FX's The Shield

FX's "The Shield" is America's newest cop drama and it is inspiring more controversy than the premiere of "NYPD Blue" several years ago. The show revolves around a big city police precinct and one of its rogue police officers, Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis, "The Commish"), who throws the rule book aside in his attempt to remove dangerous criminals from the street. "The Shield" gives the American public a less than flattering and likely more realistic look at the police and police ethics than any recent television program. It deftly explores the slippery slope of police corruption and the ethical dilemnas that arise when proper procedure collides with making the world a safer place. It also explores other aspects of life as a police officer including conflicting personalities and the difficulty with being a woman in a predominantly male field. This show deals with real issues, albeit controversial ones, and that is part of what makes it so remarkable. "The Shield" premiered on March 12 and has garnered an amazing amount of critical praise, being compared to past critically-acclaimed shows such as the much missed "Homicide: Life on the Street."

One of the best aspects of "The Shield" is the way addresses the issue of police ethics. The several characters on "The Shield" represent different levels of ethical behavior-from the corrupt though effective members of Vic Mackey's strike force, who in the first two episodes lie to cover up a murder, to by-the-book officer Detective Holland "Dutch" Wagenbach and Captain David Aceveda (Benito Martinez), who is determined to remove Mackey from the force. Providing the middle ground is Detective Claudette Wyms (CCH Pounder, "ER"), who, while she primarily sticks to procedure and handles criminals and colleagues in an objective detached manner, sees the merit in Mackey's methods. What is interesting about "The Shield" though is that while there are characters at all levels of the moral and ethical spectrum, the show reveals that all members of the force are prone to corrupt or unjust behavior. All characters shown interrrogating suspects stretch the truth, a religious rookie accepts sexual favors from a stranger to get in good with the guys on the force, and even Aceveda is prone to unethical actions. One of the more shocking moments in the first episode is the point where Aceveda elicits Mackey's help in dealing with a suspect when traditional interrogation methods fail and watches as Mackey beats a suspect with a phone book. The shows exploration of all of its characters' vulnerabilities is part of the reason it may become one of the most noteworthy cop shows of the decade.

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