Despite my love of cop shows, I’ve never really been into the Law & Order franchise. Never had the urge or inclination to watch any of the shows. Then Charge changed their line-up, I was too lazy to change the channel, and now I’m hooked on Law & Order: Criminal Intent. I blame Vincent D’Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe.

The character of Detective Robert Goren says at one point during the final season that everybody lies all the time. Granted, this is said during a therapy session because my guy has some issues and he learned this lesson from his father telling him to lie to his mother about his father’s affairs, but it sort of makes sense that he would believe that anyway since he kind of lives this truth in his work. During the course of their investigations, he and Detective Alex Eames lie a whole lot to suspects. They lie about evidence, they lie about conversations, they lie about circumstances. I’m not talking about undercover work -though they do that a bit in the series. I’m talking about straight up lying to the people they’re questioning.

This behavior is totally legal. Cops are allowed to lie to the people they’re questioning. Just another reason why it’s important for folks to exercise their rights and ask for a lawyer.

But these are the good guys. Their lies are justified. It’s all in the pursuit of justice. Evidence is fine. A confession is better. In the world of fictional cops, confessions aren’t just the goal; they’re the norm. There’s a narrative to be served here.

Goren and Eames do have their own moral code when it comes to lying to suspects. For example, they won’t pressure a mentally fragile suspect, but instead lie and manipulate the suspect’s psychiatrist, who is responsible for the suspect’s destroyed mental state and ultimately, his crime.

They also right a wrong of a coerced confession from a group of minors accused of assaulting a woman. The cops in the interrogation video don’t do anything that Goren and Eames haven’t done before -lying to and manipulating their suspects- but the difference is these boys are innocent and the cops know it.

Fun fact: it only became illegal in Illinois for cops to lie to minors they’re interrogating in 2022. It’s still legal in other states. This is also why it’s important for minors to know their rights and for their guardians to know them, too.

I know it seems like I’m picking on Law & Order: Criminal Intent, but this is prevalent in just about every cop show. Steve McGarrett wasn’t above lying to suspects on Hawaii Five-O. In the case of some criminals, I think he took a certain amount of pleasure in lying to them just to see the look on their faces when they were caught. He had mean streak when it came to justice.

I’m sure that even the saintly Barney Miller lied to a suspect or two, but I can’t remember any instances off hand and I’m too lazy to do any research on it. It’s not like the 12th precinct arrested the kind of criminals the required an intensive interrogation. Most of them were caught in the act anyway.

The point of copaganda is to normalize some of the worst behaviors of the police and though it is legal for cops to lie to suspects during questioning, it doesn’t necessarily make it a good thing. It’s a manipulation tactic that’s seen more than a few innocent people put behind bars.

Some things are better left to the likes of Goren and Eames.