OC's Danielle Moné Truitt Praises The Series For Not Romanticizing Cops
As the longest-running police show franchise on TV, "Law & Order" and its various spin-offs, including "Law & Order: Organized Crime," are at the center of many ongoing conversations about so-called "copaganda," or entertainment that glorifies law enforcement to a potentially detrimental degree. "Law & Order: Organized Crime" star Danielle Moné Truitt, who plays Sergeant Ayanna Bell on the show, took part in that conversation in a talk with Fangirlish, in which she says the series doesn't fall into some of the usual pitfalls in this area.
In Truitt's opinion, "Organized Crime" succeeds in a more nuanced portrayal of law enforcement. "I think our show has done a decent job of showing that there are some cops that are good. And there are some that aren't," Truitt said. She added that the show's writers are taking care "not romanticizing police, law enforcement. Because you can't."
While viewers may agree or disagree with Truitt's premise or her characterization of the show, it is an interesting look into the creative approach behind "Law & Order: Organized Crime."
Truitt says the show has focused on police corruption, and underlines that not all cops are heroes
"We live in a world where we've seen over and over and over again that there are cops that don't deserve to be cops and to have the position of power that they have," Danielle Moné Truitt told Fangirlish. She cited the show's "Brotherhood" storyline as one example of police corruption getting a dramatic focus, and shared that it's all part of a collaborative atmosphere on the set of the show. "I am, for the most part, proud of how we have handled certain things," she said. "And if anything comes up that I feel uncomfortable with, the wonderful thing about our show and our production is that our voices are heard. We're able to talk to the showrunner. We're able to discuss certain things before we put it on TV."
According to Truitt, that openness to collaboration is what makes showrunner Sean Jablonski a pleasure to work with. "I can text him and be like, 'Hey, I had a question about this.' And he'll call me right away. Or make a plan for us to talk through things. I think that's really important," she said.
If the cops on "Law & Order: Organized Crime" seem a little less one-dimensionally heroic than typical TV cops, now you know the reason why.