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* ''[[Cold Case]]'' is a relatively positive portrayal, as the main characters are detectives, but issues like institutional sexism, racism and anti homosexual sentiment are still brought up, as is the problem of corruption (particularly during past eras) and police incompetence. They tend to be fairly good about [[Police Brutality]], too, at least compared with ''SVU''.
* Crime Dramas in Hong Kong usually places cops on several sides of the scales of justice, on one hand there are few Corrupt Cop stories while in others, the cops are seen to have an excellent track record and their free time activities aren't just drinking beer or coffee but outings with some Camp elements.
* Gene Hunt of ''[[Life On Mars]]''. Very big fan of "Kicking in nonces," as he'd say.{{context|reason=For those of us who are not familiar with the slang, where does this put him on the scale?}}
* Rorschach in ''[[Watchmen]]'' is an [[Anti-Hero]], though that's because he has impossibly high moral standards. His [[Your Mileage May Vary|"heroic"]] actions include leaving a child murderer to die, and killing a serial rapist then leaving his body at the police station when the police themselves cannot catch him.
** Don't forget throwing a masochist who pretended to be a costumed villain in order to get beatings from heroes into an elevator shaft, presumably killing him.
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* The police in ''[[Kate Modern]]'' are generally fairly incompetent, provoking one [[Serial Killer]] to remark "What does a person have to do to get arrested around here?" When they ''do'' arrest anyone, it's always the wrong person, and the whole legal system is manipulated by an evil secret society anyway. Interestingly, it's only the English police who are portrayed this way; the French police, while still incompetent, aren't corrupt.
* In ''[[Transmetropolitan]]'' all cops save for one exception are knuckle-dragging, corrupt thugs who care about nothing but their paychecks and the power their badges bring, and a chance to regularly beat up or shoot peaceful protesters and other freaks.
* Since ''[[Firefly]]'' focuses on a motley collection of outlaws and fugitives, the police are generally considered a danger and threat. However, while the cops are ''enemies'', they aren't presented as particularly evil, but range from decent local sherrifssheriffs willing to look the other way to no-nonsense federal marshals to corrupt officers running cloned body parts.
* Chief Clancy Wiggum on the ''[[The Simpsons]]'' is a [[Lawful Stupid Chaotic Stupid|text]] [[Police Are Useless|book]] example of a sliding scale. He and his department are often the [[Butt Monkey|butt]] of jokes about Police inefficiency. Wiggum himself often makes up laws as he goes along. Although it's a defining trait of Wiggum and the entire SPD however, the scale shifts quite often depending on what the episode calls for. Sometimes they can be helpful, though it's usually dependant on the circumstances of the episode. The departments' corruption fluctuates as well, though generally it's not malicious.
** The entire Springfield Police Department's undergone the effect of Flanderization big time.
*** It really depends on what the episode calls for. There is an instance of an SPD Officer [[Improbable Aiming Skills|shooting Homer with a pistol as he runs over a rooftop several stories off the ground]] (the cops were on the ground), while there is also the time several SPD Snipers [[Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy|are unable to hit a passed out woman laying motionless on the floor]].
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* ''[[Sin City]]'', with its [[Wretched Hive]] setting and criminal protagonists, sits squarely on the negative end of the scale. As Marv, one of the criminal protagonists in question, notes, "everyone knows who they work for and what it takes to keep them happy." The cops in Sin City are so bad that they even have a ''death squad'' that deals with those who know too much about stuff those in charge want hidden. The only ''good'' cop of the bunch is Detective John Hartigan, [[No Good Deed Goes Unpunished|and he pays for it quite dearly]].
** Characters at times mention that there are good cops out there, but they can only survive by keeping low profile and turning blind eye to their colleagues' activities.
* While ''[[Third Watch]]'' leans heavily towards the cynical side on [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism|That Other Scale]] it much more positive on its portrayal of law enforcement. While virtually all the cop characters engage in a questionable activity over the course of the show, they are generally portrayed as good people doing a tough job. Even the blatantly crooked [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|Sergeant Cruz]] is shown to have a [[Dead Little Sister|strong moral reasons]] for her actions even if her actions are [[Shoot the Dog|morally reprehensible]]. If anything the shows message is the cops don't get enough credit for the good that they do, and that bad cops are the exception rather than the rule.
 
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