# Top 21 Police Procedural TV Shows of All Time

> Gritty precinct dramas, forensic franchises, a rumpled lieutenant and one very funny squad room are all on the board.

*By YPB Team · Published October 31, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/top-21-police-procedural-tv-shows-of-all-time*

---

## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **The Wire** — score 1000/1000
   David Simon's sprawling portrait of Baltimore's police and drug trade.
2. **The Rookie** — score 822/1000
   Nathan Fillion's drama about a late-starting LAPD officer.
3. **Law & Order** — score 822/1000
   Dick Wolf's split police-and-prosecution drama that has run for more than 20 seasons.
4. **Prime Suspect** — score 754/1000
   Helen Mirren's British drama as DCI Jane Tennison.
5. **Columbo** — score 673/1000
   Peter Falk's rumpled LAPD lieutenant solving open-and-shut cases one more question at a time.
6. **Line of Duty** — score 658/1000
   A BBC anti-corruption thriller famous for its marathon interview scenes.
7. **NYPD Blue** — score 602/1000
   Steven Bochco's gritty 1990s precinct drama starring Dennis Franz.
8. **Southland** — score 602/1000
   A raw, handheld-style LAPD drama praised for its realism.
9. **Criminal Minds** — score 538/1000
   An FBI profiling drama that ran for 15 seasons before its Paramount+ revival.
10. **Hill Street Blues** — score 538/1000
   The 1980s ensemble cop drama that reinvented television storytelling.
11. **Dragnet** — score 538/1000
   The pioneering police procedural built on real LAPD case files.
12. **The Closer** — score 538/1000
   Kyra Sedgwick's interrogation-focused LAPD drama on TNT.
13. **Law & Order: SVU** — score 466/1000
   The longest-running US primetime live-action drama, following NYPD sex-crimes detectives.
14. **The Shield** — score 384/1000
   Shawn Ryan's FX drama about a corrupt LAPD strike team led by Vic Mackey.
15. **Blue Bloods** — score 384/1000
   A family drama about a multigenerational NYPD dynasty led by Tom Selleck.
16. **NCIS** — score 384/1000
   A long-running naval criminal investigation drama and one of the most-watched shows in the world.
17. **Bones** — score 290/1000
   A forensic anthropology drama pairing a scientist with an FBI agent.
18. **Cold Case** — score 179/1000
   A Philadelphia drama about detectives reopening unsolved cases.
19. **Brooklyn Nine-Nine** — score 0/1000
   A workplace comedy set in a fictional NYPD precinct.
20. **CSI: Crime Scene Investigation** — score 0/1000
   The forensic hit set in Las Vegas that launched a global franchise.
21. **Homicide: Life on the Street** — score 0/1000
   A Baltimore homicide drama based on David Simon's true-crime book.

Tags: tv shows, crime, police