The cop on the edge (COTE) is a stock character of popular fiction, almost exclusively male, and usually found in the middle of a crisis where only their no-nonsense brand of law enforcement can prevail. <!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: -->Frequently incarnated as either an experienced but jaded veteran, or an over zealous new recruit, the cop on the edge can be relied upon to throw away the rulebook and get the job done.

Frustration with what they see as the liberal justice system and a distaste for petty inter-agency rivalries are common preoccupations for most COTEs.

COTEs are more likely to be the protagonist than occupy supporting roles.

Broad characteristics

Although usually acting as a force for good, some cops on the edge have crossed over to a life of crime where they ruthlessly exploit the benefits of carrying a badge.

Distinctive characteristics

Problems with authority

Reckless

War Veteran/ex-military

Competent with an array of firearms

Little life outside of the job

Tendency to get re-assigned to a different case

Tendency to get suspended

Compulsion to pursue enquiries on his own time after being taken off a case or suspension

Drinking problem (normally controlled)

Substance abuse problem

Originally a high-achieving, commended officer prior to disillusionment with justice system

Insecure or traumatic childhood

Strong sense of empathy

Control freak

Grappling with personal demons/suicidal

Rented, shabby, or otherwise modest accommodation.

Tendency to slam/throw badge down on desks (especially those of superior officers)

Constantly threatened with desk jobs or traffic duty

Ruining other departments operations through neglect

Has or needs a psychologist

Relationships

Mostly transient - doesn't want to let anybody get too close

Series of ex-wives or ex-girlfriends

Inappropriately forthcoming with his jaded world view - can be a problem around children

Barely tolerated by his stressed-out police chief, who secretly respects the COTE's grit and determination

His partner is frequently his best friend - and usually serves as a restraining presence and counterpoint to the COTE

Examples

In film

48 Hours duo Nick Nolte (Jack Cates) puts booze in his morning coffee

Bad Lieutenant (Harvey Keitel as The Lieutenant) "the edge" is a long way behind the Bad Lieutenant

Cop (James Woods plays James Ellroy's recurring character Lloyd Hopkins)

Cop on the Edge IX: Prelude to Justice (Jake Cop)

Die Hard trio (Bruce Willis as John McClane) forced on the edge by circumstance

Dirty Harry series (Clint Eastwood) multiple dead partners and throwing away of the badge at the end

Fair Game (William Baldwin as Det. Max Kirkpatrick. Poster tag line - He's a cop on the edge. She's a woman with a dangerous secret. And now they're both... Fair Game)

The French Connection duo (Gene Hackman as Det. Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle) violent and talks gibberish

L.A. Confidential (Russell Crowe as Officer Wendell 'Bud' White) his thuggish nature is used by his superiors

Leon (Gary Oldman as Stansfield) drug dealing pill popper

Lethal Weapon series (Mel Gibson as Sergeant Martin Riggs) on psychiatric evaluation

One Good Cop (Michael Keaton) as Artie Lewis stealing from drug dealers to support dead partner's orphans

Osmosis Jones, voiced by Chris Rock

Q & A (Nick Nolte) as Det. Mike Brennan shooting unarmed drug dealer and planting weapon to appear as self-defense

Serpico (Al Pacino as Officer Frank Serpico) deep under cover

Sharky's Machine (Burt Reynolds as Sharky)

Detective Scagnetti (Natural Born Killers) author of Scagnetti on Scagnetti. A COTE who really crosses over when he strangles a hooker on the trail of Mickey and Mallory

Tom Jane as Stander in Stander; a cop tired of paying for his own ammo in racist S. African police force gets given a desk job and starts to do bank jobs in his lunch hour, dies in Florida where spring break was too much for him

Dark Blue (Kurt Russell as Eldon Perry)

Donnie Brasco (Johnny Depp as Joe Pistone, who begins to be driven to the edge by the strain of years spent deep undercover)

Insomnia, and American remake of a Norwegian film (Al Pacino as Will Dormer)

Insomnia, the original Norweigan film (Stellan Skarsgård as Jonas Engström, a cop considerably further on the edge and/or over the edge compared to Al Pacino's character in the American version)

On TV

NYPD Blue (Dennis Franz as Det. Andy Sipowicz)

Monk no longer a cop but definitely on the edge

24 (Kiefer Sutherland) as Jack Bauer (over the edge many times)

Dark Justice (Ramy Zada and later Bruce Abbott as Nicholas Marshall, a former cop, D.A., and judge who begins hunting down and executing criminals as a vigilante after his wife and daughter are murdered)

Spoofs of cops on the edge

Sledge Hammer! (David Rasche as Sledge Hammer, an outrageous parody of the cop on the edge)

The Simpsons (Harry Shearer as Rainier Wolfcastle as McBain, a cop on the edge within a fictional franchise of movies occasionally watched by characters in The Simpsons)

In crime literature

Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch - a Michael Connelly recurring character

Detective Inspector John Rebus - a Ian Rankin recurring character

Lloyd Hopkins - a James Ellroy recurring character

Samuel Vimes- Terry Pratchett's "Nightwatch" Series and other Discworld books