Police officers: How accurate is the old TV show "Adam-12"?

Question

Adam 12 was also taken directly from LA crime reports, but there's always poetic license.

Answer 1

Wow. An old one. But I remember it well. Police shows were big then. Not the dark dramas popular today, but street stories of regular patrol guys. Yeah. It was kind of idealized. Nothing works out that well all the time. Kind of like the old "Rescue 8." (One of the same actors, if I recall.) They saved EVERYONE. We paramedics hated it. You don't save everyone. And the police don't catch them all. But all in all, not really too bad a portrayal.  

Answer 2

It is not at all accurate. It's TV for crying out loud. In fact anything you see on TV is not accurate. It's all for entertainment. This includes by the way your nightly news.

Answer 3

Loved it as a kid! Mostly accurate on the technical aspects and procedures. And how the events of a patrol shift could go from boring to "oh s***" in a second. I always thought some of the "Criminals" and Hippies they encountered were portrayed a little ridiculously. And Producer/Creator Jack Webb was criticized a lot for showing the dark side of the Hippy, Anti-War and Drug culture of the 60's and it's effects. But watching it now, he was actually right about them.  

You are correct that the show's Producer/Creator Jack Webb went through the records of the LAPD to get ideas for his stories. They loved him! Even named one of the buildings in his honor.



  

Answer 4

Mostly written by writers and the way they see things. I'd say maybe 75 percent was accurate. Adam 12 displayed a lot of officer safety issues I've noticed. The show dragnet was closer to actuality because the shows episodes were from actual crimes and  officer reports in LA. Only the names were changed.

Answer 5

You answered this yourself.........it's a TV show.  Don't take anything you see on a TV show as reality.