Line #53 Main/StandardPoliceMotto


1	%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1544889695008041700
2	%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.
3	%%
4	[[quoteright:350:[[Film/Transformers2007 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/standard_police_motto.jpg]]]]
5	[[caption-width-right:350: Um, that's not quite how it goes, Barricade...]]
6
7	-> ''Die Polizei - Dein Freund und Helfer! [[note]]The Police - Your Friend And Helper[[/note]]''
8	--> '''[[UsefulNotes/TheThinFormerlyGreenLine Germany's traditional police motto]]''', a rare non-English variant[[note]]first adapted by UsefulNotes/WeimarGermany.[[/note]]
9
10	The Los Angeles Police Department's famous motto, "To Protect and to Serve" (coined in 1955), has been adopted by many other police departments across the English-speaking world, sometimes in its alternate form "to serve and protect." It's been adopted by so many police departments, in fact, that it's practically a StockPhrase in the English-speaking world. Unsurprisingly, it shows up a lot in fiction as well. Played straight in most {{Police Procedural}}s and {{Cop Show}}s, it's routinely subverted, lampshaded, and/or otherwise played with in other media.
11
12	Not to be confused with MirandaRights.
13	----
14	!Examples:
15
16	[[foldercontrol]]
17
18	!!Played straight in:
19
20	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
21	* ''Film/RoboCop1987''
22	-->'''Bob Morton:''' What are your Prime Directives?\
23	'''[=RoboCop=]:''' Serve the public trust, protect the innocent, uphold the law.
24	* In ''Film/TheGumballRally'', the fake cop team loses the race when they [[DudleyDoRightStopsToHelp stop to help a pregnant woman]] who's stalled on an L.A. freeway and going into labor.
25	-->'''Kandinsky:''' Oh, no. Avila, no way. I don't wanna hear it, Avila.
26	--> '''Avila:''' "To serve and to protect", huh?
27	* The San Angeles cops in ''Film/DemolitionMan'' use it as a sort of short-hand, telling units on the scene to, "Protect-serve."
28	* The sheriff from ''Film/BloodHarvest'' has "To Protect and to Serve" on the side of his car.
29	[[/folder]]
30
31	[[folder:Literature]]
32	* The Casseline Brotherhood, in ''Literature/KushielsLegacy'', say this a lot.
33	[[/folder]]
34
35	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
36	* The TropeMaker (in the media, at any rate) is ''Franchise/{{Dragnet}}'', which was based on the RealLife LAPD.
37	* ''Series/Adam12'' features a prominent shot of the motto on the squad car door in the opening credits.
38	* ''Series/DirkGentlysHolisticDetectiveAgency'': The motto of the sheriff's department of Berberg County, Montana, is "Protect and Serve," as emblazoned on the sheriff's cruiser.
39	[[/folder]]
40
41	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
42	* ''To Serve and Protect'' was the title of a ''TabletopGame/{{Champions}}'' module.
43	* ''Protect & Serve'' was the Cop [[{{Sourcebook}} Splatbook]] for ''TabletopGame/{{Cyberpunk}} 2020''.
44	* This is actually the name of a [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=369024 Fuse card]] in ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering''.
45	[[/folder]]
46
47	[[folder:Video Games]]
48	* The CityGuards in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' say this randomly when you talk to them.
49	* ''VideoGame/EliteBeatAgents'' shows that even the immune system has this motto; Cap White says this in the good ending for her level.
50	[[/folder]]
51
52	[[folder:Web Comics]]
53	* ''Webcomic/ParadigmShift'' uses this trope to [[ShownTheirWork Show Their Work]]: "We Serve and Protect," the motto of the Chicago Police Department, can be clearly read on the side of a Chicago police cruiser on [[http://www.paradigmshiftmanga.com/ps/ps2-page21.html this page]].
54	* This is Trenton's motto in ''Webcomic/DeadWinter''. He's the last good cop in a corrupt police force.
55	[[/folder]]
56
57	[[folder:Western Animation]]
58	* In the "Sleeping Beauty" episode of the ''[[Series/{{ALF}} ALF Tales]]'' cartoon, it is said of the Three Nice Wizards (led by wizard Joe Froday) by the King: "They protect ''and'' serve."
59	* ''{{WesternAnimation/ReBoot}}'': "My format: Guardian - To mend and defend."
60	* The motto comes up as a point of discussion between Goliath and Eliza during the ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' pilot, during their first meeting. Probably goes a long way towards building the trust between them.
61	[[/folder]]
62
63	[[folder:Real Life]]
64	* The Toronto Police Service uses "To Serve and Protect".
65	* The National Police of France uses "Pro Patria Vigilant" = Vigilance for the Homeland.
66	* Northern Constabulary, the police force of the Scottish Highlands prior to the creation of Police Scotland in 2013, had the motto "Dion is Cuidich", which is "Protect and Serve" in Gaelic.
67	* The Icelandic ''Lögreglan'' (Police) uses "Með lögum skal land byggja" ("With the law, the land shall rise."), the ArcWords from ''Literature/NjalsSaga''.
68	[[/folder]]
69
70	!!Subverted, parodied, lampshaded, etc., in:
71
72	[[folder:Comic Books]]
73	* Creator/MarvelComics once produced a ''ComicBook/SilverSurfer'' T-shirt bearing the slogan, "TO SURF AND PROTECT."
74	[[/folder]]
75
76	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
77	* ''Film/TransformersFilmSeries'':
78	** In ''Film/Transformers2007'', the Decepticon Barricade has a police car mode with the phrase "To punish and enslave." According to Creator/MichaelBay, the altered motto apparently got a few laughs from the present LAPD officers providing security.
79	** In ''Film/TransformersTheLastKnight'', Barricade retains this motto while also gaining an alternate "Keep calm and hail Megatron."
80	* In the film ''Film/TheMask'', Stanley Ipkiss tries to get a policeman guarding him to help Tina (who's being chased by {{Mooks}}) by telling him "Serve and protect!"
81	* In ''Film/TheTerminator'', the motto on LAPD cars is shown as "To Care and to Protect" at least twice. But after the Terminator crashes and abandons a car whose motto we've already seen as the preceding, the empty car's motto has inexplicably changed to "Dedicated to Serve."
82	* In the low-budget sci-fi movie ''Film/{{ROTOR}}'', the motto of the robotic law-enforcement project is "To Judge and Execute." Guess [[UnfinishedUntestedUsedAnyway what happens to the prototype?]]
83	* In ''Film/WrongfullyAccused'', at least one police car has "To Swerve and Protect" on the side.
84	* In ''Film/TheUntouchables1987'', when Ness and Malone interview police cadets to add to the team, both trainees give stock mottoes when asked why they want to join the force. The first even stammers out "To protect and serve" verbatim.
85	[[/folder]]
86
87	[[folder:Jokes]]
88	* In 1992, UsefulNotes/LosAngeles erupted into riots after the videotaped beating of a black man, Rodney King, by officers of the Los Angeles Police Department. This lead to a joke about the department:
89	->Q: What's the new slogan for the LAPD?
90	->A: ''We'll treat you like a King!''
91	* In 2011, the owner of a Zanesville, Ohio exotic animal refuge released all his animals - including tigers, lions, bears and wolves - before committing suicide. The police didn't have much of a choice but to issue a shoot-to-kill order. The story made major headlines as 49 animals were shot by the end of it all. This lead to a joke:
92	->Q: What's the new slogan for the Zanesville police department?
93	->A: ''It's a jungle out there!''
94	[[/folder]]
95
96	[[folder:Literature]]
97	* Shows up several times in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' series:
98	** The Ankh Morpork Watch has the motto "Fabricati Diem, Pvnc", which is DogLatin for "[[Film/SuddenImpact Make My Day, Punk]]". In-story, Fred Colon claims that it translates as "To Protect and Serve". The full motto is in fact "Fabricati Diem, Pvncti Agvnt Celeriter," but has been rendered partially unreadable over time. This supposedly means "Make the Day, the Moments Pass Quickly."
99	** Pratchett also uses it in ''Literature/GuardsGuards'' with the prophecy that Carrot fulfills: "Yea, the king will come ... and Protect and Serve the People with his Sword."
100	** In ''Literature/FeetOfClay'', the motto on the Vimes family arms (defunct since Old Stoneface killed the last king) is "Protego Et Servio". The Vimeses have been watchmen for a ''long'' time.
101	** The same book has the [[spoiler: golem watchman]] give his own spin on the ''Film/RoboCop1987'' example above: "To Serve The Public Trust, Protect The Innocent, And Seriously Prod Buttock".
102	* In the ''Literature/MythAdventures'', Asprin uses this for one of his chapter-beginning quotes: "To Serve and Protect. Traditional motto of protection rackets."
103	[[/folder]]
104
105	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
106	* ''Series/SquareOneTV'': Mathnet's motto is "To cogitate and to solve."
107	* In ''Series/CornerGas'', Karen and Davis have a long, drawn-out argument over whether or not their cop car says "To Protect and Serve" or "To Serve and Protect."
108	* When Carl fears Mike might not pass the upcoming police fitness exam on ''Series/MikeAndMolly'', he asks Mike if he's prepared to spend the rest of his career behind a desk, where he can "protect and file."
109	[[/folder]]
110
111	[[folder:Video Games]]
112	* A police officer in ''VideoGame/DestroyAllHumans'' can sometimes be heard constantly repeating this to themselves if their mind is read. Until they get it wrong: "swerve and defect...dammit, I lost it!"
113	* In ''VideoGame/TheLongestJourney'', the same cop that gave us MoveAlongNothingToSeeHere and SorryImGay lines, also finished his conversation with "We are here to protect and to serve", right after proving as useless and outright obstructive to the heroine as he possibly could.
114	* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'': The motto of the Los Santos Police Department appears to be "Obey & Survive".
115	* ''{{VideoGame/Fallout}}'': Protectrons say "protect and serve". It's somewhere between playing it straight and subverting it, given that while not particularly powerful or competent, they do actually attempt to maintain law and order, except for in 3 where they're just [[AIIsACrapshoot haywire robots]]. Parodied more directly in 76, where the reprogrammed scavneger collectrons say "collect and store".
116	[[/folder]]
117
118	[[folder:Western Animation]]
119	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', an Itchy & Scratchy cartoon shows shows Scratchy entering a police car that turns out to be driven by Itchy. The motto is "To Protect and Sever." Bloody carnage ensues.
120	* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': The side of Officer Barbrady's patrol car has "To Patronize and Annoy" on it.
121	* The tagline of ''WesternAnimation/ScienceCourt'' was "To Serve and Observe", even though it wasn't about a police department.
122	[[/folder]]

Context Main / StandardPoliceMotto