Only the Names Have Been Changed

A study of the early, paradigmatic police procedural Dragnet" (radio, TV, and film), showing how the narrative emphasized the need for a civil, democratic society and implied that order could be maintained by citizens' cooperation with police. The bookincludes discussions of the program's media convergence; the relationship between producers and the real-life LAPD, who advised, provided story ideas, reviewed scripts, and served as on-set technical advisors and who benefited as a result of this positive association with the beloved program; the show's role in the development of the police procedural; and current calls for police reform among accusations that the genre has not accurately reflected all communities' experiences with the police and that ithas helped audiences turn a blind eye toward police abuses"--