History Main / DirtyHarriet

* ''Film/UndercoverHeat''. DirtyHarriet police officer Cindy Hannen (Athena Massey) goes undercover in a high-class whorehouse to catch a murderer. She discovers the fake clients set up for her cannot be relied upon and when faced with real tricks decides to sew her "Wild oats" and enjoy a sexual adventure as a real prostitute, transforming from tomboy into FairCop via a GirlinessUpgrade. Also played with when she does a roleplay as a (dominatrix-y) cop for one of her unwitting clients.

* ''Film/UndercoverHeat''. DirtyHarriet police officer Cindy Hannen (Athena Massey) goes undercover in a high-class whorehouse to catch a murderer. She discovers the fake clients set up for her cannot be relied upon and when faced with real tricks decides to sew her "Wild oats" and enjoy a sexual adventure as a real prostitute, transforming from tomboy into FairCop. Also played with when she does a roleplay as a (dominatrix-y) cop for one of her unwitting clients.

* ''Film/UndercoverHeat''. Police officer Cindy Hannen (Athena Massey) goes undercover in a high-class whorehouse to catch a murderer. She discovers that she's very good as a prostitute. Also played with when she does a roleplay as a (dominatrix-y) cop for one of her unwitting clients.

* In ''Film/RamboFirstBloodII'', Co poses as a prostitute to get inside the prison camp where Rambo is held.

* ''Webcomic/{{Megatokyo}}'': Piroko in [[http://megatokyo.com/strip/974 this]] {{omake}}.

* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler:The two cops' car is knocked off a cliff by the Baron, with them inside.]]

* In the reality series ''Series/ArmedAndFamous,'' both female celebrities(Wrestling/TrishStratus and [=LaToya=] Jackson) went undercover during a prostitution sting. In contrast to typical portrayals, this wasn't played for Fanservice, and both were dressed very casually.

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* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' Tifa Lockhart does so to get information from Don Corneo, then Cloud and Aerith do it too to free Tifa.

* In ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'', one of Jensen's old partners will be undercover as a prostitute.
* In ''Videogame/GrandTheftAutoV'', it's possible to get caught in a sting operation when picking up prostitutes.

* In ''Webcomic/TooMuchInformation2005'', Officer Friendly ends up undercover as a streetwalker, which both provides her with an excellent opportunity to get closer to [[TheAce Ace]] - by stating that it would really help her cover if she was seen getting into the sleek sports-car of an attractive young man - and provides BettyAndVeronica with a good opportunity to see Ace [[NotWhatItLooksLike drive around with a scantily-clad girl in his car]].

* Catwoman poses as a stripper in order to get close to Rough Cut in ''WesternAnimation/DCShowcaseCatwoman''.

* Episode 15 of ''Anime/SamuraiChamploo''.

* In ''Manga/CatsEye'', police officer Mitsuko Asatani was once disguised as a bartender wearing PlayboyBunny suit.
* ''LightNovel/TrinityBlood'' has a fleeting scene where Catholic nun Esther is used as a bait to catch a criminal. Blatant fanservice, that.

* The title SpaceCop of ''Manga/BirdyTheMighty: Decode'' does this in episode 5 to figure out who was behind a terrorist attack.

* In the ''[[ComicBook/GIJoeIDW G.I. Joe: Cobra]]'' miniseries, Jinx went undercover at a strip club in order to make contact with Chuckles.

* ''ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey'': One of Black Canary's conditions for joining Oracle's operation was that she would never have to impersonate a stripper. (The other was [[WalkingTechbane never having to use a computer]].)

* ''ComicBook/RobynHood'': Robyn goes undercover as HighClassCallGirl to bring down a dirty politician in #1 of her ongoing series.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/{{Tomcats}}'': When Michael first meets Natalie, he's a bit surprised that she's a prostitute. He's even more surprised when he gets his face slammed against a wall, put in handcuffs, and finds out she's really a cop.
* In ''Film/MissCongeniality'' the titular character is an FBI agent that infiltrates the Miss United States pageant to find out who's threatening it.
* Averted in ''Film/StirCrazy''. When a paralegal goes undercover at a strip joint, she does so as a waitress.

* ''Film/Banlieue13Ultimatum'' opens with one of the leads going undercover as a dancing girl in order to stage a major sting against a series of crime bosses. The twist? Both the movie's leads are male. But it must be said that Cyril Raffaelli looks ''stunning'' in a dress.
* In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', in order to infiltrate a Hellfire Club private party, Moira [=MacTaggert=] strips down to her undergarments and pretends to be one of the call-girls. Done fairly well as it's shown that she's not all that comfortable with it and is ''acutely'' aware of how vulnerable she is.
* ''Film/UndercoverHeat''. Police officer Cindy Hannen (Athena Massey) goes undercover in a high-class whorehouse to catch a murderer. She discovers that she's very good as a prostitute. Also played with when she does a roleplay as a (dominatrix-y) cop for one of her unwitting clients.

* The Creator/RogerCorman sexploitation movie ''Stripped to Kill'' and the inevitable sequel. A SerialKiller is killing strippers, so a policewoman becomes a stripper to lure him out.
* Played with in ''Film/TrueLies''. [[Creator/JamieLeeCurtis Helen Tasker]] thinks she is doing this, but it's actually a setup by [[Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger her husband]], who really is a secret agent, to give her the excitement he thinks she's looking for. Before he can reveal everything, actual terrorists kidnap them both and things escalate from there.
* ''Film/JackTheRipper1976'': After Inspector Selby starts to bear the brunt of the press's criticism for failing to catch the Ripper, his girlfriend Cynthia decides to go undercover as a streetwalker in an attempt to catch the Ripper.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': Nobby Nobbs. Yes, [[DisguisedInDrag he's a man]], [[IAmNotWeasel or at least male.]] It's complex.[[note]]Extremely complex. For the sake of simplicity, Nobby is one of the few individuals in the world who has to carry around a card saying he's an actual human.[[/note]] In fact, Nobby's looks are so astounding that a footnote made sure to point out that although narrative law would normally demand an AttractiveBentGender moment, the trope withered and died in the face of Nobby Nobbs.
** Even better: in one instance, his partner for that operation is the very attractive Sgt. Angua, a werewolf. Nobby can't imagine ''she'd'' be the bait (and feels a lot safer with her as backup rather than the other way around).

* Creator/HollyLisle's ''Last Girl Dancing'' is a textbook example of this trope: the protagonist is a female cop who goes undercover as a stripper to find a serial killer.
* In ''[[Literature/CircleOfMagic Shatterglass]]'', part of Tamora Pierce's ''The Circle Opens'' Quartet, a serial killer stalks the female ''yaskedasi,'' or members of the entertainment class. Quite a few police officers (of both genders, but mostly women) go undercover as ''yaskedasi,'' but this is played straight when someone else comments that the grimly staring few who can't dance, juggle, or sing ''really'' stick out.
* Literature/{{Dexter}}'s sister Deb did this at the start of the first book when she was working in vice. The tone of the books is much more negative than that of the show and Dexter as the narrator spends some time on how incredibly unattractive Deb, a beautiful woman, managed to make herself look in such skimpy clothing. She wasn't trying, either; she has no fashion sense. By contrast, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debra_Morgan Deb in the show has a perfectly good fashion sense]].

* ''Series/WithoutATrace'':
** Elena. [[MsFanservice Samantha]], the obvious choice, has already been to the club as an FBI agent, so can't do it. If you can't have a voluptuous blonde, a [[LatinLover Latina]] does the job just as well.
** In another episode, Martin and Danny are interrogating a prostitute who was the last person seen with a missing judge when she mutters under her breath, "I'm a cop, so make this look good." They promptly begin yelling at her and roughing her up to maintain the facade of her being uncooperative.

* ''Series/AshesToAshes2008'': Alex Drake arrives in 1981 dressed as a prostitute. Later, in 1.05, she pretends to be one again - unfortunately for her, [[StraightGay she isn't the mark's type]].
* ''Series/{{Dexter}}''
** When we first meet Deb, she's working in the vice squad (that would be Miami Vice), assigned to a prostitution sting operation, and is desperate to get assigned ''out'' of it. Especially when she ends up helping out at a murder scene... still in her disguise.
** In season 3, Angel's new girlfriend is also undercover as a prostitute. Which he learns when [[OhCrap he tries to hire her.]]
* The pilot episode of ''Series/{{Airwolf}}'' features the F.I.R.M. getting an American agent employed as a belly dancer in Libya. Her cover is blown and she is killed later. They then decide to send in ''another'' belly dancer, who gets kidnapped by the evil Dr. Moffett, tortured, and ends up dying from dehydration in the Sahara. As the second agent is a LoveInterest of Stringfellow Hawke, [[ItsPersonal her death gives him a personal stake]] in the mission to recover Airwolf.
* ''Series/{{Angel}}'': In the original plan for the second episode, Kate Lockley was to be introduced as a police officer infiltrating a prostitution ring. In the [[ExecutiveMeddling version that made it to air]], she was investigating disappearances from (or hanging out at) a popular singles bar.

* Lois Lane in ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', although technically not as a cop but as a reporter. Not that anyone cared what her motivation was.

* ''Series/LawAndOrderSVU'': Happens often with Olivia Benson.
* Played with in ''Series/TheShield'':
** A detective has to go undercover to catch a mob that's beating up prostitutes. ''Male'' prostitutes. Shane is very upset when he's forced into the role.
** Shane has no luck with this kind of thing. In another episode, the Strike Team had to find out which stripper at a club was luring johns into the alley and then robbing them with her boyfriend. When Vic tries it, he gets a blow job. When Shane tries it, he gets a tire iron to the head.

* ''Series/MiamiVice'': Practically the only thing Gina and Trudy ever seem to do is go undercover as prostitutes. At least, this tends to be the only time they get the spotlight; otherwise they are mostly support for Crockett and Tubbs.
* In the first season of the 1980s cop show ''Series/{{Hunter}}'', Hunter's partner Dee Dee [=McCall=] poses as a streetwalker quite often (from the very first moment we see her, actually), usually to gather information rather than as a part of a sting operation. In later seasons she [[DownplayedTrope doesn't do it as often]], but it still happens. Somewhat unusually, this is not played for fanservice, at least not in the case of [=McCall=] herself - she tends to wear considerably more clothes than her supposed "colleagues".
* On ''Series/TwentyOneJumpStreet'', Judy joined the Jump Street program because it was the only way she'd be able to get any other type of assignment. Of course, this didn't mean that she didn't still get just such an assignment occasionally.

--->'''Dep. Junior:''' Doesn't he have Fridays off?
* Pepper Anderson in the 70's series ''Series/PoliceWoman'' (played by Creator/AngieDickinson) and her colleagues go undercover in almost every episode. Since she is the only woman in her squad, some of her assignments fit this trope. These usually involve wearing quite revealing clothing, which is played for fanservice. In at least one instance her cover is blown when she refuses to have actual sex with a client.
* Detective Shraeger in ''Series/TheUnusuals'' starts out in vice, dressed as a hooker. She's soon transferred to homicide, though.

* ''Series/ThirdWatch'': Maritza Cruz, the [[SpicyLatina tough-as-nails female cop]] (played by Creator/TiaTexada). The very first time we see her, working on a prostitution sting, she's wearing "six-inch heels with a postage stamp of polyester stuck up my ass."

* ''Series/{{Lost}}'' has a ShowWithinAShow called ''Exposé'' about a group of secret agents undercover as strippers.
* One episode of ''Series/TwoAndAHalfMen'' has Charlie getting busted by one of these. This clues him in that his sexual life is getting out of hand (not that sleeping with many women is news to him, but in this episode, he was so unhinged that he literally broke his balls after sleeping with six or seven girls in the same day).
* In the reality series ''Series/ArmedAndFamous,'' both female celebrities(Wrestling/TrishStratus and [=LaToya=] Jackson) went undercover during a prostitution sting. In contrast to typical portrayals, this wasn't played for Fanservice, and both were dressed very casually.
* ''Series/{{Cracker}}'', series 3 episode "Brotherly Love": Penhaligon dresses as a prostitute hoping to lure a man believed to be murdering prostitutes. There's extra tension in the put-on because Penhaligon was still recovering from being raped by a colleague.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''. In "Preemptive Strike" Ensign Ro goes undercover to infiltrate a Maquis resistance group. She passes on her information to Captain Picard by meeting him in a bar, where she tells him to pretend he's buying her sexual services. This adds a level of awkwardness to their interaction (while Ro shares some BelligerentSexualTension with Commander Riker, she's never had any with Picard whom she regards more as a stern ParentalSubstitute). When they meet a second time, Ro has come to identify with the Maquis, so this trope gives Ro's actions as a spy a sleazy feel that doesn't make her feel any better about what she's doing.
* ''Series/MissFishersMurderMysteries'': Phryne goes undercover as a Spanish fan dancer at a gentleman's club in "Murder Most Scandalous".
* In the Season 13 finale of ''Series/{{CSI}}'', Morgan goes undercover as a prostitute to try to find a serial killer. This entails her removing her dress, although we see nothing below the shoulders... and later almost ending up a victim of said killer herself.
* ''Series/CharliesAngels'':
** The standard operating procedure of the Angels is to go undercover. Some of these assignments involve posing as prostitutes, exotic dancers, or in massage parlours, which gives many opportunities for FanService.
** In the first season finale, "Blue Angels", all three angels and Bosley go undercover in different places, and two of the assignments qualify as this trope: Jill impersonates a masseuese in a massage parlor (with Bosley as the manager). Sabrina goes undercover in the LAPD as a Phoenix vice detective, and is immediately ordered to impersonate a prostitute in order to infiltrate a different massage parlor.
* ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'': Detective Stevens poses as a HighClassCallGirl in order to get an interview with the madam of an exclusive escort service in "Gods & Insects". The squad room breaks into applause when she returns still in her outfit.
* ''Series/FatherBrown'': In "The Crimson Feather", Bunty goes undercover as a burlesque dancer.
* The 1985 TV movie ''Operation Julie'' opens with a roomful of undercover police watching film footage of them pretending to be hippies to investigate drug selling at a pop festival. They especially appreciate the shots of their female colleagues walking around topless.
* ''Series/{{Decoy}}'': Casey's first assignment requires her to go undercover at a carnival. The only job she can find is dancing in a harem outfit with three other girls outside a tent.
-->'''Barker''': From the far-off lands of mystic Persia, from the palace of a thousand delights, come these exotic enchantresses of the East, whose sensuous and curvaceous movements have never before been seen by anyone outside the closely-guarded walls of the Raja's harem.

The baseline Dirty Harriet scenario is when a female law enforcement officer goes undercover in a role only a woman is expected to take, like stripper or prostitute. This allows for the natural tensions of undercover work, and of course also provides a reason for her to [[{{Fanservice}} wear little clothing]]. Building on this, there are a number of other possible variations on the trope. The woman might not be proper law enforcement (perhaps she's a private detective, for instance), or the role might not be immediately connected to sex work (though still require her to wear sexy clothes). Or, it might actually be a male officer who is DisguisedInDrag for similar purposes: perhaps the job is simply deemed [[StayInTheKitchen too dangerous]] for a woman. In the latter case, unless it's played for laughs, it's likely that the guy [[AttractiveBentGender looks good enough]] in drag to pass convincingly as a woman, at least at first glance. Or possibly, he is deliberately impersonating another {{Crossdresser}}, or a {{Transgender}} woman.

* In ''Series/CharliesAngels'', the standard operating procedure of the Angels is to go undercover. Some of these assignments involve posing as prostitutes, exotic dancers, or in massage parlours, which gives many opportunities for FanService.

This also appears in SpyFiction. See also FairCop. Almost never falls victim to CanAlwaysSpotACop.