10 Best Corrupt Cop TV Shows Of All Time, Ranked

Justice always exists in a delicate balance and the best TV crime dramas thoroughly explore those moral gray areas that come with enforcing the law, with shows often depicting corrupt police officers and detectives as antiheroes or adversaries. To be clear, these narratives obviously don't celebrate or encourage corruption or graft within law enforcement, but use them to feature a more nuanced take on the genre. With that in mind, we're highlighting the series that told stories about shady law enforcement figures the best in a regular capacity.

From shows that center on internal affairs divisions busting crooked cops, to crime thrillers with police protagonists committing morally dubious acts, there are a lot of series to choose from. Keep in mind, these shows are ranked in order not just of overall quality but how they, more specifically, feature corrupt cop stories for the purposes of this list. Any position of authority carries the dark potential to break bad and these series acutely reflect that in their respective storytelling. These are the 10 best corrupt cop TV shows of all time ranked, each showing the dark side of life on the force.

The 2006 British limited series, "Low Winter Sun," was adapted for American audiences and expanded into a 2013 remake of the same name. The show centers on Detroit police detectives, Frank Agnew (Mark Strong) and Joe Geddes (Lennie James), after they kill a corrupt cop, Brendan McCann (Michael McGrady). With McCann already under investigation by internal affairs, the two detectives struggle to cover up the murder while contending with Detroit's organized crime contingent. This is made all the more complicated by Geddes' own apparent links to the city's criminal underworld beyond his usual work.

Where the American version of "Low Winter Sun" excels is its absolutely stacked cast, led by Strong and James. With these two at the helm, and the adaptation's bleaker writing by Chris Mundy, the series veers deeper into neo-noir. These elements have a tendency of coming off as overly grim, but it suits the story that it's telling, with its morally dubious main characters caught in a complex web. One of the darkest shows on this list, "Low Winter Sun" dives headfirst into the dark underbelly of crime and corruption with its compromised protagonists.

With the multitude of great British crime dramas on television, quite a few deal with corruption within law enforcement. One of the standouts is the 1992 series "Between the Lines," which ran for three seasons until 1994. The show's protagonist is police superintendent, Tony Clark (Neil Pearson), whose work primarily consists of investigating claims of corruption within the London police force. While initially featuring more episodic storytelling, the series does chronicle Clark's complicated personal life and the pressures that eventually drive him out of the police as the show progresses.

"Between the Lines" offers an incisive look at policing, particularly the blind eyes turned in the name of loyalty rather than duty, with Pearson holding his own well. This show stood the chance of ranking higher on this list, but it took a sharp detour creatively with its third and final season. The narrative had Clark leave the police force, pivoting to a life of investigative espionage, often for private benefactors. But for those first two seasons, "Between the Lines" really leans into the pressures of internal affairs well within a '90s London context.

When it comes to TV shows that'll make you nostalgic for the '80s, it's hard to top "Miami Vice." The series revolves around undercover police detectives, Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson) and Rico Tubbs (Philip Michael Thomas), who often get involved with other crooked cops. Given the nature of their work, Crockett and Tubbs often face ethical dilemmas and how far they are willing to go to maintain their cover within Miami's biggest crime syndicates. The corruption within law enforcement and the justice system is seen right from the series premiere, with an arrested drug lord resorting to bribery to evade conviction.

Between the flashy fashion, decade-defining music, and the show's general swagger, it's easy to overlook the themes of systemic corruption in "Miami Vice." But those elements were always there, including Crockett and Tubbs occasionally crossing the increasingly blurry moral line themselves. This extends to some of the show's recurring antagonists, frustrating Crockett and Tubbs as they evade prosecution to continue their criminal activities. Known more for its generational cool factor these days, "Miami Vice" brought more nuance into cop shows, both through and around its protagonists.

Before starring in the crime thriller "Cross," Aldis Hodge teamed up with Kevin Bacon for a very different kind of crime show, "City on a Hill." In the 2019 series, Hodge plays Assistant District Attorney Decourcy Ward, working with retired FBI agent Jackie Rohr (Bacon). While investigating an armored car robbery, Ward and Rohr uncover widespread corruption within the criminal justice system in 1990s Boston. Working to bust these crooked law enforcement figures, Rohr stands as a deeply corrupt character himself despite his unlikely partnership with Ward.

Unfortunately, "City on a Hill" was canceled at Showtime after three seasons, but it did bring interesting things to the television landscape. Bacon and Hodge both expertly know how to command a scene, with Bacon bringing a cynically world-weary energy to the proceedings. That Bacon gets us as the audience invested in his despicable character really speaks to the nuance that he brings to his role. A period piece crime drama that leans heavily into its characters' flaws amidst Boston facing social upheaval, "City on a Hill" takes full advantage of its premise.

Ever since its first season, "True Detective" has featured police detectives that have abused their power in varying ways. Whether it's Marty Hart (Woody Harrelson) and Rust Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) altering a crime scene in Season 1 or Season 2 uncovering an entire conspiracy, shady things are afoot. This trend even continues on in "Night Country," the series' fourth season with a new showrunner at the helm, this time involving corporate crime complicity and cover-ups. Simply put, every season of "True Detective" includes systemic corruption with differing levels of how it intrinsically informs the narrative.

What overshadows the fact that "True Detective" has always been about corrupt cops to a degree is that the corruption usually isn't the focal point of a given season's investigation. Instead, every season is a murder mystery at its core, with the corruption adding new levels of intrigue and, in some cases, causality to the crime. Within the series' broader neo-noir sensibilities, these characters live in a profoundly morally compromised world and aren't immune to its effects. One of the best HBO original series of all time precisely because of these complexities, "True Detective" is a moody classic.

One of Jennifer Lopez's biggest television roles was starring in the 2016 network television series, "Shades of Blue." Lopez plays New York police detective, Harlee Santos, who falls in with a corrupt contingent on the force led by her father figure Matt Wozniak (Ray Liotta). After she's busted by the FBI, Santos is forced to become an informant for an anti-corruption task force targeting Wozniak and his associates. The show's conflict is fueled by Santos' compromised loyalties and the pressures she faces to expose her peers for their clearly corrupt activities.

"Shades of Blue" goes beyond the complex dynamic between Santos and Wozniak as its web of crooked intrigue expands and escalates. The series really fires on all cylinders when it focuses on the complicated rapport between Lopez and Liotta's respective characters. While Liotta is right in his creative wheelhouse, Lopez delivers one of her best dramatic performances in years on either the silver or small screen. Blending procedural melodrama and the perils of institutionalized corruption across three seasons, "Shades of Blue" keeps audiences on the hook until its series finale.

"The Wire" co-creator, David Simon, returned to HBO for a new show examining the Baltimore police force with "We Own This City." Premiering in 2022, the six-episode limited series centers on a special task force led by Wayne Jenkins (Jon Bernthal). The unit regularly shakes down everyday citizens for their own financial gain in a clear misuse of their power as they terrorize Baltimore's streets. The series itself plays around the linear progression of its storytelling, alternating between the unit's illicit activities and the subsequent internal affairs investigation that busted them.

While there was always an authenticity to Simon's Baltimore cop shows, like "Homicide: Life on the Street" and "The Wire," "We Own This City" is directly based on true events. This makes its story all the more searing in its depiction of police corruption, somberly educating viewers on what took place. The show also gives Bernthal a showcase for one of his most nuanced performances to date, absolutely mesmerizing in his calculated duplicity. Part crime thriller and part legal drama, "We Own This City" is a reminder of the importance of giving those in power proper scrutiny.

One last British show to include on this list is "Line of Duty," which premiered on the BBC in 2012. The show centers on counter-terrorism specialist, Steve Arnott (Martin Compston), who is reassigned to uncover police corruption. Each season focuses on a different compromised law enforcement figure whom Arnott and his partner, Kate Fleming (Vicky McClure), are looking into. This keeps each season fresh, with a rotational quality to its supporting cast and the various cases that Arnott and Fleming work on.

When it comes to shows about police corruption, "Line of Duty" is far and away the best to come out of the United Kingdom to date. For over a decade, the series has provided audiences with taut investigations, with complex culprits and self-contained seasonal stories featuring plenty of twists and turns. These cases usually pay off with tautly staged interrogation scenes as the cornered corrupt cops are verbally picked apart. One of the best crime shows to come out of Britain, "Line of Duty" is definitely well worth a watch.

As good as "We Own This City" is, David Simon's magnum opus remains "The Wire," a multifaceted crime saga exploring Baltimore. Premiering on HBO in 2002, the show covers multiple different communities affected by violent crime, drug trafficking, and an ineffective local government. This, of course, includes the police force, primarily from the perspective of a special task force led by Cedric Daniels (Lance Reddick) to address drugs flooding the city streets. However, many of these detectives' personal problems bleed into their work, including their willingness to do morally questionable things in the presumed line of duty.

The big reason that "The Wire" doesn't rank as highly on this list is, though it deals with corrupt cops, this element isn't the show's explicit focus. The show always had cops abusing their power or neglecting their duties, most notably through Thomas "Herc" Hauk (Domenick Lombardozzi) and Ellis Carver (Seth Gilliam), at least on the sidelines. But by the final season, even Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West) finds himself misusing his authority, including falsifying crime scenes to suggest a serial killer is on the loose in Baltimore. Among the best TV shows of the 21st century, "The Wire" thrives in moral gray, especially regarding the police, as its characters just try to get by in its harsh environment.

When it comes to shows that deal with corrupt cops, "The Shield" features this narrative element front and center throughout the entire run. The series revolves around a special task force in one of Los Angeles' more dangerous neighborhoods run by immoral police detective Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis). The opening episode has Mackey murder a fellow cop whom he suspects has been assigned to his unit to report him for his increasingly crooked activity. From there, Mackey and his colleagues only descend deeper into corruption and graft, with Mackey doing anything to avoid being busted for his violently illicit modus operandi.

"The Shield" isn't particularly interested in redeeming Mackey across its seven-season run, instead demonstrating the lengths he'll go to stay above the law. This leads to some incredibly intense plots throughout the series, including visceral storylines that gave the show's actors nightmares due to the sheer emotional strain. That taut storytelling carries over to the audience, with viewers on the edge of their seat to see what these lethally underhanded characters will get into next. Corruption is very much the name of the game in "The Shield," giving cable television a vicious antihero hiding behind a badge that still defines the sub-genre.