Off My Mind: Police Officers in Superhero Universes

I'm surprise there are any police officers in comics, seeing as there are so many  superheroes. What's the point ?

Yeah, real heroes who wothout a pay check would do jack for us... Real heroes who love breaking ribs just for jaywalking.. Cops aren't heroes they are just another gang... The government's gang..

I think men and women join the police force( city or even country irrelevant) in the superhero universe for the same reason they do in real life( I'm a big fan of CSI in all its incarnations and "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit"). As for disapproval/resentment towards "capes" for alleged vigilanteism, well when a super-menace beyond the capabilities of conventional law enforcement or even the armed forces pops up( not just Galactus, Dr Doom or Magneto but say Dormammu or just Dracula) let's just say that official murmurings about "vigilanteism" are discreetly "back-burnered" Anyway most heroes(as individuals and teams with the possible exception of the X-Men cooperate with the police).

Terry

"Hey John there's some gaint ass green monster that breathes fire tearing up downtown"
"Uhhhhhh.....lets let Tim take this one"

the police are ministers of god.

@perry_411 So you are the smart one?  

"this is why we need the Judges!

"

A lot of the reasons why supervillians and criminals run rampant is blatant PIS.  Gotham, NYC, Metropolis, etc would've instituted a death penalty and killed a lot of these supervillians already.  If we used logic with street crime NYC in the marvel universe should be the safest city in 616.  Just using the Punisher as an example the man has killed almost 3,000 people in just two comics.  He has been operating in NYC for what almost 30 years now?  He's probably killed 100,000 people and yet people keep claiming that he will never have an effect on crime.  Which is blatantly false since he would've wiped out crime in NYC if we used some real world logic since he would've killed about half the criminals and the rest would've left the city to go elsewhere so they don't get killed by the Punisher.  That is one thing I love about MAX is the fact he actually does have an effect on crime.  I realize him doing so in 616 would mean that people like moonknight and daredevil would run out of enemies really quickly however there is nothing even remotely realistic about crime in NYC in the marvel universe.

Police generally don't get any love in comics they tend to be unrealisticaly corrupt or incompetent.  That's okay once in a while but it gets old quick.  Superpowered police actually do make sense unfortunately there are very few of them.  Even fewer police armed with gear designed to combat supervillians which makes no sense at all.  So its hard to feel pity for them or look up to police in comics as heroes.        

that`s like cops in slasher movies or in action movies (their effective as the script allows it ) but if every single comics was to play by real by real world rules then the sheer fact of it becoming or even in essence of being escapist fiction would ultimately become meaningless.  but that is not this off my mind is not about it`s about the effectiveness of normal human cops ( or policemen in all comics ) . well lets compare Gotham city to say the savage dragon`s Chicago (also compared to metroplis and say marvel`s New York City ) first up is Gotham city in the crime ridden pages of every batman monthly ( detective , Batman , Batman Incorporated , the Question and many many more ,also including batman : the animated series ) first of  all the city is a hellhole that I am surprised that normal regular people decided to move there and trying to live their boring lives . the police in the city before the rise of  batman and his many inspired vigilantes was to me liken to the biblical city of Sodom (  with little bits and pieces of Gomorrah ) the mob families really ran the show not the mayor , not the police , not the governor . this example is mostly prominent in the works of Frank Miller  with Batman year one and The Dark Knight Returns . everything and everybody in the city was an constant monopoly being brutally enforced by the mob . ( but when batman in his early years made his first attempts to restore order to the streets of Gotham  one of many things started to happen as he began his crusade in his attempts to save the citizens of Gotham from not only the Rampant Corruption  of the various Mobs and their bosses but ultimately  from themselves .
( one is the after his first year of cleaning up the streets : his noble actions lead to either creating dastardly and dangerous foes such as the joker , two face , riddler and many many more ) so has his one man crusade made the streets safer and allowed the local and state police do their jobs a little better ( well yes and no ) for every mob boss or family has been either arrested ,driven into hiding by the combined forces of batman and the few good cops in Gotham city , this including Commissioner Gordan  as the closes thing to keeping on the good fight when ever Batman (bruce ) has had as an ally in his neverending battle (of his war on crime ) so gotham over the years has been on a rollercoster of doing extremly well as in terms of a more manageble (be yet ) lower crime rate as in concerning regular normal (non superhuman crimes ) during both the day and on some nights . but at night when the Joker , Mister Freeze , Clayface , Deathstroke the terminator , black mask go on a bloody rampage the the Gotham PD  is almost powerless  as in terms of finding away to stop them (often relying on the help of batman or his other vigilantes associates to save the day (or the night ) besides batman cannot be ever at one time to stop everysingle crime in progress in the loving pit  of darkeness that is known as Gotham City ) so is the police ineffective in stopping the daily/nightly  carnage of the meta-humans (sometimes called freaks ) Commissioner Gordan
as good of a man he is (also armed with the few good men and women of Gotham Finest ) to starve off the continuous onslaught of ever present death and destruction everyday of the year . it`s a wonder that they still have job openings and a sturdy recruiting drive for more officers to even enforce what little order they can in the Broken , Lawless city of Gotham . but in my opinion Batman along with Gordon have made some progress in changing the city for the better (even in recent years the city had suffered a little bit of a decline of order after the appertain death and return of batman and his compatriots : even with batman incorporated his newest ever reaching take on his war on crime should prove most promising if not helpful on his personal quest to better the world in his image with his symbol  . but Crime in Gotham has escalated even more ever since the Grayson and Damien has began to fill the void left by their father figure Bruce Wayne . their efforts to help Gordan has yelled both some positive change as in terms of making Gotham a safer place for people to live (and in the lessor sense created even more problems with the rise of the likes of White Knight , Absence , Professor Pyg and Doctor Hurt has plagued Gotham almost into a situation of no return into anything but a decent place to live ) and as it seems the death  toll of Gotham City`s Finest are liken to lambs to the slaughter and Gordan is almost if not helpless to stop it or at least bring it down to a near manageable level . ( so in a way Gotham`s Cops are effective  but useless against meta-humans and Freaks of their fair city ) they can hardly hold their own but I will give it to them that they have heart and a plenty courage to stand up against such rampant evil that roams their streets . ( so for a minute truly picture a world without batman ( Bruce Wayne ) Batman (Dick Grayson ) Catwoman , The Huntress , The Question (Montoya ) ,  Red Robin , Batgirl ( the current One ) or even the likes of Bane and the secret Six and Birds of Prey , and it all hope was souly  resented on the shoulders of the Gotham City`s Police Department (and it`s few good cops like Gordan , Bulluck or Even Harvey Dent before his accident then currently right now their would be no Gotham City let alone anyone living in it .(even with the event of No Mans Land Gotham would have Truly became lost forever in a hole even so dark Gordan would no way of restoring any kind of Order without the aid of Batman and his expert team of vigilantes ) then there would be on order and everyone would who is not under the gaze of the mob or under the heel of the many corrupt  police force then having batman around is not to much of a bad thing , after so many constant attacks Gotham should be having a holiday let alone wanting to willing work with batman on his war on crime . (if Gordan could do it then the whole department should give him much more support than what they are currently doing at the moment but time will only tell (with Grant Morrison behind it all should become clear after time ) 

but in the pages if Erik Larson`s Savage Dragon Chicago appears to be a lost cause compared to the crime ridden streets of Gotham city so in essence it`s a war zone pure and simple . everyday before the arrival of dragon was anything but normal , in the early 90s Overlord and his freak army /Mob  the viscous Circle had and in some small way still rules the streets with an iron fist . it`s a city that is ultimately ran into the ground by marauding super-freaks and mutants . the local police was something of a joke (even though they had military grade weaponry to combat overload`s army that many of their officers contentious die in the field everyday . even with the help of local vigilantes such as super-patriot and Mighty Man during the early 90s did little more than a dent to even lower the ever growing crime wave of blood and destruction almost on a yearly basis . but when dragon first joined the force in 1992 overlord`s grip on the city began to loosen with every arrest of overlord`s army . but the first few years of dragon`s cleaning of Chicago underworld was not meet with growing pains or at most times looked easy well the horrible truth is no . as it seems the dragons efforts to restore order to the lawless city of Chicago was not met with everyone loving every single good deed he did for them ( in many ways not everybody was happy to even have him on the force let alone having him fight every single superpower criminal in the city , but after awhile some good things began to show up for the bruised and battled human cops of the Chicago PD ) after all deep  down they all are just as resourceful and brave as dragon themselves ( they have proved several times that they can pool together with each other to find away to bring justice to their city no matter what the coast : and that is why like the Chicago police force , they stood down meta human creeps everyday and barely blink , yet some have died in the heat of every blood soaked battle , in essence every member on the force is liken to Greek and viking warriors of days long past . (dragon in some way or another has increase their moral with his presence in adding them in every battle they have encountered over his early years . )  but at least they try not to relies on just one single guy (in this case Savage Dragon to solve all of their super powered problems , well at least when he was there on the site at that very moment ) but they are just as tough as nails as everyone else in comics . ( but that`s my humble opinion on the subject of comic book law enforcement )

and lastly on my list is metropolis : the city of tomorrow , in the shinny and futuristic confines of the pages of superman and his various books (action comics , superman , man of steel when it was around and adventures of superman during the 90s , + superman :the animated series ) in every incarnation the city was shown to be own by lex luthor ( as in terms of his various criminal activities in and around the area of the fair city ) so if your me then you would included a few years before the rise of superman and the sudden increasing of Meta-Human  monsters over the recent years metropolis was a simple place that was just filed with your standard crimes by standard street criminals of the day( for example lets just use john Bryne`s Man of Steel after the reboot during the mid 80s and the books he had written during that time )  you had intergang who was strong arming everything they could get their greedy hands on (banks , armored trucks you name it ) and lex luthor`s vast and ever growing power at the time over the city`s local and state law enforcement that it would have been nearly impossible to combat at the time . yes before the rise of constant meta-humans and their many attacks on the city the Metropolis Police Department was just content with the somewhat normal crimes of Intergang and whatever other organization who at the time was possibly  under the thumb of Luthor . ( that is if Dan Turpin or Maggie sawyer was even interested in uncover the vast corruption of lex luthor besides Lois lane ) but when superman first showed up on the scene in his first year he changed every single criminal organization in the city (also including some of luthor`s operations at the time ) but as time when on the stakes continued to be upped with the arrival of monsters such as Parasite , Metallo , Livewire , Bizzarro , Rampage , a few of the evil New Gods lead by Darkseid even the one powerful Lex Luthor himself . that meaning the police had to change and adapted to change each strange and new threat that came their way ( yes over time they had to acquire newer high tech guns ,lasers and various containment  and capture devices to help them do their jobs more effectively  ( but that being said nothing was ever easy for them with or without the help of superman ) but thanks with the much need help of S.T.A.R labs and their tech division they made many valiant attempt to keep and maintain order in their fair city . but they do truly value the help of superman when things start to go way out their control when challenged by the likes Metallo , Toy-man or even the lessor threats likes Misa , maxima , riot and even a many many others over the years who have caused all types of mass murder in the city from time to time . I am very certain that many normal cops on both sides of the Metropolis Police Department have suffered loss of life of both senior and rookie members  in their brave ranks . only question with the current inclusion of the science police on the scene ( and I am certain they have better tech than their predecessors the special crimes unit ) can hold the fort only time can tell . the brave police officers of metropolis at least try not to souly rely on the man of steel for Evey  meta-human that decides to lay waste in the absence of superman can surely bet that the science police will find away to detain control the situation before it could escalate into something that only could be compared to world war three or the coming of the next apocalypses : all I can say their the real heroes of metropolis when the man of steel is not their , at least they put forth some kind of effort to defend their turf . ( and I am surprised that anybody in their right mind would still want to live in that very city alone ,everyday is liken to a small scale war zone , but who knows maybe they have better insurance and better life insurance plans and settlement plans :almost the kind used for natural disasters  . but that could and could not be true and maybe farther from what my frantic imagination could desire or imagine .
all I can say is at least at the end of every battle they have encountered over the years has at least  put their all into defending the lives of their citizens everyday . (so with or without superman the citizens of Metropolis are in safe hands , well much than Gotham will ever be in their life time but a least people can sleep at night knowing that the Metropolis PD and The science Police are on the job making the streets a little safer for all ) and that is why the normal crime rate in the city is down so low in my humble opinion but in recent times as it seems the meta-human crime rate is starting to regain it`s thunder since the man of steel is taking his long walk across America , but he will return to help the science police when things become too hot to handle . but for now let them ( the Metropolis finest have their day in the sun and catch the bad guys and be the heroes for a change ) they have did it before and they do it again . ( and they are anything but useless ) 
but the serious question is ... would each and every city listed here would have been better off without savage dragon , Batman and his ever growing Bat army named Batman Incorporated , or even superman and his family ) would have ever been needed let alone required to do what they do working with their respected local law enforcement agencies over the years have ever made a positive difference ( in some places yes and in others no ) but in the end when you think about it all three cities would have been lost or never put Thur hell if it had not had been for actions of their vigilantes roaming the streets at night .
question is how many good cops would it take to make their cities a better safer place by themselves without the help of super powered individuals but at the end of the day it`s just world of comics living and working by their incredibly loose rules that sometimes (if not all the time making the very comics we love enjoyable and interesting ) and thank god they are not (if not for a few )working with or by our real world rules then every story would boring or just out right predictable .
and too me personally I think cops in comics are vastly capable of holding their own (their not perfect but they get their respective jobs done and mostly by the book ) their every bit as noble as their respected vigilante or super powered hero . :D

Some one needs to read the criminals their rights and haul them off to jail so they can break out the next day.

Cops are heroes? Most of them are jackbooted thugs, who abuse their power. They're armed revenue agents, nothing more. And the intelligence of police is very low, the criminals usually being lower intelligence. How many plungers do cops have to stick up butts before we judge them as the bad  people they are? 

"You might not give it much thought but we do have true heroes in the real world. One of them are the men and women that decide to fight crime and protect the innocent as police officers. The world can be a dangerous place and we can all rest a little easier knowing that these men and women are out there doing their duty."    

Its good to have a little reality sometimes which is having cops around, besides they team up with the hero most of the time. Cops become super themselves even or they just don't work allot because they live in a  super hero environment  but if called for duty then will respond especially if the hero himself calls the help out demanding on the threat. 

good point G. it is a small wonder most superhero's dawn the spandex and don't just join the force or even the reserves for that matter.

"But come on people, stop wasting posts on "comic books aren't reality" comments.

 

We all know comic books aren't reality. If you don't than you have other issues to works out.

 

But the fun of them not being realistic is the fact that we get to make comments like this. We can go as crazy as we want screaming our heads off about what should and should not happen and its FUN!

 

What's wrong with critical eyes and realistic comparisons? If it was bad we'd never have myths, sagas, poems, fantasy tales, or any of the other fables and stories that permeate our various cultures.

"

  Story fodder.

@ChadwickDavis:

#1 It's great that Batman holds everyone accountable but has that actually accomplished anything of significance? Even Nolan's Dark Knight film asks that question. While it looked like things were going to get better all of a sudden they were worse than ever.

#2 I don't understand how that has anything to do with Batman's effectiveness. Its cool that he's inspired people but unless he inspires a whole city it doesn't do much good. Again, look at Nolan's films. Only inspired a handful of people to take action which isn't enough against the major problems of a city.

#3 So what does Barbara Gordon not joining the police force have anything to do with her providing information and coordination as Oracle? Actually her origin story states she tried out for both the police and FBI before being inspired by Batman because she initially wanted to be like Jim. But the past is the past and Barbara is fully capable of providing immense levels of intelligence to the Gotham police yet doesn't do so.

#4 The idea of a Batman Task Force was a good idea but like much of the stories from that time they were generally one book arcs. Hardly anyone would even know about them if not for the R.I.P. and more current storylines. Other than that Batman and his team have never expressed interest in greater police alliances than a few detectives and of course Jim Gordon.

@JonesDeini.......make sure you type something on this thread tomorrow so we know the "Batman can beat anyone" fanboys haven't gotten you.

But come on people, stop wasting posts on "comic books aren't reality" comments.

We all know comic books aren't reality. If you don't than you have other issues to works out.

But the fun of them not being realistic is the fact that we get to make comments like this. We can go as crazy as we want screaming our heads off about what should and should not happen and its FUN!

What's wrong with critical eyes and realistic comparisons? If it was bad we'd never have myths, sagas, poems, fantasy tales, or any of the other fables and stories that permeate our various cultures.

" this is why we need the Judges!

"

I can't believe I forgot to mention Marvel's Code of Honor. I just came across the issues in my garage. :(

Takes like... an hour for them to respond. Regardless of the situation...

My dad's car was robbed? We called them, then an hour later they ring us to ask us for directions to our house.

" Hernest Mandel once wrote a book about the mystery novels and adressed similar issues about why the main detective (Sherlock Holmes, Sam Spade etc.) was always a private professional instead of a full member of the police. While his analysis was heavily tainted with his political views he came out with some interesting points:

• By the beginning of the 20th century the human society had become a primary urban reality, that caused the epople to be forced to deal with issues of law and order more and more frequently
• The police was perceived as both constricting (because they were the appointed enforcerers of the law) and ineffectual (because they were bound by the same law)
• A private source of justice (as opposed to law) was the solution being able to combine the best of both world: the skills needed to be effective with the freedom of being a private agent

Superheroes spawned from similar considerations, they're a cheap and quick alternative to official law enforcement, they act right on the edge of the law (when they didn't break it right away). And this was one oof the points of the Registration Act (probably the only one I found correct) having the heroes acting llike a cohesive force backed up by the official powers, instead of free raoming vigilantes. "

I would think that in a world where crazed super villains run rampant the police would be better equip to deal with them.

I dont know why there arent as many teams like code blue around these days. The Cape Killer taskforces from Civil War seemed to hold their own ok but after the 50 state initiative they kinda disappeared....

I think of police in a comic like refs in a hockey fight.
When two behemoths are beating each other up, do you get in the middle?  Heck no, but once things slow down a bit, then get in there!

  C-Bishop made a blog like this a few months ago.  You and him seem to go over the same things ;P, "Great Minds Think Alike."

Police aren't very important in any comic, Gordan  ,Bullock, and Montoya are the most important police in comics

Sara Pezzini (the Witchblade) is also a superpowered police officer. 

" Police officers aren't so important in lot of comics.Jim Gordon is the most important police officer in the world "

This used to be an old comic somewhere.  Like Code Blue it followed the lives of police officers in a superhero world.

I personally think that the villains focus on the heroes so much that they overlook the common police officer / detective.  Regardless, police show the villains and the heroes that they are the law.  They might not have powers, but they have the courage to stand up for truth and justice.

An article about cops in comic books that doesn't mention Gotham Central?  What?

If you want to see Lucas Bishop as FBI agent, check District X series (his partner was a human).

It's a tough economy, man. Jobs are hard to come by...

" this is why we need the Judges!

"

I think the interesting look on the superpowered police officer was in the Absolutlon Comic book (Avatar).

John Dusk, the main character, is the police officer working in Special Crimes Unit. That department is devoted to fighting supervillains, and all the operatives there are superpowered (John Dusk had powers similar to Green Lantern; Alpha is superstrong; Steel Rain is telekinetic etc). They work under the same rules as the regular cops (they can kill supervillains under the same circumstances a normal cop can shot a criminal).

This is why I was pro-Registration.

@Soldier zero:

"Hernest Mandel once wrote a book about the mystery novels and adressed similar issues about why the main detective (Sherlock Holmes, Sam Spade etc.) was always a private professional instead of a full member of the police"

What was the name of the book I would Like to read it

@ltbrd: 

"and yet what good has Batman really done for Gotham? This is a question that comes up constantly in his own books as well as others like Superman/Batman and Justice League. For all the years (in comic book timeline) that Bruce has been "protecting" Gotham has the city gotten any safer?"

On many levels, I have to agree with you, but then again, you also have to consider the other realities

#1: The reason Batman is effective at what he does is because he holds all parties accountable for their actions. Criminals, Politicians, Law enforcement. He is the "Watchdog" of Gotham City everyone typically thinks twice before committing a criminal act. Essentially he puts the law back in the hands of those who are in authority. Whether they can hold what he places in their laps now that is a different story

#2   Have you read any of the Gotham Central, Robin (before he became red robin) or even Batman arcs. There have been at least two instances that I know of where officers in that city have been inspired BY BATMAN to become officers.   

"Why not give them access to Oracle and her information capabilities? as Batman why not personnally train a special task force, or have Red Robin do so?

does this make more sense than a Batman Inc idea?"   

#1: Actually Barbara Gordon has run for office, and I believe that she also planned to join the police force before Batman"inspired" her. So they already had access to her they just missed the window of opportunity...TWICE

#2: There was an attempt to train/create a "Batman Task Force"...Doctor Thomas Hurt was the project lead....Need I say More 

I hope the thing that motivates these cops is the heroes who clean up the street in a way they are they ray of hope that cops see and inspires them.

Somebody's got to get those crooks down that are webbed up to streetlights.  

this is why we need the Judges!