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17th Sep 2020

Andre Braugher urges Brooklyn Nine-Nine to address current state of police in America

Rudi Kinsella

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Braugher plays Captain Raymond Holt on the hit TV show.

Andre Braugher has urged Brooklyn Nine-Nine to address the current state of policing in America in the upcoming new season.

Braugher said that all police TV shows now have a duty to examine how they portray police, given the current climate.

Captain Holt’s story in the show is an idealistic one that sees a progressive, gay, black man rise to the role of captain through sheer hard work and determination.

But given recent incidents (the killing of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, and the shooting of Jacob Blake), many have called on the popular show to portray a more realistic depiction of what the police in America are actually like.

And Braugher agrees.

In a recent interview with Variety, he said: “Because there are so many cop shows on television, that’s where the public gets its information about the state of policing. Cops breaking the law to quote, ‘defend the law,’ is a real terrible slippery slope.

“It has given licence to the breaking of law everywhere, justified it and excused it. That’s something that we’re going to have to collectively address — all cop shows.

“It might mean that Holt is a staunch defender of the NYPD, or that he tries to burn the whole thing down. I know that he is a pragmatic man; I do know that he’s a loving, robotic person.

“I’m anxious to see what that’s all about, and I have no idea what Season 8 of ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ is going to be, because everything’s changed.”

Brooklyn Nine-Nine has not shied away from controversial topics in the past, having previously addressed sexual harassment and the treatment of black police officers in episodes.

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