He's a loose cannon, but DAMMIT he's the best we have! Sure, police work may be built upon rules and procedures, but they usually make for bad, boring stories. Sometimes you have to bend the rules, rough up the suspects, moon your supervisors and shred the Constitution to get stuff done. A Cowboy Cop may be an Anti-Hero (or an occasional Byronic Hero) if he is the protagonist of the show, typically Hot-Blooded and passionate about his maverick antics, or a Jerk with a Heart of Gold whose unlikely claims will generally be proven correct. However, in shows that feature cops as secondary characters, the Cowboy Cop is often at odds with the main characters, as he will trample all over the crime scene and/or the suspect's rights. If Da Chief is a Cowboy Cop he would often reprimand the naive upstart who is being too soft with the criminals and will gladly let the loose cannons go in shooting first and asking questions later. He will usually be a detective, as a beat cop is much less likely to be intimately involved in a case's full duration, outside of a Cop Killer Manhunt, where Cop Killers are his sworn enemies by default. In a SWAT Team type situation where the cops are expected to shoot armed, dangerous suspects to kill, he does not care about human shields or property damage and will more often than not almost level the place to take down the suspects (especially with a car or truck), with extreme lethal force. Cowboy Cops are almost always asked to Turn in Your Badge by Da Chief and go on leave pending the inquiry, at which point they usually become a Vigilante Man in regards to whatever bad guy they are after for either the rest of the movie or until they get their badge back. As a result of his flagrant rule-breaking, Internal Affairs hates the Cowboy Cop with a passion. Often policemen who oppose the Cowboy Cop are revealed to be Dirty Cops, scared that he's going to shake up the system of bribes and kickbacks they've worked so hard to set up. As part of being unorthodox, the Cowboy Cop often has at least one contact on the street to feed him information that can't be obtained through official channels, so even when he's cooling his heels on leave, he can get intel. Somewhat justified for undercover cops; they have to pose as someone who runs in criminal circles to learn some intel, so they're expected to break some of the usual rules. Though they may get in trouble for lying about it when askednote . The Undercover Cop Reveal may cast a character as a Cowboy Cop in retrospect. Just as with cowboy sheriffs in the old west, cowboy cops rarely show any remorse for using lethal force. "First kill" scenarios are rarely depicted; these guys (and occasionally gals) have usually filled whole cemeteries to capacity before we meet them for the first time. Being a Cowboy Cop may be just be backstory— the character might make the transition to another field such as being a federal officer, a Man in Black or a Deep Cover Agent, where their methods might fit in a little better. May often be the recipient of Arson, Murder, and Lifesaving. The Trope Namer for "Cowboy Cop" is Beverly Hills Cop (1984), then the term was popularized by Die Hard (1988). Compare Bunny-Ears Lawyer. Contrast By-the-Book Cop. Compare and contrast Dirty Cop and Rabid Cop. While a Cowboy Cop is generally more well-intentioned than a Dirty Cop, more deconstructive works will concede that they both show equal scorn for necessary regulations; meanwhile, a Rabid Cop is a Cowboy who's lost all sense of perspective and morality. For the military version, see Military Maverick. Old-Fashioned Copper is the specifically British subtrope. For a policeman involved with literal Wild West cowboys, see The Sheriff. Be aware: everyone hates cowboy cops in Real Life. Even if their illegal searches and torture-based confessions were able to solve cases, those cases collapse in court, as vital evidence is ruled inadmissible. In addition, it compromises other investigations, gives police a bad reputation, and in worst-case scenarios, their "shoot first, ask questions later" methods get people killed, including innocent bystanders.
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