It's quite common in a police drama where they're portraying an interview, that there's an officer standing guard at the back of the room? You might not even have noticed (I bet you will next time!) Ever wondered what they're doing there?!
There are derivatives of this - they stand outside (obviously visible through a glass wall, which also don't exist in police interview rooms), or my personal favourite, they’re armed with an automatic rifle.
What are they there to prevent, or who are they protecting? A police station - and especially a custody suite, where interview rooms tend to be located - is a pretty safe place, with authorised access, and usually has quite a lot of police officers inside it.
As you can see from the above image of a police interview room, there's nobody standing guard!
The reality is the only people who would be in the interview room are the officer/detective doing the interview, the suspect, and maybe a solicitor!
As a Police Advisor, I absolutely understand that directors of Film and TV productions have to strike the balance between reality and the needs of the drama. However, there are always things that productions don’t get quite right - sometimes, very easy things to avoid/fix! I'll be posting these occasionally, as they occur to me - enjoy!
Could your next Film or TV production benefit from a Police Advisor? Please get in touch for a free, no obligation chat about how I might be able to help your production look and feel authentic, without holding up the story!
Comments