Summary

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

Me, Kiran, Mandeep and Raghav worked together. We discussed the question and gave our opinions; we agreed that the police are represented in an over-sensationalised manner. This is purely due to the power and authority they hold within the community. The stereotypical manner police are represented is that they are always there to help anyone in trouble, they're always helping the local community with any crime going on amongst the area and they never do anything wrong. However, not everything is shown on T.V, behind the seen footage and the true opinions aren't unfolded of the police, audiences have this blind fold around their eyes, picturing the police to only be seen in a positive manner. This stereotypical representation may exist due to the audience having high expectations of the police, and for the community to feel safe around where they live as of the high authority the police hold, so they believe the police keep a protected cage around them. An alternative representation would be showing what happens behind the scenes. T.V shows actually showing different types of police, as they're not always all helpful, as some do hit innocent people or even raid into peoples homes without a warrant, and leave their belongings in a mess. The key media concepts and theories which could be covered in this critical investigation is Propps character roles, police being hero's and people being villians. Also, Levi Strauss: binary opposition of different police members and Barthes: enigma codes to build suspense for the audience. The production which could be linked to this could be a new report or documentary 

Preparation for Critical Investigation

Theories/Theorists
Surveillance - Katz and Blulmer 
Althusser and Gramsci
Escapism 
Blulmer and Katz’s Uses and Gratifications theory
Marxist 
Althusser’s theory of ideology
Hypodermic Needle model
Halls
Hegemonic
Todorov’s narrative theory
Propp described as Character Types
Audience Reception Theory

Quotes 

• The media has a major effect on the way people think 
• By sensationalising the work of the police and giving a tougher representation, prospective criminals or “strugglers"
• “The representation of the police over time can be viewed as the gradual erosion of respect and authority”
• These programmes also create what Propp described as Character Types
• the program was interesting and realistic despite the fact it has been described as “unsensational”

Key concepts:
Secondly, broadcasters use diegetic sounds such as police language as evidence of the writers' familiarity with the law profession's codes. - Media language
Metropolitan police Force to be “institutionally racist” - Institution 

a genre, reality television has revolutionised mainstream broadcasting by changing the media landscape and opening the door for semi scripted programmes such as “Made in Chelsea” and “The Only Way is Essex”. - Genre

This representation of a police officer in comparison to current representations is strikingly different due to the 1950’s “British Social Realism” that this text attempted to create. - Representations 

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. - Media Language

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 - Narrative 

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. - Ideology 

we as an audience would be too naïve to believe the sensationalised representation of the police is for entertainment purposes only.  - Audience