To Protect...and To Entertain Trivia Quiz

Answer: Texas Rangers

Texas Rangers Sgt. Cordell Walker was an ex-marine - isn't it funny how so many TV cops had Marine backgrounds? - who believed in the old-school honour of the west. That could loosely be termed as "an eye-for-an-eye."
As a decorated Vietnam veteran, he was also proficient in the martial arts. He was also deadly with firearms and a more than proficient driver.
Chuck Norris played Walker in the show "Walker, Texas Ranger" from 1993 to 2001. It was popular with the viewers, but not everyone was a fan. Critics did not like the "wooden" acting of Norris and the plots were often said to be repetitive and unrealistic.

Answer: US Marshals Service

Raylan Givens was the creation of the novelist Elmore Leonard and appeared in two books before the short story "Fire In The Hole" was picked for television.
It was made as "Justified" and ran for six seasons from 2010 to 2015. Timothy Olyphant played Givens, a US Deputy Marshal who was not afraid to pull his gun and 'justify' a shooting afterwards.
We first met Givens while he was working in Florida, but he proved to be too much of a loose cannon and he was shipped back home to Harlan, Kentucky.
There he became embroiled in dealing with what might best be described as a feudal type of crime. Many of the criminal elements were part of close family set ups.
Givens seemed to have a love-hate relationship with one of the chief local criminals, Boyd Crowder. The show gave as much prominence to Crowder (played by Walton Goggins) as it did to Givens.
Elmore Leonard was a fan of how Olyphant played the character. In an interview with the 'Wall Street Journal' he said: "...Tim Olyphant plays the character exactly the way I wrote him. I couldn't believe it. He's laid back and he's quiet about everything, but he says, if I have to pull my gun, then that's a different story. And it works."

Answer: California Bureau of Investigation

Theresa Lisbon was the lead agent in the California Bureau of Investigations (CBI). It operated somewhere between local police forces and the FBI within the State of California.
A dedicated cop, Lisbon was often frustrated by the brilliant but weird consultant, Patrick Jane, who was foisted on her team.
Jane had a knack of telling when people were lying and often spotted suspects and motives where the other team members missed them.
Despite this frustration, Lisbon and Jane were to become romantically involved with each other.
Robin Tunney played Lisbon in seven seasons of "The Mentalist" between 2008 and 2015.
Trivia note: Lisbon was sometimes seen playing poker with cop colleagues. In real life, Robin Tunney was a gifted poker player.

Answer: Metropolitan Police

Stella Gibson was a Metropolitan Police Service superintendent who was attached to the Police Service of Northern Ireland to help catch a serial killer stalking the streets of Belfast.
Her task was to track down a killer targeting professional women. The viewers got to know his identity, and saw his own personal story.
Gillian Anderson played Stella Gibson in three seasons that were broadcast on British and Irish television from 2013.
Gillian Anderson has been quoted as saying that Stella Gibson was the favourite among the characters she played.
(Trivia Note: Many of the characters were named after makes of guitar, including "Stella", "Gibson".)

Answer: New York Police Department

Christine Cagney was a hard working cop in the NYPD's 14th Precinct.
She worked with her married partner, Mary Beth Lacey. Cagney was the quiet one, Lacey was the brassy loud-mouth.
As a TV show, "Cagney and Lacey" had an interesting time. Loretta Swit played Cagney in the TV movie that preceded the show, but she could not continue as she was still involved in "M*A*S*H" at the time. (She might have been better to jump ship as "M*A*S*H" came to an end soon after.)
Meg Foster took over as Cagney in Season One but the studio bosses did not like her and she was dropped, with Sharon Glass brought in for Seasons Two to Seven to play alongside Tyne Daley (Lacey).
The show was twice cancelled (in 1982 and again in 1983) and brought back before the plug was finally pulled in 1988 after six years.
In those years, Tyne Daly won a Best Actress Emmy four times and Sharon Gless won twice.

Answer: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

"Sergeant Preston of the Yukon" was a popular television show that ran from 1955 to 1958. It evolved from the radio show "Challenge of the Yukon" that ran from 1938 to 1951.
It involved Sgt William Peston of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police with canine companion Yukon King solving crime during the 1880s Yukon goldrush.
Although based in Canada, the show was filmed at Ashcroft, Colorado.
Richard Williams played Preston.

Answer: An Garda Siochiona

Sharon Cleere was an officer in the Irish police service, An Garda Siochana based in a coastal town near Dublin.
Much of the town's problems were created by two feuding families, the Kielys and the Hennessys
Jane McGrath played Garda Sharon Cleere in the drama series "Red Rock" from 2015.

Answer: States of Jersey Police

Jim Bergerac was a complex character. He was a recovering alcoholic who fell in love all too easily.
He was a cop in England until he sustained a bad injury on duty (while drunk of course.)
He returned to his native Jersey (the original one, the island between England and France) to work for the Bureau des Étrangers ('The Foreigners' Office'). Its remit was to deal wth crimes involving non-residents.
Bergerac liked to investigate crimes while driving his vintage sports car, and often had long, lazy conversations with his ex father-in-law.
Bergerac was a little too much of a maverick for his bosses, and he was eventually given the boot, to take up as a private investigator.
John Nettles played Jim Bergerac between 1981 and 1991.
It was a gentle type of police show. Yes, there were violent crimes, but they were always dealt with in a so civilised way.
Viewers did not have to think too deeply: everything was good versus evil, black versus white.
The show was a ratings successes in the UK and in Australia (it was a co-production between British and Australian companies.).
The Jersey Tourist Board also enjoyed the big increase in visitor numbers the show brought.

Answer: Las Vegas Police Department

Jim Brass was a tough, experienced cop wth a soft centre. An ex-marine, he served in New Jersey in both homicide and vice squads. Personal circumstances, some a bit messy, took him to Las Vegas.
He was the guy who made the arrests on the evidence crime scene investigators found.
Brass was not afraid to mix it with the bad guys, and was shot several times in the line of duty. Each time he sustained a wound, he had the date tattooed beside it.
Paul Guilfoyle played Brass in "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (sometimes known as "CSI Las Vegas") from 2007 until the character was written out in 2014.
The Las Vegas version was the original in the CSI franchise. In the personal opinion of this question-setter, it was also the best; not only in the believability of the leading characters, but in the quality of the actors who played them.
For what it's worth I rate "Las Vegas" best, "New York" second and "Miami" a long way behind those two. But enough about me...

Answer: Los Angeles Police Department

Shane Vendrell was a member of the Strike Team that battled to keep law and order in a gang-torn corner of Los Angels.
The Strike Team members were, however, far from clean. They were involved in criminality and allowed criminals to operate on their terms.
Walton Goggins played Vendrell in seven seasons of "The Shield" between 2001 and 2008.
"The Shield" was an unusual cop show. It did not shy away from showing cops as corrupt. The Strike Team were criminals with a badge. They were not consistently bad or evil; some plots showed them doing good things for the community.
Trivia notes: Walton Goggins lists photography and scuba diving among his interests and says his favourite TV show was "Sanford and Son".