History Main / FriendOnTheForce

* ''Series/{{Vegas}}'' had Lt. Dave Nelson played by Greg Morris of ''Series/MissionImpossible'' fame.

** Police chief Ezra Collig is an old friend of Fenton Hardy who often works with the brothers as a ReasonableAuthorityFigure on the force, though he makes few arrests himself. In a lot of books, one-off cops are typically the ones who actually arrest the criminals. In some of the series--mainly the ''Casefiles'' spinoff and a few of the mainline Digest books--Collig's a GrumpyBear who doesn't appreciate the boys horning on the department's cases and butts heads with them, but still looks out for their safety and respects their skills when they inevitably catch the bad guys.

* The BBC ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' version of Lestrade is much closer to this than the trope he named. He's also the ''only'' friend Sherlock has on the force, as every other police officer he knows would rather Lestrade not keep involving this weirdo who keeps human eyes in his microwave ([[spoiler: which leaves him powerless when Moriarty's manipulations convince the entire police service Sherlock's a fraud]]). Luckily, things get better for him.

* Lewton, the PrivateDetective in the ''VideoGame/DiscworldNoir'' computer game, has Nobby Nobbs as his buddy on the force. Which only really goes as far as Nobby giving him several useful pieces of gossip and convincing Vimes to arrest [[spoiler: Carlotta]] at the end.

* {{Inverted|Trope}} towards the end of ''VideoGame/LANoire'', where Jack Kelso plays the part of Cole Phelps' friend ''off'' the force, as an investigator for California Fire and Life.

* VideoGame/GabrielKnight isn't a detective, but he does do some sleuthing with the help of his good friend Detective Mosely. He also uses Mosely to get information for his novels.
* ''VideoGame/TexMurphy'' has Mac Malden.

* Armando Bailey is this for [[Franchise/MassEffect Shepard]]. Given that Shepard is effectively investigator, judge, jury, and executioner if necessary s/he doesn't need Bailey to get things done per se, but s/he will turn to Bailey for information.

** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', Sergeant Kylon of the Denerim Guard serves as this for the Warden, joking that even if he believed the official line that the Wardens killed King Cailain at Ostagar, he's not stupid or suicidal enough to try to attack them.
** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', Aveline Vallen is this for Hawke's company, as a member and later [[DaChief Captain]] of the Kirkwall Guard. She often comes to Hawke with independent work that would stretch the guard's numbers too thin, stops patrols venturing too near the mansion where Fenris is squatting, but doesn't shy away from arresting [[FriendlyEnemy Isabela]] for starting bar brawls.

* ''VideoGame/DigimonStoryCyberSleuth'': Goro Matayoshi is this to Kyoko, as they help each other out to solve cases.

** In the second game onwards, Adam is reinstated to the police force while Blaze goes freelancer while Axel goes on a journey to hone his martial arts skill before becoming a freelancer himself. This has both advantages and disadvantages:

* In the first ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage'', you play as one of three ex-cops. When the A button is pressed, you call in a friend still working in the precinct to deliver either a napalm strike or rain down gatling fire, [[SpecialAttack taking out all enemies or hurting all bosses on the screen]].

* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'': By chapter 34 of the sequel, ''Ghosts of the Past'', Coulson has been made SHIELD's commanding agent for the Midwest. With his purview including both [[Literature/TheDresdenFiles Chicago]] and Series/{{Smallville}}, this puts him in position to play this role for both Dresden and Clark.

* ''Creator/JohnLeCarre'''s George Smiley has Inspector Mendel, whether nearly retired or fully retired.
* [=McGowan=] from the Creator/AndrewVachss Burke books, at least until he retires. The quote comes from a book that occurs after his retirement, so Burke cannot count on his help any more.
* In ''Literature/TheHardyBoys'' books, Bayport Police chief Ezra Collig is an old friend of Fenton Hardy, though he makes few arrests himself. In a lot of books, one-off cops are typically the ones who actually arrest the criminals.

* ''Series/KamenRiderDouble'' has Fuuto detective Mikio Jinno, who is on friendly terms with local P.I. [[TheHero Shoutarou Hidari]]. In the series' first episode, he slips Shoutarou some photos of a recent Dopant crime scene, which proves useful in tracking down the culprit. Later, the Fuuto Police Department gain Superintendent Ryu Terui, a.k.a. Kamen Rider Accel, who proves a capable force against Dopants along with Double.

* ''Film/TheBatman'': As Jim Gordon is not yet the police commissioner, he's this to Batman. He can get the Bat into crime scenes and permission to investigate, but the other police and Commissioner Savage in particular barely tolerate it; at one point when they're ready to finally arrest Batman, the two have to stage a falling out, complete with Batman punching him in the face, for him to get away. Also unlike most incarnations, Gordon and Batman actively investigate together, unofficial partners in all but names, rather than they're usual dynamic wherein Gordon simply hands the Batman information and lets him do the rest.

Compare to InspectorLestrade, which is a detective that is incapable of solving crimes without the help of a GreatDetective -- though it's pretty common for a FOTF to double as a Lestrade. Superheroes usually have enough clout to enlist TheCommissionerGordon.

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' has one in the form of [[InterpolSpecialAgent Looker]], an agent of the International Police ([[PoliceAreUseless and apparently their only effective member]]). He appears first in Platinum, where he makes the arrests after you've cleared the path. He returns in Black & White, where he enlists your help in finding the Seven Sages so he can arrest them. His latest appearance is in X & Y, where he is sent to Kalos to arrest [[MadScientist Dr. Xerosic]].
* In the ''Franchise/DragonAge'' series:

A supertrope for SleuthDatesCop. [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant No relation to]] [[Franchise/StarWars The Force]]

* ''Series/BloodTies'' has Mike Celluci, Vicki's ex-partner and ex-boyfriend. Now that Vicki has left the force and has become a PI, she often crosses paths with Mike. She has to hide a few things from him at first, like the fact that Henry is a vampire and that many of her cases involve the supernatural, but eventually he figures it out and it becomes his turn to hide that from his superiors and colleagues. Eventually, this ends up getting him suspended, although the show was cancelled before we got to see the resolution.

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' arguably has one in the form of [[InterpolSpecialAgent Looker]], an agent of the International Police ([[PoliceAreUseless and apparently their only effective member]]). He appears first in Platinum, where he makes the arrests after you've cleared the path. He returns in Black & White, where he enlists your help in finding the Seven Sages so he can arrest them. His latest appearance is in X & Y, where he is sent to Kalos to arrest [[MadScientist Dr. Xerosic]].

* In the ''Literature/MarcusDidiusFalco'' series, Falco's best friend, Petronius, is a member of the Vigiles.

* ''Manga/DetectiveConan'':

* In ''ComicBook/TheLongTomorrow'', private investigator Pete Club's cop friend and confidant is Lieutenant 3, who also happens to be a robot like everyone else on the Force.