History Main / TheBadGuysAreCops

* ''Series/WeOwnThisCity'' is about a Justice Department Civil Rights attorney investigating the goings on of the Baltimore Police Department, and the exploits specivically of the elite Gun Trace Task Force.

* ''Film/LAConfidential'': [[spoiler:Captain Dudley and a large group of his men are setting themselves up as the new LA drug kingpins after [[TheDon Mickey Cohen]] goes to prison]].

* In ''Literature/RoseMadder'', Rosie is afraid to involve police because her insanely abusive ex ''is'' a cop. She does find good cops who ''really'' hate guys like Norman, specifically because he gives them all a bad reputation.
* A bizarre example in ''Literature/TheInfected'' where the police aren't the main villains but do several times try to murder the heroes or storm their base (a federal facility) without real consequences.

* ''Av: The Hunt:'' Ayse is having an affair, so her husband and male relatives [[HonorRelatedAbuse decide to kill her]]. The first one to show up is a uniformed cop. This makes for a tense moment when Ayse is stopped for a routine check by the traffic police.

* A portion of TheBigBadShuffle in ''VideoGame/CriminalCaseMysteriesOfThePast'' is made up of [[DirtyCop corrupt police officers]] taking bribes from rich individuals and gang leaders to allow bypass the law however they please, with the three biggest offenders among the police department being [[spoiler:DeskJockey Edward Whimple, [[LeadPoliceDetective Chief Inspector Eleanor Halsted]], and [[DaChief Commissioner Thaddeus Mulroney]]]].

* In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'', The [=CRASH=] unit, especially [[BigBad Officer Tenpenny]], are corrupt to the core and essentially extort the player character while turning a blind eye to the gang violence they're supposed to be fighting against, preferring to just let the gangbangers take each other out rather than do any work themselves. The organization is based off of an actual one called [=CRASH=] that existed in the [=LAPD=] that was rife with corruption.

* In ''Film/SuperTroopers'', the Spurbury police officers (except [[TheChick Ursula]]) turn out to be in cahoots with the Canadian marijuana smugglers.

->'''Principal Skinner''': Bart Simpson, on the side of law and order? Has the world gone topsy turvy?\\

Generally speaking this trope is intended to rationalize why the main characters don't go to the police with their problems, which tends to be the logical response by normal people to outrageous things like murder plots. This can also be established in the back story and does not need to be displayed on-screen directly.

* Creator/NaokiUrasawa's ''Manga/TwentiethCenturyBoys'' features this as a HopeSpot: the young detective hero has [[BringNewsBack successfully contacted]] an influential ally in the upper echelon of the police force with his information on TheConspiracy. Surely things will turn better from there on right? Wrong — the police is already in the bad guys' pocket and you have just doomed everyone by revealing your hiding place.

* ''Manga/{{Kurokochi}}'' shows the Japanese Police Force as being incredibly corrupt to the point that the main character Kurokochi, a DirtyCop who blackmails the politicians of the whole prefecture to get bribes, seem benign in comparison. The first couple of chapters show that policemen sometimes work as unofficial hitman for a corrupt politician, and that there is a great conspiracy in the police to murder all threats to its reputation.
* In ''Anime/{{Sarazanmai}}'' the [[CoDragons antagonists]] Reo and Mabu are police officers responsible for the zombie attacks on the city, and brainwash other officers into believing what they say about who caused the deaths (likely a commentary on police corruption).
* In ''Manga/Naruto1997'', the culprit responsible for murdering Takashi and stealing the painting "Proof" is [[spoiler:police Inspector Matsushima, and his accomplice is the police officer tasked with watching the painting]].

'''Luigi''': Three quarters of a million pounds. Then they went out.\\

* Speaking of which, the cops in [[SoiledCityOnAHill Bludhaven]] were worse than the mob, and gained a share of profits made by the ''actual'' mob. (Criminals who ''didn't'' were killed. Chief Redhorn was a dangerous villain who had ordered ComicBook/{{Nightwing}}'s death; the only true honest cop in Bludhaven, technically, was Nightwing himself, who joined the force in his civilian identity [[TheMole in an attempt to take it down]]. )

* In ''Film/FightClub'' the [[CharacterNarrator narrator]] tries going to the cops when he finds out that Fight Club (now called Project Mayhem) is involved in serious terrorist activities. Except it turns out several police officers are members of Project Mayhem, and have orders to castrate anyone who betrays the group [[spoiler:(even if that someone is the ''leader'' of Project Mayhem)]]. Cue the [[CharacterNarrator Narrator]] trying to take matters into his own hands.

* In ''Film/LakeviewTerrace'', Abel Turner is able to bully and harass his interracial couple neighbors because he's a well-respected, 28-year veteran of the LAPD so no one would believe them over a cop. At one point, they threaten to call the police-he responds that he ''IS'' the police.

* In ''Film/{{Changeling}}'', the LAPD engages in {{gaslighting}} a victim's mother, eventually verging on a [[TheConspiracy vast conspiracy]], to cover up their incompetence in mistakingly bringing back the wrong boy by locking her up in a psychiatric hospital to keep her quiet. Unluckily for them, the mother turns out to be TheDeterminator and their incompetence eventually getting exposed. Frighteningly enough, this is [[TruthInTelevision strictly]] BasedOnATrueStory.

* ''Film/{{Dredd}}'': Judge Dredd and Anderson calls for back-up when their coms start working again, but the Judges who eventually show up (and relieve the real back-up) are actually hired by Ma-Ma to protect her drug operation.
* In ''Film/{{Searching}}'', [[spoiler:Detective Rosemary Vick is working to obstruct David's search for his daughter Margot, because her son Robert was responsible for Margot's disappearance and would face prison time for involuntary manslaughter if he's caught]].

* In ''Film/SatansCheerleaders'', the cheer squad go to Sheriff Bubb after they are attacked by Billy, only to discover--too late- that the Sheriff is the High Priest of the Satanic cult Billy belonged to.
* In ''Film/BatmanBegins'' the entire Gotham police barring Jim Gordon is all but stated to be corrupt, and even Gordon states he won't rat out his dirty colleagues (though, granted, he doesn't have a lot of or any other options). This is also what prompts Bruce to become Batman. After he captures Falcone the police sans Gordon also seems to be more preoccupied with arresting Batman than the criminals he's after.

* Officer Pete in ''Film/UnlawfulEntry'', is a evil cop who decides he wants the wife of a couple he recently met while on call and goes out of his way to make the husband's life a living hell to try and steal her. This alone is bad enough, but it's also heavily implied that the Los Angeles police precinct he works at is aware Officer Pete is a loose cannon and go out of their way to cover for him when he does something off base.

* In line with his {{Anvilicious}} Libertarian philosophical leanings, Creator/DeanKoontz has played this card a few times. ''Literature/{{Intensity}}'' has a last minute revelation that the SerialKiller is a young rising star in a local police force, ''Dark Rivers of the Heart'' has a murderous FBI agent who kills people he feels are too good for the world, etc.
* PlayedWith in ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}''--it's not that the cops ''themselves'' are bad, but the main villains are a species of {{Puppeteer Parasite}}s [[ParanoiaFuel who could be controlling anyone]]. The protagonists quickly realize that policemen are some of the first people that the Yeerks would target for infestation, and a Controller cop is an important antagonist of the first book. In later book, [[TortureTechnician Taylor]] mentions that she helped infest "her" mother, the city's police chief.

* A bizarre example in ''Literature/TheInfected'' where the police aren't the main villains, but do several times try to murder the heroes or storm their base (a federal facility) without real consequences.

* ''Series/WalkerTexasRanger'': The episode "The Brotherhood", where a trio of rouge cops from a small town believe that killing suspects, no questions asked, without allowing due process is the perfect way to be tough on crime and deal with a legal system that had gone against them once too often. Things come to a tipping point when the son of one of one of Walker's friends, who had been falsely accused of rape, is killed by the police chief. Walker eventually defeats the bad guy cops.
* ''Series/Adam12'' and ''Series/{{Dragnet}}'': Averted, but there were several episodes in each series that had police officers as the bad guys. When this happened -- the result of police brutality, blackmail, fraud and so forth -- the main protagonist cops quickly exposed these rogue individuals. A Season 2 episode of ''Adam 12'', "Good Cop, Handle With Care", has two freelance journalists in search of a juicy police brutality story trying to make Malloy and Reed out to be the bad guys. It almost works, as an incriminating photo of a suspect with a broken nose is paired with a highly inaccurate story on Reed trying to control his inmate (he was drugged-out and, while going into a seizure, hits his head on the police car's seat frame) ... but in the end, the journalists pursuit ends up causing a tragedy.
* ''Series/{{Andor}}'': During the first arc the antagonists are Pre-Mor guards, enforcers working for a MegaCorp that is working under the Empire. The guards are all corrupt, violent and/or slavishly devoted to the fascist ideals of the empire and do not at all care about enforcing law or order for the benefit of the planets Pre-Mor runs, preferring to brutalize the locals.

* ''Series/MannerOfDeath'': One of the main villains is the Commander of the local police force, multiple of his underlings are also revealed to be bad/corrupt. One of them, Captain Gun, is responsible for the death of the reporter and murder attempts on several of the main characters.
* In ''Series/MayorOfKingstown'', the local police are more interested in dealing out their own violent and warped form of justice rather than acting as a law-enforcement agency. If the citizenry have any problems, they're better off going to the [=McLuskies=].

* ''Series/TheProfessionals''. The ActionPrologue of "In the Public Interest" has a gang of vigilantes in stocking masks beating up a member of a gay support group and torching his office. The next scene has the leader of the vigilantes, a Deputy Inspector, reporting to his boss the Chief Constable on another successful operation. Unfortunately for them the man they beat up goes to [=CI5=] for help.

** The Consulate from the Indian-inspired Kaladesh are even worse, flat out killing criminals for minor infractions like using magic. Chandra Naalar was almost executed when she was a kid.
** While portrayed mostly as benevolent, the Imperials from the Japanese-inspired Kamigawa have been pointed to be oppressive in several side stories, prompting the apparence of the Asari Upriser rebels to balance them out.
** The Brokers from the ArtDeco inspired New Capenna were originally designed as corrupt cops, but Creative decided to retool them after way too many cases of real life police brutality. They instead became [[EvilLawyerJoke demonic lawyers]] specialising in [[DealWithTheDevil contracts]], though a few cards still hint at them being cops (see for example [[https://scryfall.com/card/snc/92/rogues-gallery Rogues Gallery]], where their [[SigilSpam sigil]] is seen).

** In case 1-2, Redd White apparently has most of the police department (and the prosecutor's office) in his pocket, meaning that Phoenix has nobody to turn for support except himself.

* On ''Series/PersonOfInterest'' HR, an organization of {{dirty cop}}s, is a recurring villain and a major source of Numbers for the heroes to protect. They control crooked judges and prosecutors and have major ties to the Italian and Russian mobs. Even a major crackdown by the FBI does not stop them, and they even go as far as recruiting actual mob members into the NYPD to bolster their ranks.

* The BigBad of one season of ''Series/DesperateHousewives'' was a cop who was harassing his ex-wife and daughter, and even boasted that since most of the force were his friends there was nothing that his ex could do to stop him from killing her. [[spoiler: The housewives put a quick end to his schemes with some creative lying.]]
* ''Series/Daredevil2015'': The ineffectiveness of the NYPD and FBI in seasons 1 and 3 is because of Wilson Fisk having officers from both agencies on his payroll. Within season 3, one such FBI agent, Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter, serves as the season's secondary villain after Fisk manipulates him into becoming his new top assassin.

[[folder:Film]]

* ''Film/Cellular'' has a man, ''his wife and son'' kidnapped by dirty cops that murdered drug dealers but was caught on camera and was trying to recover the evidence.

* ''Film/DeadlyHero'' (1975) Don Murray's NYCPD character terrorizes a former crime victim who witnessed his deadly force against the victim's surrendering attacker.

* In ''Film/LakeviewTerrace'', Abel Turner is able to bully and harass his interracial couple neighbors because he's a well-respected, 28-year-veteran of the LAPD so no one would believe them. At one point, they threaten to call the police-he responds that he ''IS'' the police.

* In ''Film/{{Changeling}}'', the Los Angeles PD engages in {{gaslighting}} a victim's mother, eventually verging on a [[TheConspiracy vast conspiracy]], to cover up their incompetence in mistaking the wrong boy for the kidnapping victim. Unluckily for them, the mother turns out to be TheDeterminator and they eventually get exposed. Frighteningly enough, this is [[TruthInTelevision strictly]] BasedOnATrueStory.

* ''Film/TheProfessional'': Stansfield and his crew work for the DEA, but also [[KillEmAll murder the entire family]] (save [[LittleMissBadass one]]) of a man holding drugs for them and don't seem unfamiliar with hiring out [[ProfessionalKiller professional killers]] from the Mob.

* ''Series/AdamTwelve'' and ''Series/{{Dragnet}}'': Averted, but there were several episodes in each series that had police officers as the bad guys. When this happened -- the result of police brutality, blackmail, fraud and so forth -- the main protagonist cops quickly exposed these rogue individuals. A Season 2 episode of ''Adam 12'', "Good Cop, Handle With Care", has two freelance journalists in search of a juicy police brutality story trying to make Malloy and Reed out to be the bad guys. It almost works, as an incriminating photo of a suspect with a broken nose is paired with a highly inaccurate story on Reed trying to control his inmate (he was drugged-out and, while going into a seizure, hits his head on the police car's seat frame) ... but in the end, the journalists pursuit ends up causing a tragedy.

If the bad guys are only pretending to be cops, that's ImpersonatingAnOfficer. Compare SecretPolice, who are similarly bad guys but usually a step above the cops. Unfortunately, too often TruthInTelevision [[CrapsackWorld in a lot of countries]], so '''Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease'''

* Creator/NaokiUrasawa's ''Manga/TwentiethCenturyBoys'' features this as a HopeSpot: the young detective hero has [[BringNewsBack successfully contacted]] an influential ally in the upper echelon of the police force with his information on TheConspiracy. Surely things will turn better from there on right? Wrong - the police is already in the bad guys' pocket and you have just doomed everyone by revealing your hiding place.

* In ''Film/{{Searching}}'', [[spoiler:Detective Rosemary Vick is working to obstruct David's search for his daughter Margot, because her son Robert was responsible for Margot's disappearance and [[AdultFear would face prison time for involuntary manslaughter]] if he's caught]].

* PlayedWith in ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}''--it's not that the cops ''themselves'' are bad, but the main villains are a species of {{Puppeteer Parasite}}s, and all or most of the town's police seem to have been infested before the series began.

* In ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'' the Mirror Police are this.

* In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'', The [=CRASH=] unit, especially [[BigBad Officer Tenpenny]], are corrupt to the core and essentially extort the player character while turning a blind eye to the gang violence they're supposed to be fighting against, preferring to just let the gangbangers take each other out rather than do any work themselves.