History PoliceAreUseless / WesternAnimation

* Similar to [[WesternAnimation/GravityFalls Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland]] above, the elderly beat cop who occasionally shows up in ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'' is an oblivious idiot who barely notices or cares about the constant monster attacks in Echo Creek. To be fair, the kind of supernatural danger that Star and Marco deal with is well beyond anything a small town police officer would be expected to handle, but his total lack of concern when Mr and Mrs Diaz report that their son has been kidnapped or when Marco tells him Miss Heinous is trying to kill them is frankly shocking.
* In ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsResistance'', the security droids on the Colossus don't do anything about people getting mugged or killed, but they will book you for being unregistered and arrest those who induce a panic without an emergency. In one instance, one of them [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere runs away when a sea monster attacks the Colossus]] (although to be fair, there wasn't much it could've done anyways).

* Subverted by an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosSuperShow'' where Bowser and the Koopas follow Mario and Luigi back to Earth. Bowser decides to conquer Earth along with the Mushroom Kingdom, and the New York police department helps the Mario Bros. get rid of them. Unfortunately, Bowser turns them to stone ([[WhatHappenedToTheMouse and we never see them get changed back]]).

* While the police of Woodcrest do appear to be useless on a daily basis, this is mostly because they are either [[DirtyCop on the take]], innocents roped up in some so-called heroes' criminal activities or simply not called upon in the first place. They prove how useful they can be in the episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks'' "Stinkmeaner 3: The Hateocracy". Only after the Freeman family's other plans fall through [[spoiler: including purchasing the incredibly pricey protection services of the now deceased Bushido Brown]], someone resorts to 'snitching' on the three antagonists making attempts on their lives and the police resolve the issue quickly with minimal fuss.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/Gargoyles'' episode "Temptation", Demona shows Brooklyn a series of unpleasant events taking place in New York to convert him to her [[FantasticRacism human-hating ways]], one of which is a mugger stealing a woman's purse. When Brooklyn tries to stop him, Demona states that the police would let him out of prison in a day.

[[index]]
* ''PoliceAreUseless/TheSimpsons''
* ''PoliceAreUseless/SpongeBobSquarePants''
[[/index]]

* Franchise/{{Ben 10}}: with the exception of the ones who were actually important characters (meaning essentially Max Tennyson and [[HypercompetentSidekick Rook Bonko]]), the [[SpacePolice Plumbers]] were essentially portrayed as more and more useless as the franchise went on, even though they were gaining more authority:

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', Stan goes nuts and takes two hostages, demanding drugs. The police negotiator on the scene immediately gives Stan the drugs and a plane for Stan to fly to British Columbia; as soon as Stan drops the hostages, the negotiator kills the hostages himself without any provocation before trying to [[BlackComedyRape rape Hayley.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls '':

** The villain of one episode was an incompetent cop who blamed the girls for his firing. Said cop was a lazy SmallNameBigEgo that sat in his car sleeping and ate donuts, somehow thinking that he was up for a promotion any day now. [[SubvertedTrope The rest of the police are actually competent]], as they rescue the girls in the end. However the trope applies to any other appearance, as seen in "[[http://seekcartoon.com/watch/11808-powerpuff-girls-511-b-girls-gone-mild.html#.UVobB6VBRmA Girls Gone Mild."]]

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': ** Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland combine this trope with AdultsAreUseless. The closest to an aversion is "Irrational Treasure," which casts them as relatively competent villains covering up the secret history of the town's founding.

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland combine this trope with AdultsAreUseless. The closest to an aversion is "Irrational Treasure," which casts them as relatively competent villains covering up the secret history of the town's founding.
-->'''Sheriff Blubs:''' Hold one a minute, do you have a permit for those [fireworks]?\\

** Agents Powers & Trigger overlapped this with TheMenInBlack, as they were federal agents investigating the paranormal but didn't believe Dipper about his findings until he accidentally starts a small-scale ZombieApocalypse, after which they're immediately carried off.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot'': Jenny is Tremorton and the world's only defense as Skyway Patrol not only fit this trope, they're also {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}s, which is even worse than useless.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls [[WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirlsMovie Movie]]'' shows what Townsville was like [[WretchedHive before the girls came along]]. The reason crime was so rampant? The police were always at the donut shop. Although the implication seemed less like laziness and more of a case of CrooksAreBetterArmed.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls Movie'' shows what Townsville was like before the girls came along. The reason crime was so rampant? The police were always at the donut shop.

* The GrumpyBear cop from ''WesternAnimation/TheGoodeFamily'' episode "Gerold's Way or The Highway".

* Similarly, the elderly beat cop who occasionally shows up in ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'' is an oblivious idiot who barely notices or cares about the constant monster attacks in Echo Creek. To be fair, the kind of supernatural danger that Star and Marco deal with is well beyond anything a small town police officer would be expected to handle, but his total lack of concern when Mr and Mrs Diaz report that their son has been kidnapped or when Marco tells him Miss Heinous is trying to kill them is frankly shocking.

** ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'':

* In ''WordGirl'', the police are so dependent on [=WordGirl=] to defeat the villains that they are left befuddled in situations where she is incapacitated. This is most blatant in "Ch-ch-ch-change Day". Becky and Bob are left trapped in a bank vault, unable to change into [=WordGirl=] and Captain Huggyface. Outside of the bank, the police chief is forced to admit to the officers that he doesn't know what to do, because [=WordGirl=] would usually have solved the problem by this point.