Television Crime Drama and Homeland Security: From Law & Order to Terror TV

This article explores the migration of themes of homeland security and political violence from sensational action formats to procedural crime dramas. It argues that, although the latter have typically developed distinctive strategies and relatively complex narratives, there are commonalities across the broad category of crime television. Themes explored include racial profiling, motive and political violence, coercion, and the ethics of interrogation within crime television.