The 1960s were a turbulent decade, and policing felt that turbulence daily. The Kennedy assassination, the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War reshaped public life, even as most cop shows avoided contemporary politics altogether.
Television instead offered stability. While the country argued, TV policing presented order — rules, procedure and predictable outcomes. A handful of shows embraced that approach, none more influential than those shaped by Jack Webb.
Most viewers knew Webb as Sgt. Joe Friday, the deadpan face of Dragnet. But Webb also produced, wrote and tightly controlled the series, insisting on procedural accuracy and drawing stories from real LAPD cases. His influence was so strong that some viewers believed Friday was a real detective; when tourists asked to meet him at LAPD headquarters, officers replied, “Sorry, it’s Joe’s day off.” Friday’s badge number, 714, was later retired — an honor rarely extended to a fictional cop.
Together, the shows of the era reflected competing ideas about police work, from stylish fantasy to rigid procedure. Here are seven that best capture how television portrayed policing during the 1960s.
Key shows of the decade
77 Sunset Strip — 1958-1964
- Basic premise: Slick, handsome playboy types run a Hollywood PI agency, solving cases amid nightlife and constant romantic distractions.
- What made it distinctive: Men wanted to be them; women wanted them. It was a crime show built around PG-rated sex appeal.
- How it portrayed policing: Like most PI shows of the era, officers were peripheral, even when cases clearly belonged to law enforcement. When cops did appear, they were rarely as smart, capable or charismatic as the leads.
- What it got right: Southern California has always been appearance-conscious. Anyone operating a high-profile PI office in that setting would need to look the part — or be exceptionally good at the job.
- What it got wrong: The volume of shootings, romantic entanglements and major investigations handled by PIs stretched credibility. In reality, most PIs of the era didn’t carry guns, and a high-profile operation like this would not have avoided sustained police scrutiny for long.
- Why it mattered: The show’s success helped cement the glamorous private-eye archetype and produced a breakout cultural figure in Edd “Kookie” Byrnes, whose popularity was so strong it carried him from a minor valet role to a lead investigator. The formula proved influential, spawning several near-identical series set in different locations.
Honey West — 1965-1966
- Basic premise: Honey West takes over her father’s PI agency after his death. She is assisted by hard-nosed Sam Bolt and a pet ocelot named Bruce. She has strong martial arts skills and drives a Shelby Cobra.
- What made it distinctive: It was rare to depict a woman in an occupation usually reserved for men. Leading roles for women were only slightly more scarce.
- How it portrayed policing: Officers were usually afterthoughts, left to clean up the mess after Honey had solved the case. There were a couple of recurring cop characters, but they were neither portrayed as being as smart nor as charismatic as Honey.
- What it got right: Not much. The protagonist lived a splashy lifestyle without much visible income to support it. Many of her methods would have placed her license in jeopardy. And the question of who watched the ocelot when she was out of the office went unanswered.
- What it got wrong: Successful private investigators typically have investigative experience, which is why so many real-world PIs are former officers or federal agents. Honey may have learned some things from her father, but the premise falls apart too easily under scrutiny.
- Why it mattered: Despite its shortcomings, the show was one of the first to feature a woman in a non-traditional lead role. It was also Anne Francis’ first starring television role since “Forbidden Planet” nine years earlier.
Richard Diamond, Private Detective — 1957-1960
- Basic premise: Suave PI solves crimes with help from his unseen secretary, Sam.
- What made it distinctive: Sam’s legs had more screen time than her face. The actress? A then-unknown Mary Tyler Moore.
- How it portrayed policing: Barely. The show was more about Diamond’s charm than law enforcement.
- What it got right: A memorable visual gag and a charismatic lead.
- What it got wrong: Reinforced the idea that PIs did the work of entire police units.
- Why it mattered: It cemented the “cool detective” image that would persist until realism took over later decades.
The Fugitive — 1963-1967
- Basic premise: A man wrongly convicted of murder escapes custody and travels the country searching for the real killer while avoiding capture.
- What made it distinctive: The story was told from the fugitive’s perspective, with the pursuing detective relegated to a supporting role.
- How it portrayed policing: Lt. Philip Gerard was persistent and competent, but almost always one step behind Richard Kimble.
- What it got right: Police do not abandon the search for a fugitive, particularly in a homicide case.
- What it got wrong: No police department would have funded a single lieutenant’s cross-country pursuit on a weekly basis.
- Why it mattered: Strong writing and a compelling serialized format made the finale one of the most-watched television events of its time.
The Mod Squad — 1968-1973
- Basic premise: Three young people with troubled pasts are recruited to work as undercover cops.
- What made it distinctive: Having both a minority character and a woman in lead roles was unusual for the time.
- How it portrayed policing: Policing was depicted as far more flexible and innovative than reality. The squad moved easily between subcultures and undercover roles with little resistance or consequence.
- What it got right: The series broke from the standard police archetype of the era.
- What it got wrong: Nearly everything else. Recruits with recent criminal histories were given authority and autonomy without completing an academy, worked exclusively undercover, and blended seamlessly into new environments week after week — an approach that strains credibility on multiple levels.
- Why it mattered: Despite its flaws, the show expanded who could occupy lead roles in police dramas. Peggy Lipton’s Julie Barnes, in particular, quietly subverted expectations by proving more capable than she initially appeared.
Dragnet —1967-1970
- Basic premise: Sgt. Joe Friday and Officer Bill Gannon work a wide range of assignments drawn from real LAPD cases.
- What made it distinctive: Jack Webb, who starred as Friday and served as executive producer, had a long-standing relationship with the LAPD. Stories were based on actual cases, and the show avoided action in favor of interviews, routine investigative work and methodical procedure.
- How it portrayed policing: Noble, disciplined and procedural. Friday and Gannon were all business, followed policy closely and resolved cases without shortcuts.
- What it got right: The cases felt grounded because they were rooted in real investigations. The detectives weren’t portrayed as superhuman, asked for help when needed and avoided the personal entanglements common in later crime dramas.
- What it got wrong: The detectives worked one case at a time and cycled through wildly different assignments week to week — a necessity for television, but not how real detective work functions over time.
- Why it mattered: The show presented policing as professional, principled and purposeful. It explained police work to the public and, in the process, shaped how generations of viewers understood what officers did — and why they did it.
Adam-12 — 1968-1975
- Basic premise: Pete Malloy and Jim Reed, two uniformed LAPD officers, work a patrol beat in Los Angeles.
- What made it distinctive: Few cop shows focused on patrol officers, even though patrol made up the bulk of police work. Most television crime dramas centered on detectives.
- How it portrayed policing: Patrol work was shown as varied, demanding and often unglamorous, helping viewers understand it was more than writing tickets and taking reports.
- What it got right: Patrol procedures were largely realistic. Malloy and Reed used proper tactics and radio procedure, grew professionally over time and were shown as capable officers with lives outside of work.
- What it got wrong: Very little. The tone was softened for prime time — language was clean and practical jokes were mild compared to real-life police culture.
- Why it mattered: Adam-12 inspired many viewers to consider policing as a career. Reed’s growth from rookie to respected patrol officer made the job feel attainable, and the show treated uniformed officers as doing real police work rather than serving as background to detectives.
The decade that reshaped TV policing
As with more modern TV shows, many viewers watched these programs and assumed they were educational. If they saw a practice on TV, they believed it had to be realistic.
One common misconception that persists today involves the role of the Miranda warning. The decision in Miranda v. Arizona came down in 1966 and mandated that police read the standard “You have the right to remain silent” warning to people who are interrogated while in custody. TV cops, however, read Miranda to nearly every arrestee as soon as the cuffs went on, something real cops are generally discouraged from doing. If a prisoner invokes their rights, no one can approach them for questioning unless the prisoner initiates it. In practice, it is often better to give no Miranda warning at all and allow detectives to choose the time and place for the initial warning and interview.
A frequent plot point involved a prisoner being released and charges dismissed because no Miranda warning had been given. This would not be grounds for dismissal in real life. Even so, to this day, people being arrested will boast that they will walk on the charges because no one read them a Miranda warning.
Some TV shows occasionally depicted a detective assaulting a prisoner who angered them with a wisecrack or a casual refusal to talk. Invariably, the prisoner would be terrified and spill his guts. This is another “procedure” that people believe actually happened. While there were agencies where this sort of behavior might have been acceptable and even common, in most places it would be more than sufficient to have any confession suppressed, all charges dismissed and the cop called into Internal Affairs. This seldom happened in TV Land.
Television in the 1960s was dominated by stereotypes. Detectives were usually humorless, hard-boiled and occasionally brutal. Until Adam-12, uniformed officers were often portrayed as holding the coats of detectives while investigators did the real work. Including women and minorities in operational roles was still considered an innovation. Everything became far more diverse in the decades that followed.
NEXT: Listen to our podcast discussion on the best cop shows in TV history
