The Force: Behind the Line
| The Force: Behind the Line | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Genre | Documentary |
| Narrated by | Simon Reeve (2006–present) |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 12 |
| No. of episodes | 116 (as of 3 August 2016) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Dan Meenan |
| Running time | Approx 23 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | Seven Network |
| Picture format |
576i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | 22 August 2006 – present |
| External links | |
| Website | |
The Force: Behind the Line is an Australian documentary television series about the Western Australia Police and the New South Wales Police, hosted by Simon Reeve and aired nationally on the Seven Network from 22 August 2006. Similarly to Border Security: Australia's Front Line and the American Cops series, each episode intermixes three or four investigations per episode.
The Seven Network first announced The Force (then untitled) on 23 November 2005. The program underwent a number of name changes, including Police Patrol and True Blue, before the eventual title was finally announced in June 2006.
The Western Australia Police was the only police service to agree to be filmed in the first two series of the show. Lawyers for the Western Australia Police opposed the move, but Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan convinced them otherwise. O'Callaghan was keen for the project, and viewed the program as "a great opportunity to give the community a better understanding of the good and bad parts of policing." A third season began airing in February 2008. The most recent season, being the series' 12th, will premiere on 27 July 2016.
The twelfth season will premiere on 27 July 2016.
The Force is filmed in metropolitan and regional Western Australia. Small camera crews follow the police around during their daily duties. Field producer Tim Noonan said the only rule in filming was that the camera crews "can't hinder [the police] in any way". As a result, some footage is filmed from police cars or a safe distance away from the police, with wireless microphones used to record audio.
The Western Australia Police retained the right to veto any material which posed legal problems, such as footage identifying underage offenders or matters before the courts. Techniques such as pixelisation are used to satisfy legal requirements. The program also blurred out the faces of police officers not wishing to be identified on national television.
Episodes of The Force comprise three or four individual stories featuring police officers going about everyday duties, including burglaries, drug-related cases, traffic cases and murder investigations. The choice of stories is usually balanced to include action-oriented stories as well as lighter stories such as family disputes.
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