Disorderly Conduct: Video on Patrol - TV-14
Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this reality show is entirely composed of clips of real people captured on camera in very real -- and often very dangerous -- situations. Security cameras capture a few assaults and other crimes, but a big chunk of the show is the many, many serious traffic accidents caught by the recording equipment in police cars. Though the grainy, black-and-white images aren't graphic, and the sound quality is often poor, knowing that actual people are being attacked or run over can be more unnerving than watching much more explicit images of actors and stunt doubles in a Hollywood movie.
Families can talk about law and order. This show features real people breaking the law in a variety of ways. Why is it so compelling to watch actual criminals caught on film? Why do so many reality shows focus on this type of caught-in-the-act footage? Do you think seeing real violence will deter some people from breaking the law? Could it motivate copycats instead?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Will Wade
The world is a dangerous place. Need proof? Check out DISORDERLY CONDUCT: VIDEO ON PATROL, a nonstop showcase of people at their most idiotic, all filmed by security cameras in buildings and police cars. There are high-speed chases, liquor store robberies gone bad, assaults on police officers, and many, many car accidents.
Because the footage is all collected from security cameras, the image quality is often poor, and the sound can be hard to make out. It's often in black-and-white, the camera usually can't zoom in, and sometimes it's hard to tell exactly what's happening. But that only makes the clips seem all the more harrowing. Seeing real people get attacked by criminals and real police officers getting run over seems far more graphic than the most explicit torture-porn movie with the best special effects.
The number of security cameras in use has skyrocketed in the past several years. Though the authorities would say the cameras are there to keep us safe, anyone watching this show will see plenty of examples of dangerous behavior, and the cameras certainly don't seem like much of a deterrent to a drunken teenage driver trying to outrun a patrol car on the highway at 100 mph. Instead, the proliferation of cameras recording everyday life has led to more and more shows like this. There's no real plot, just a collection of one dangerous situation after another, suggesting that bad things can happen anywhere, anytime, to anyone.
Law-and-order reality shows with more thought behind them include MTV Juvies and Lockdown.
Rate It!
| Content | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CS | adults | kids | ||
Sexual ContentNo sex. Some people are shown naked, with blurred genitalia. |
 |
|||
ViolenceThe show relies on footage from security cameras (usually the ones built into police cars), so there are many, many car accidents, as well as shots of fistfights and other assaults. The clips are typically filmed in black and white, with no close-ups, and though none of the action looks as dramatic or exciting as the average prime-time action show, it's much more unnerving to watch because it's all the real thing. Seeing an actual person getting punched in the head or run over by a car is a very different kind of entertainment than watching a slow-mo clip of an explosion engineered by Hollywood's stunt experts. |
 |
|||
LanguageFrequent swearing, though many of the words are bleeped. Because the audio is often hard to discern, many conversations are printed as subtitles; the curse words are printed in the subtitles, with dash marks ("oh s--t!"). |
 |
|||
Message |
|
|||
Social BehaviorThe show features real people in really bad situations, as captured on police car cameras and other security cameras. There's plenty of violence and swearing, and almost every sequence features someone breaking the law and usually in some dangerous situation. |
 |
|||
Commercialism |
 |
|||
Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoNo scenes of people drinking or using drugs, but many sequences show people who are obviously under the influence. |
|
|||
