MEST 4: RESEARCH AND PRODUCTION: March 2013

"The fear of crime and the media's reassurance that something is being done constitute a closed world of threat and reinforcement which imprison the viewer. This truly signals the era of the postmodern spectacle."^{^[1]}

Why is the representation of the police on television programmes such as 'Road Wars' and 'police, Camera, Action!' over sensationalised?

Since the rise of the media as a central societal institution, we as an audience have seen a significant change in the representation of the police; from being “a stable image of the caring but firm British bobby at the centre of community life”^{^[2]}to a sensationalised force of power that has the ability to find and end any threat of crime that is posed by criminals. If you take a quick glance through television schedules for the week or headlines of today’s newspapers, you will find that the “general population has a vast and insatiable interest in the police”^{^[3]}, the way they operate and the steps they take to protect the population from crime.

Programmes such as ‘Road Wars’ and ‘police, Camera, Action’ implement codes and conventions that are more often associated with the spectacle and cinematic styles of Hollywood such as non-diegetic high tempo action music. These documentary television shows “[rely] on three types of visual evidence, 'authentic footage from camera crews observing arrests or rescue operations; footage from surveillance videos and recordings (often by amateurs) of dramatic accidents and dangerous situations'. The reality police show is predominantly shot using camera crews and surveillance videos”[4]. The implementation of such codes and convention creates an arguably inaccurate representation about the police because these media texts cannot help but inform people's perception of law enforcement agents as controllers rather than carers”^{^[5]}.One could simply argue that the reason why the police have been sensationalised by the media is to satisfy the audiences’ addiction to spectacle that has been created by Hollywood. However, by looking at retrospective examples and works from theorists such as Althusser and Gramsci, evidence suggests other reasons why representation of the police on television programmes such as 'Road Wars' and 'police, Camera, Action!' is so sensationalised.

Taking into consideration the styles and conventions used in texts such as ‘Road Wars’ and ‘police, Camera, Action’, perhaps the sensationalism of the police could be to attract audiences. For example, by only knowing one side of the story, we as the audience label the antagonist as a criminal who is harming the audience. “Crime is the great unifier in making everyone a victim and all viewers equal in their potential victimness."[6]. By allowing audiences to identify with each other as potential victims, this keeps audiences interested in the text. Also, high tempo non diegetic music has been used to attract and entertain audiences whilst also offering a sense of escapism. For example, in the programme “Road Wars”, the during the opening credit sequence, the use of action style music creates an almost fictional world where the audience can have the opportunity to become a police officer. This sense of escapism is further supported by the use of direct-mode of address from the narrators and police officers, and the use of the handheld camera which creates the illusion that you are a police officer rather than just an audience member which according to Blulmer and Katz’s Uses and Gratifications theory[7], is the reasons why audiences absorb media texts in the first place.

The over sensationalism of the police can arguably be to control society’s behaviour by the media manipulating the ideology of the audience. Louis Althusser takes a Marxist perspective and argues that by the use of “the repressive state apparatus”^{^[8]} which includes the police, and the “ideological state apparatus”^{^[9]} which coincidentally encapsulates the mass media; the “working class are persuaded that the capitalist system is legitimate”^{^[10]}.

However, how does Althusser’s theory of ideology relate to how the police have been sensationalised in television programmes such as 'Road Wars' and 'police, Camera, Action? “The media has a major effect on the way people think^{^[11]}. By sensationalising the work of the police and giving a tougher representation, prospective criminals or “strugglers”^{^[12]} as Young and Rubicam[13] define them as, are subconsciously warned that they will always be caught if they choose to commit a crime because within these texts the police catch every criminal which arguably is an unrealistic sensationalised representation. Secondly, broadcasters use diegetic sounds such as police language as evidence of the writers' familiarity with the law profession's codes. Trade jargon is deployed significantly. Beyond describing police operations, it is taken on in an effort to share the excitement of the hunt for wrongdoers. In these new documentaries the broadcasters deploy working policemen's jargon to conjure up excitement and police formality. For example in an episode of ‘police, Camera, Action’, the policemen wait in the "ARV" to go to "Level Two" and "Code Green" before the "ops" begin. So therefore from an ideological perspective, the overuse of police jargon creates a sensationalist representation of an organised and professional group of crime-stoppers which reduces crime and from a Marxist point of view, protects the belongings of the ruling class. Therefore these programmes act as a form of “propaganda”[14] absorbed by the mass consciousness through the “Hypodermic Needle model”[15]

Significantly, the possible reason why the police have been sensationalised in texts such as ‘Road Wars’ and ‘police, Camera, Action’ is to stabilise the ideology of prospective criminals that the police are a strong, unified and powerful force. This ideology would therefore result in less crime being committed because audience members are convinced that they would be caught due to the unrealistic arrest rates that are shown on ‘Police, Camera, Acton’. However, Althusser’s theory of ideology fails to explain how all audience members are affected because by implementing Halls “Audience Reception Theory”[16], by taking an oppositional reading of such texts, perhaps one person’s ideology may be different to another. Although ideology can differ between different audience members, hegemonic ideas are often universally consistent between members of the audience.

Hegemony can be described as the shared ‘common knowledge’ between members of society in regards to a particular group, topic or place. Once the hegemony of a particular group is established, it can be very hard to change; however it does happen. For example, pre 1980’s hegemonic values in regards to the police would have positive and this can be seen in the representations of the police in media texts during that time. Looking retrospectively at the representation of the police in the media, one of the programs that created the first symbolic representation of the police came from the series ‘Dixon of Dock Green’; “a BBC television series following the activities of police officers at a fictional Metropolitan police station in the East End of London.”^{^[17]}The main protagonist was police Constable George Dixon, “a "bobby" on the beat as well as a widower raising an only daughter”^{^[18]}.This representation of a police officer in comparison to current representations is strikingly different due to the 1950’s “British Social Realism”^{^[19]} that this text attempted to create. For example there is a clear overuse of mid shots, a lack of non-diegetic music and the use of realistic costumes and props such as 1950’s police uniforms which all blend together to create a 1950’s mis-en-scene.

However, “The representation of the police over time can be viewed as the gradual erosion of respect and authority”[20]. This was never more evident than during the “Coal Miners Strike”[21] of 1985. The hegemonic ideology is regards to the police changed from being an integral part of the local community, to becoming the enemy of the general public, audiences and the mass media. The reputation of the police was also harmed massively by the findings of a public inquiry headed William Macpherson which found the Metropolitan police Force to be “institutionally racist”[22] and also, the recent “plebgate”[23] scandal which involves further police corruption[24]. Arguably, the reason why the representation of the police is sensationalised is to counter balance the negative representation of the police which would then lead to a change in society’s hegemonic values in regards to the police.

The attempts of the police to change the hegemonic ideology of the audience can be seen throughout the texts. For example, the narrative of the text has been utilised to ensure that the police are represented as keeping society in balance. Using Todorov’s narrative theory[25], chase sequences within these programmes start within an equilibrium which is maintained by the patrol of the police. There is then a disturbance often associated with a criminal who throws the narrative into disequilibrium by committing a crime but the criminal is then dealt with swiftly by the police which restores the equilibrium and maintains the balance within society. This is a sensationalist representation because these texts show the police success rate is almost 100% which is unrealistic but slowly changes the hegemonic ideology of the audience. These programs also create what Propp described as Character Types[26], which is used to coerce the audience that the police are the ‘heroes’ whilst the criminals are the real ‘villains’. When viewers see the police playing and sometimes narrating themselves in episodes depicting the successful capture of criminals, the crime show offers the viewers strong reasons to be grateful for the police force's vigilance. By creating this representation as’ heroes’ and vigilantes who serve in the interest of the audience, this would change negative hegemonic ideologies and return the police officer to their rightful place in the centre of local communities.

In conclusion, we as an audience would be too naïve to believe the sensationalised representation of the police is for entertainment purposes only. If this was the case, why not make a documentary about the Army which would be possibly more entertaining and definitely more realistic. Evidently there has to be another reason. From Althusser’s perspective, the ruling class has used the ideological state apparatus to control the audience on a subconscious level by offering a sensationalist representation of the police as tactical and efficient at catching criminals. This sensationalised representation then causes criminals to think twice about committing crimes which Marxists argue, is in the interest of the ruling class. However Althusser’s argument is based on the idea that all audiences are pre-disposed to commit crime which hinders this argument as the reason why the police has been sensationalised. The most convincing argument is based the polices’ attempt to change the audiences’ hegemonic ideology in regards to the police which has been tarnished over the last thirty five years due to controversy such as The Miners’ Strike, the Steven Lawrence case[27] and more recently the ‘Plebgate’[28] scandal. Overall, there is no definite answer and the objectivity of the possible reasons means it’s doubtful there ever will be. However one thing is for certain; questions are to be asked.

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