Internal Affairs

Perhaps something like this already exists, but it seems to me that there is a strong sense in police shows and films that internal affairs is a bad thing for the hard working cop. These same shows tend to rely on civilian informants (aka snitches) to bust criminals. It seems to me that the world is badly in need of a show where police willing to enforce the law within their own ranks are regarded as heroes or at least valuable protagonists. Political MC Immortal Technique brought up a valid point in response to the “Stop Snitching” movement, that if police want civilians to inform on criminals, then cops should stop protecting abusive police officers. A special team of cops who root out internal corruption within a large urban police force would make for an emotionally intense politically charged television serial. The members of this teams would have to deal with social separation, threats, and possible violence from within the police force. Push the view of the police department as in internal gang of thugs, with a minority of intelligent manipulators fighting or organizing corruption. This show shouldn't be looking towards realism but rather a parallel opposite of many modern police dramas. Although, the illusion of realism that gritty dark drama provides is not a bad thing to shoot for. (See The Shield for an example of a lot of similar themes).

Episodes would be largely one shots, but with connected themes and villains, all building to major busts or near busts at end season connecting high ranking officers or city officials to police corruption. The key here is to portray the police force as a powerful gang occasionally scattered with a minority of frustrated idealists.