by dwarves who is too [[IncorruptiblePurePureness bull-headed to bribe or cajole and too strong to fight]], shocks them out of their complacency and leads to them becoming the heroes of the book, [[TookALevelInBadass especially Vimes]], who would begin his journey to becoming TheParagon for police officers ''across the Disc''.

* ''Film/DieHard'': While he does have an AccidentalChildKillerBackstory, Al Powell is the only [=LAPD=] cop who is consistently helpful to [=McClane=] while acting as his VoiceWithAnInternetConnection.

* Many cops in ''Series/TheGoodGuys'' are LawfulStupid (with the odd DirtyCop thrown in) and disregard some correct hunches of Dan Stark (who avoids this trope himself, despite his heroic instincts and keen nose for crime, due to being an occasional pervert with no grasp of the roles forensic and surveillance technology or Due Process play in modern policing). Dan's partner Jack, while not quite as smart as he thinks he is, tries to rein in Dan's worst excesses, hear out his theories, and support him in a fight. By the last quarter of the show, the same can be said of eager forensics tech Samantha and a post-DefrostingTheIceQueen Lieutenant Ruiz.

* ''Series/{{Krypton}}'': Many of the Sagitari who enforce the laws of Kandor City are well-versed in PoliceBrutality against the lower classes (whom they show constant disdain for), but Lyta tries to be an InternalReformist, her mother and Quex-Ul improve their behavior after {{Heel Realization}}s, and a handful of minor Sagitari troopers (like Tai-Un, Thur, and Pline) seem like decent people who do their jobs well and without malice.

* ''Film/AttackOnDarfur'': The African Union peacekeepers are mostly unhappily bound by their orders not to defend villagers against the genocidal Janjaweed guereillas, but Captain Tobakme eventually decides to ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight and tries to defend the village against overwhelming attackers.

* ''Film/FastFive'': Elena Neves i
s the only honest cop in all of Rio for Hobbs and his HeroAntagonist team to ask for help in hunting the Toretto CaperCrew while also dealing with the cartel that wants them dead.

* ''Film/FastFive'': Elena Neves is the only honest cop in all of Rio for Hobbs and his HeroAntagonist team to ask for help in hunting the Toretto CaperCrew while also dealing with the cartel that wants them dead.

* Many cops in ''Series/TheGoodGuys'' are LawfulStupid and disregard some correct hunches of Dan Stark (who avoids this trope himself, despite his heroic instincts and keen nose for crime, due to being an occasional pervert with no grasp of the roles forensic and surveillance technology or Due Process play in modern policing). Dan's partner Jack, while not quite as smart as he thinks he is, tries to rein in Dan's worst excesses, hear out his theories, and support him in a fight. By the last quarter of the show, the same can be said of eager forensics tech Samantha and a post-DefrostingTheIceQueen Lieutenant Ruiz.

* ''Literature/TheHateUGive'': Given how the story revolves around the shooting of an unnamed black teenager by a cop who goes unpunished, the police force doesn't come out shining, but Star's uncle is a cop who seeks to arrest people who are genuinely endangering the neighborhood while also being outraged by the shooting.

* ''Film/AttackOnDarfur'': The African Union troops are mostly unhappily bound by their orders not to defend villagers against the genocidal Janjaweed guereillas, but Captain Tobakme eventually decides to ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight and tries to defend the village against overwhelming attackers.

*** In ''Gordon of Gotham'', many of the Chicago cops a young James Gordon deals with are corrupt or tease Jim for his work ethic and do-gooder instincts, but one beat cop gives him a tip while saying some of them think he's getting a bad rap, and a ReasonableAuthorityFigure superior helps him start over after he gets run out of Chicago.** ''ComicBook/BatmanEarthOne'': Interestingly flipped on its head and played with in this Elseworlds. In a universe where Jim Gordon is just as corrupt and ineffectual as every other cop in the GCPD (because [[IHaveYourWife his wife was murdered and he's terrified his daughter will be next]] if he actively opposes corruption), it's actually Harvey Bullock who takes this role. Whilst an out-of-touch, smug outsider who comes to Gotham in order to [[GloryHound boost his profile]], Bullock is a genuinely honest and dedicated cop, who starts up proper investigations, even into the cases Gordon tells him to drop. His influence and support actually help Gordon regain his former backbone and allows him to grow into his more familiar role in the franchise as the series goes on, with his rise in the ranks seeing him able to bring about some real improvements to the GCPD.