Good cop, bad cop

Posted by David FG on May 03, 2005

In Reply to: Good cop, bad cop posted by R. Berg on May 03, 2005

: : "Good cop, bad cop" - was there a famous team (actors, movie or literary characters, real cops?) to whom this phrase was first applied?

: I believe it originated as a description of real cops who worked in pairs when interrogating suspects. No particular individuals, just the idea of a team who used the technique that the phrase refers to.

Yes. It is an interrogatory technique by which one of the team is actively hostile/aggressive to the suspect, while the other pretends to be his friend. It works because the suspect is relieved by the apparent sympathy of the 'good cop' so he reveals whatever secrets he might have.

DFG

• Good cop, bad cop Lewis 03/May/05