2000s cop shows: The forensic hits, flawed heroes and gritty dramas that defined an era

Editor’s Note: This article is part of a series examining how television has portrayed policing over the decades. From cultural upheaval to procedural realism, each installment will explore how TV crime dramas reflected — and shaped — their times.

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The 2000s began with a jolt. For many Americans, the idea of a large-scale foreign attack on U.S. soil had felt like something from history books, and most believed “it could never happen here.” Then, on September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four airliners and changed the country overnight.

In the months that followed, law enforcement’s emphasis shifted from community policing toward counterterrorism. Anxiety ran high, and officers fielded calls about suspicious packages and white powder.

The decade also brought major advances in technology. More effective TASERs appeared on many belts. Dash cams evolved from consumer camcorders mounted on the dashboard into compact, purpose-built devices that recorded first on digital tape, then on hard drives and finally on solid-state memory. The typical patrol car came equipped with a mobile data terminal or a hardened laptop. Television, however, moved the goalposts even further by showing technology that doesn’t exist.

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Key shows of the decade

24 — 2001-2010

• Basic premise: Jack Bauer, special agent for the Counterterrorism Unit, saves Los Angeles and the world from nuclear disaster and political coups.
• What made it distinctive: Events took place in almost-real time, with each episode covering one hour of Bauer’s day (“the longest day of my life”).
• How it portrayed policing: Local police, when they appeared at all, mostly got in Bauer’s way. He would usually outsmart them and get back to his mission.
• What it got right: Very little in terms of procedure, though the show captured the post-9/11 anxiety of the era.
• What it got wrong: Bauer could cross wide expanses of Los Angeles in minutes, no matter the time of day, reposition a surveillance satellite on a moment’s notice and have the floor plan of any building sent to his phone.
• Why it mattered: It was a hugely popular, action-packed show with memorable characters. It just wasn’t realistic.

Breaking Bad — 2008-2013

• Basic premise: Walter White, a chemistry teacher with terminal cancer, develops a unique blue crystal form of methamphetamine and manufactures it to leave money for his family. From there, things get complicated.
• What made it distinctive: The protagonist was a drug dealer doing a bad thing for good reasons. Law enforcement wasn’t portrayed as the villain, but as a hindrance to be overcome or avoided.
• How it portrayed policing: Even though Walter usually managed to dodge the police, they weren’t made out to be fools. Things got complicated by the fact that his brother-in-law was a DEA special agent who was repeatedly misdirected.
• What it got right: The processes required to cook meth were largely accurate, although steps were left out so the show wouldn’t double as a how-to guide. The way Heisenberg’s (White’s alias) enterprise grew out of control was also realistic, and the story premises were always believable.
• What it got wrong: Not a lot. Narcotics detectives might argue that a meth operation of that size could not stay secret for long, but the story shows the measures taken to keep it under wraps.
• Why it mattered: Mostly unknown actors were handed some great writing and didn’t stay unknown for long. The stories were so compelling that viewers found themselves rooting for an illegal drug maker to succeed.

CSI — 2000-2015

• Basic premise: Non-sworn crime scene investigators of the Las Vegas Police Department gather and analyze evidence, interview witnesses and suspects, and assist in making arrests.
• What made it distinctive: No TV program had focused on forensic science before.
• How it portrayed policing: Uniformed officers and detectives did a lot of standing around, waiting for the CSIs to save the day.
• What it got right: The Las Vegas lab uses a lot of cutting-edge technology, and real crime scene investigators do gather and analyze evidence.
• What it got wrong: Much of the technology on CSI doesn’t exist, at least not in the form portrayed. Any photo or video frame could be “enhanced” to show crystal-clear detail, such as a reflection in a shiny hubcap. Fingerprint matches came back almost instantly and revealed everything about the owner, including where he went to school, where he worked and where he was at that very moment. The CSIs also did not stay in their lane, taking an active role in every facet of a case.
• Why it mattered: The show made people aware of a part of law enforcement they had barely known existed. It also gave rise to the so-called “CSI Effect” in courtrooms, where jurors were said to become skeptical of any case that didn’t include DNA and other scientific evidence. Many teenagers who wanted the jobs they saw on TV found that those jobs didn’t exist in that form, and the ones that did were considerably less glamorous.

NCIS — 2003 to present day

• Basic premise: Special agents of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigate crimes in the greater D.C. area.
• What made it distinctive: The show was a spin-off of JAG, a program about Navy lawyers that ran for 10 years. Most people had never heard of NCIS before the show aired. Plots mixed murder, espionage and the occasional personal crisis for a cast member.
• How it portrayed policing: The NCIS agents work well and professionally with local cops. There is the occasional jurisdictional dust-up, which NCIS always wins. Like most TV detective shows, the team seems to work only one case at a time and then wait for the next to come in.
• What it got right: The show portrays a real federal law enforcement agency, and the way the characters function is more or less true to life. Character development and career progression are shown accurately.
• What it got wrong: Judging by the show, life may be more hazardous for Navy and Marine personnel in the D.C. area than in a combat zone. The team is forever investigating the murders of service members or their families, but unless there is direct military involvement, those cases would usually be handled by local police. NCIS also doesn’t have its own medical examiner. When a forensic autopsy is required for military personnel, it is done by the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System at Dover Air Force Base. And we’ll never know how Leroy Gibbs got the boats he built out of his basement.
• Why it mattered: Leroy Jethro Gibbs, played by Mark Harmon, was the standout character. Always a little mysterious, he was a good leader, kind and caring when needed, though intolerant of mistakes. His backstory as a Marine sniper and the avenger of his wife and daughter’s deaths was revealed slowly. His numbered “rules,” revealed out of order, became collectibles as the show progressed.

Southland — 2009-2013

• Basic premise: The show follows the men and women of the LAPD through their professional and personal lives.
• What made it distinctive: Realism. Not since the movie “End of Watch” have I seen police work portrayed so accurately. The characters had depth, and the writing was first-rate.
• How it portrayed policing: Accurately, especially the diversity of patrol work. The uniformed characters handled everything from homeless drunks to homicidal gang members. Because the show followed the characters into their off-duty hours, we also saw the flaws and demons that shaped their lives.
• What it got right: Just about everything. Detectives were overburdened with multiple cases. Patrol officers had little time for random patrol because of the need to respond to calls for service. Everyone had to contend with internal politics. A monologue from a field training officer to his rookie, who had just been involved in a shooting at the end of the first episode, is the stuff of legend.
• What it got wrong: The rookie gets into a shooting during his first days on the street. It’s a common trope (closely related to the cop who is gunned down on his last day before retirement), but it can happen. This is a minor quibble, offset by great writing and characters.
• Why it mattered: It’s not often that a show of this quality comes along. It may have been too highbrow for some viewers, as it never rose especially high in the ratings. It did boost the careers of several actors who were relatively unknown before it aired.

The Shield — 2002-2008

• Basic premise: A group of corrupt cops shakes down drug dealers, plants evidence and engages in robbery and murder to get rich.
• What made it distinctive: It was the anti-cop show. Very little of what the main characters did was lawful or ethical. Most of it was outright criminal, and yet they were the protagonists.
• How it portrayed policing: As corrupt, at least with regard to the “strike team” at the center of the show. The team was modeled on the CRASH unit at LAPD’s Rampart Station during the 1990s and early 2000s. The real scandal implicated dozens of officers, and several went to prison.
• What it got right: The real-life officers at CRASH got away with similar conduct for several years, so the series is not as far-fetched as it might seem.
• What it got wrong: It depends on who you ask. Most cops, administrators especially, would argue that such conduct could not go unnoticed for long, yet in real life it did.
• Why it mattered: It’s unusual, even unique, for a show to make its protagonists corrupt cops. Despite his violent nature and misdeeds, viewers still rooted for Vic Mackey, the lead character played by Michael Chiklis.

The Wire — 2002-2008

• Basic premise: The narcotics trade in Baltimore is examined from multiple perspectives: the dealers, the users, the cops, the politicians, the clergy, the press and the teachers.
• What made it distinctive: Over five seasons, nearly everyone involved with or affected by the drug trade is examined in depth, so it’s not solely a police show. It’s something of an intellectual challenge to watch, with a huge cast of characters, most with speaking roles, over the course of the series. Many critics ranked it among the best things ever to appear on television. Many series end without telling the viewer what became of all the characters, but The Wire ties things up with a montage in the last 10 minutes of the final episode, showing what happened to everyone whose fate had been unclear.
• How it portrayed policing: Both good and bad. The protagonist, Jimmy McNulty, is a very good detective who is disliked by his superiors, who do everything they can to make his life difficult. That may be one of the most distinctive and accurate portrayals of police work ever put on screen. At the other end of the scale are some clearly incompetent officers. One officer, Roland “Prez” Pryzbylewski, had multiple negligent discharges, one of which struck an undercover detective.
• What it got right: The Wire has some of the most accurate depictions of police department internal politics ever seen. The characters often feel authentic because many of the actors had real-life experience with the roles they were playing, including former gang members, drug users and dealers. A scene in the last season is the most accurate depiction of the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit I have seen on television.
• What it got wrong: I have never lived in Baltimore or any other city as heavily affected by the drug trade, but everything seemed true to life. It’s difficult to find anything to criticize in this excellent program.
• Why it mattered: Its truth, and the thoroughness of its examination of the illicit narcotics business. We don’t usually see how these problems affect people at every level of a community. The Wire gives you a front-row seat.

Key figure of the decade

Anthony Zuiker may not be a familiar name, but his brainchild, CSI, and the spin-offs it spawned changed the way people viewed police investigations. Suddenly, someone whose lawnmower was stolen from the garden shed expected a crime scene team to respond, and a generation of young people decided they wanted careers in forensic science.

Themes that shaped the decade

It became acceptable to portray cops as something other than heroes and crusaders. Southland depicted officers with tolerable and often fixable flaws, good people trying to do the job despite their demons. The Shield showed officers who were beyond redemption and headed for prison if they kept it up long enough.

People have always known that police aren’t perfect, but now they were shown officers far outside the bounds of acceptable conduct. In part, this may have caused some viewers to trust police a little less and to be less inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt. Cops can no longer count on their dramatic counterparts always being the good guys. Showing the dark side is now an accepted part of the genre, and that has not always worked in policing’s favor.

Closing

The 2000s produced some truly great programming, along with shows that were entertaining but painted a very different picture of real life. Sorry, “Criminal Minds” fans, but there is no private jet that carries a boy-genius special agent in a sweater vest to local crime scenes to save the day. Other shows not mentioned here were equally far from reality. Enjoy your TV, but remember it isn’t necessarily real life.

NEXT: Listen to our podcast discussion on the best cop shows in TV history