History Main / PolicePsychic

[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]

* In ''Film/{{Runaway}}'', Ramsay is ordered to consult with a police psychic, who tells him he and Luther were related in a previous life (Ramsay is unimpressed) and that Luther will be in touch because he has [[MacGuffin something Luther wants]] (which piques Ramsay's interest). This is actually a good example of Creator/MichaelCrichton's opinion of psychics; they're mostly bogus second-rate stage magicians, but their skill sets would actually make some of them skilled detectives - this is ''after'' Luther contacted the station, so she's simply thinking about everything very carefully to reach a conclusion.

* ''Series/ThirtyRock'': Parodied when TV executive Jack Donaghy greenlights a new show God Cop in order to sink NBC. The premise? A New York City detective solves crimes with his new partner, God.

-> '''Anderson:''' He's thinking of making a move on your gun.
-> '''Dredd:''' Yep.
-> '''Anderson:''' He just changed his mind.
-> '''Dredd:''' ''Yeee-up.''

** Mia Fey, who had left the Kurain Village to become a defence attorney, reportedly used her psychic abilities to commune with the victims of the cases she investigated.

--->'''Jack Donaghy, playing God''': If there is one thing I have realized from being God, is that the more you know, the more you realize, you do [[BadBadActing not! ...know]].
--->'''Kenneth''': Why is he learning anything? He's supposed to be God.

--->'''Detective Cline''': Look, all I know is that so far, Yappi has provided more solid, concrete leads on this case than you have. Now if you don't mind, I have to get an APB out on a ... ''[checks notebook]'' ...white male, aged 17 to 34 with or without a beard and maybe a tattoo ... who's impotent.
--->'''Scully''': Might as well go home, Mulder. [[DeadpanSnarker This case is as good as solved]].

-->'''Luke''': I mean, you see four moves ahead, it's empirical. You see five moves ahead, it's still grounded in science. I mean, who knows where the demarcation is? Now, if you see twelve moves ahead, maybe you're crossing into psychic phenomena. And maybe that's what a psychic does. She just sees the board of life better than we do.

--->'''Jack Donaghy, playing God''': If there is one thing I have realized from being God, is that the more you know, the more you realize, you do not... know.

* The premise of ''Series/{{Millennium}}''. Frank Black is a former FBI agent turned freelance consultant, who has an uncanny ability to get into the mindspace of killers and other criminals -- a trait that he uses to help his old colleagues. Although the first season was unclear on whether [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane this was a legitimate psychic ability or just very keen senses of empathy and intuition]], later seasons made it clear that it was the former.

* The premise of ''Series/{{Millennium}}''. Lance Black is a former FBI agent turned freelance consultant, who has an uncanny ability to get into the mindspace of killers and other criminals -- a trait that he uses to help his old colleagues. Although the first season was unclear on whether [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane this was a legitimate psychic ability or just very keen senses of empathy and intuition]], later seasons made it clear that it was the former.

PsychicPowers in any form would aid an investigation greatly -- a [[{{Telepathy}} mind reader]] or LivingLieDetector can tell if a person of interest is telling the truth, someone with {{Psychometry}} could use it to figure out a crime scene, someone who can [[ISeeDeadPeople speak with the deceased]] could [[InterrogatingTheDead just ask them who did it]], and someone who can [[{{Seer}} see the future]] can [[PrecrimeArrest inform the police of future crimes]]. So it's no wonder that many fictional psychics hang around the police, the FBI, or some other law enforcement agency. Sometimes they are unofficial companions to field officers, a friendly neighborhood psychic the police occasionally ask for tips, or someone they recruit out of desperation after exhausting all other leads. Other times, they are in a more official '[[ExpertConsultant consultant]]' or '[[TheProfiler profiler]]' role; some settings might even have a whole division of the force built around their powers.

* ''Literature/TheClairvoyantCountess'': The titular character is a {{seer}} and {{psychometry}} user who becomes an AmateurSleuth after a chance encounter with a policeman, Detective Pruden. Although she does utilize her psychic abilities to help him out, her greatest gift, as stated on the back of the book, is her common sense.

* ''Literature/OneEightHundredWhereRYou:'' After being struck by lightning, Jess Mastriani gains the ability to discover the whereabouts of missing people by looking at their photographs and ends up becoming a consultant to the FBI .

PsychicPowers in any form would aid an investigation greatly -- a [[{{Telepathy}} mind reader]] or LivingLieDetector can tell if a person of interest is telling the truth, someone with {{Psychometry}} could use it to figure out a crime scene, someone who can [[ISeeDeadPeople speak with the deceased]] could [[InterrogatingTheDead just ask them who did it]], and someone who can [[{{Seer}} see the future]] can [[PrecrimeArrest inform the police of future crimes]]. So it's no wonder that many fictional psychics hang around the police, the FBI, or some other law enforcement agency. Sometimes they are unofficial companions to field officers, a friendly neighborhood psychic the police occasionally ask for tips, or someone they recruit out of desperation after exhausting all other leads. Other times, they are in a more official 'consultant' or '[[TheProfiler profiler]]' role; some settings might even have a whole division of the force built around their powers.

* In ''Film/{{Runaway}}'', Ramsay is ordered to consult with a police psychic, who tells him he and Luther were related in a previous life (Ramsay is unimpressed) and that Luther will be in touch (which piques Ramsay's interest). It's implied that this is a PhonyPsychic who is good at reading situations.

* In the 1992 TV film ''To Catch A Killer'', police consult a psychic in the John Wayne Gacy case, in the hopes of finding where he hid the bodies.

* Cassandra Anderson appears in ''Film/{{Dredd}}'', played by Creator/OliviaThirlby. Unlike her comic-book counterpart, who is an established Judge from her own division, the film's Anderson is a NaiveNewcomer, a cadet who failed the ActionGirl aptitude tests but was passed through anyway on account of this trope, a HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic type (they interfere with her abilities) compared to our NeverBareheaded ExperiencedProtagonist. Still, she needs to prove she has what it takes, and the film is ADayInTheLife of Judge Dredd (Creator/KarlUrban), taking the role of SinkOrSwimMentor as he leads her through her field evaluation. Though the film is named after him, Dredd is the SupportingProtagonist; Anderson is the real heart of the movie.

** "[[Recap/TheXFilesS03E04ClydeBruckmansFinalRepose Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose]]", in which a (probably) fake psychic called "The Stupendous Yappi" (who even Mulder thinks is a fake) was called in by the police to help investigate a series of murders. Meanwhile, a definitely real one -- the titular Clyde -- has witnessed the crimes via his powers and helps Mulder and Scully track down the culprit. Funnily enough, some of the claims made by Yappi turn out to be accurate, so he ''might'' be the real deal -- though considering how vague his predictions are, that could just be random success.