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The Police Power Fantasy

For several decades America viewers have been intensely interested in police dramas. The trend probably began with the early TV classic, Dragnet, starring Jack Webb as Sergeant Joe Friday of the Los Angeles Police Department. And in the 1970’s we had the legendary Steve McGarrett, head of the state police department, Hawaii Five-O. In fact, there has never been a season were a police show has not been in the top ten for viewer popularity. These days programs like Law & Order, C.S.I., Without A Trace, The Closer and Criminal Minds draw millions of fans.

What Does It Mean?

What is the perpetual appeal of police dramas? For one thing, viewers experience psychological relief by watching these programs. How? The reason is that, in real life, we often feel vulnerable and powerless in the face of naked aggression by thugs, crack heads and other low life hoodlums who act out their anti-social impulses on innocent people. For instance, if we happen upon some crime in progress, our good judgment about self preservation makes it unlikely that we will actually intervene. Yet we might have a fleeting fantasy about donning a uniform and beating the perpetrator to a multi-colored pulp. But this is obviously an unrealistic aspiration. (FYI: If you actually do inappropriately intervene in crime scenes, see a therapist immediately). Most of us experience the painful frustration of our impotence. We are enraged, but we can do nothing about it.

These feelings echo back to our earliest experiences as a powerless infant. When we see law breakers, we transfer that infantile rage onto the perpetrator. It becomes deeply satisfying to us personally when we see them get their just due. We take it personally when someone gets away with something unjustly. In this context, television police officers and detectives represent our own desires to step into a scene and discipline the misbehavior of rule breakers.

Joe Friday & Steve McGarrett: Wired Too Tight!

But what is the cost to the police officers who actually do this work? The television shows often depict the price they pay. Law & Order SVU viviidly portrays the impact of this difficult work on the personal lives of the officers. Even in the classic shows, what about Joe Friday and Steve McGarrett? What is it doing to their inner selves? Is the cost too high? Certainly the pressures of always assuming responsibility for overcoming evil are enormous. So let’s look at these two men of distinguished valor. Of the two, which one seems to have a more active private life of recreation? If you said Joe Friday, you are completely wrong and you have just made an impaired judgment. (If this is a consistent pattern in your life, it would be unwise for you to seek a career in law enforcement or the hazardous material handling industry)

If you said Steve McGarrett, you are quite observant. Steve often takes time to surf, date, and hang-glide. In contrast, Joe Friday lives a more sparse existence. He usually reports very little interest in outside activities. His formal dress and demeanor would make him stand out in a crowd and evoke more suspicion among strangers. He also has a penchant to engage in police activity on his off duty time. Can there be any doubt that, even on his off duty time, if Joe saw a person parking in a handicapped spot at the grocery store he would intervene and compel the offender to move or face arrest? Add to this the fact that his smoking would dissuade a significant number of friendships and suitors, and you are looking at a man who is more socially isolated than he ought to be.

The result of this difference is that Steve McGarrett has built into his life many more opportunities to seek relief from the stress of his work. He is far less likely to decomensate into derangement than Sgt. Joe. While there is always the hope that Joe will change his ways and find some healthy diversions, there is as yet no indications of his doing so. And based on his present patterns, he is far more likely to experience a psychological melt down into madness. If you saw this, you are to be congratulated. You have demonstrated keen Teletherapeutic insight.