READING CINEMA'S RIGHTS LAPD UNDER SIEGE FROM FILMMAKERS' REQUESTS, BUT AS DIRECTOR RON SHELTON DISCOVERED, THE BADGE STOPS AT BAD MOVIE COPS.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Writer

When veteran director Ron Shelton (``Bull Durham'') came to the Los Angeles Police Department two years ago asking for cooperation in making ``Dark Blue,'' a movie about a rogue cop that's set during the 1992 L.A. riots, he got the cold shoulder.

A year passed and Shelton had another cop movie he wanted to make. He went back to the LAPD with the script for the comedic ``Hollywood Homicide,'' which follows a couple of sympathetic cops who conduct a murder investigation while moonlighting as a Realtor and yoga instructor. Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett were attached to star.

The LAPD signed off right away, and ``Hollywood Homicide'' became the first project since the old ``Dragnet'' television series to be given permission to film outside the department's Parker Center headquarters. Shelton was also given access to shoot at the LAPD's Hollywood station on Wilcox Avenue.

``Does 'Hollywood Homicide' show that cops are perfect? Absolutely not,'' says LAPD public information director Mary Grady. ``Cops aren't perfect. But there are more good officers than bad ones in the department, and they deserve to have their department shown in a decent light. The badge does have a shine to it still.''

The LAPD mantra ``to protect and serve'' has taken on new - and very personal - meaning these days as the department fights hard to control its image in the wake of an explosion of television cop shows and Hollywood movies. Grady says she personally receives pitches five or six times a week from producers wanting to use the LAPD in either a reality program or fictional treatment. And that doesn't count the stack of scripts that sit on her desk.

``I think (CBS hit) 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation' started it,'' Grady says. ``Now you can't turn on the television without running across three or four programs on at the same time.''

Indeed, while police dramas have always been a TV staple, the public's appetite for them is at an all-time high. ``CSI'' is No. 1 in the ratings; its spinoff, ``CSI: Miami,'' is the top-rated new show of this season. NBC has three versions of ``Law & Order,'' FX has grabbed attention with its controversial bad-cop drama ``The Shield,'' and ABC recently unveiled a high-profile revival of ``Dragnet.''

The six broadcast networks have 10 police dramas on the books for the upcoming fall season, and cable channels are tinkering with new versions of classic cop shows like ``Kojak,'' ``McCloud'' and ``Baretta.'' Even ``Hunter'' is getting a second chance, with NBC bringing back the Fred Dryer show after a 20-year layoff.

Movie studios are angling for their share of the market, too. Sony Pictures, in fact, has staked its summer slate on three cop films - ``Bad Boys II,'' which reunites Will Smith and Martin Lawrence; Shelton's ``Hollywood Homicide''; and ``S.W.A.T,'' an update of the '70s television series about the LAPD's Special Weapons and Tactics unit.

``Cop movies have become our westerns,'' Shelton says. ``They're battlegrounds for good and evil. We pay the cops. We want them to uphold the letter of the law except when something's going down in our neighborhood. Then it's, 'Do whatever's necessary.' So there's this push-pull dynamic that makes for a lot of gray areas, which is the stuff of drama.''

The LAPD has taken a more aggressive stance in the last couple of years over what kind of drama they officially sanction. The LAPD badge and logo have been protected trademarks since 1999, when Mayor James Hahn, then city attorney, spearheaded an effort to improve the image of the police force.

However, the department stands on tenuous legal ground when it comes to enforcing its trademarks.

``The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said that if it's fictional, they can use your intellectual properties,'' Grady says. ``There's nothing we can really do.''

But there is. When the LAPD gives its approval to a television show like ``Dragnet'' or a film like ``Hollywood Homicide,'' they allow actors to go on ride-alongs, give writers freedom to conduct research and afford set designers access to department buildings. When the department pulls the rug, it denies access and makes noise about its disappointment.

Case in point: FX's ``The Shield'' was originally called ``Rampart,'' an obvious reference to the 1998 LAPD corruption scandal. The department decried the title as an obvious attempt to ``capitalize on sensational headlines'' and ``negatively influence youth.'' FX backpedaled, renamed the program ``The Shield'' and set it in the fictional city of ``Farmington,'' a place that's perpetually sunny and has a lot palm trees. Kind of like Los Angeles.

Even with the concessions, the series, which recently won a Golden Globe award, rankles many police officers with its depiction of a cop who lies, steals drugs and resells them, covers up evidence, brutalizes suspects and organizes the occasional gang hit.

``It's like they took every bad thing an L.A. cop has done over decades and put it into a series,'' says Bob Souza, a retired LAPD robbery/homicide detective who worked with Shelton on ``Dark Blue'' and shares a screenplay credit on ``Hollywood Homicide.''

``I'm amazed that that series has done as well as it has,'' Souza says. ``It's a poor portrayal, with the ends justifying the means. I don't know what redeeming qualities it has.''

Counters ``Shield'' executive producer Scott Brazil: ``We all want to be safe, and for the most part, we don't want to know how that happens unless it affects us. Vic (the series' rogue cop) is working outside the system, but he's doing something the citizenry would want done.''

``Law & Order'' creator Dick Wolf, who signed an access agreement to work with the LAPD on ``Dragnet,'' takes a less cynical approach.

``The vast majority of cops are not doing it for the money and they're not out for themselves; they really want to help people,'' Wolf says. ``It's easy to focus on the bad cops. That makes for lazy drama. What I find more interesting is looking at how a good cop stays human and keeps his sense of duty and hope. There's plenty of drama in that kind of exploration.''

You don't have to convince the LAPD on that point. The department is now setting up an entertainment and trademark unit to specifically deal with the huge volume of requests it is receiving from Hollywood.

``We want to work with Hollywood,'' Grady says. ``When they were filming 'Hollywood Homicide' over at the Hollywood station, I can't tell you how excited people were to have the department be a part of that. There are more than 9,000 hard-working people in this department who put themselves out there every day. And they deserve to be afforded some respect.''

Television writer David Kronke contributed to this story.

LAPD: That's entertainment

Here are some TV shows and films that have dealt with our local law-enforcement agency.

TELEVISION SHOWS

``The Shield'' (originally titled ``Rampart,'' the FX show is filmed in Los Angeles, although it is set in a fictional locale called Farmington)

``Dragnet'' (in three incarnations)

``Boomtown''

``Robbery Homicide Division'' (canceled)

``LAPD Life on the Beat''

``T.J. Hooker''

``Adam-12''

MOVIES

``L.A. Confidential''

``Training Day''

``Dark Blue''

``Hollywood Homicide'' (coming this summer)

``Speed''

``Colors''

``To Live or Die in L.A.''

``Internal Affairs''

``Lethal Weapon'' series

``Die Hard''

``The Terminator''

``T2: Judgment Day''

``The Onion Field''

``The New Centurions''

``The Blue Knight''

``Blue Thunder''

``LAPD: To Protect and Serve''

``Biggie and Tupac''

CAPTION(S):

11 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- 5 -- cover -- color) BADGE OF APPROVAL

What it takes for Hollywood to get the LAPD's endorsement

(6) Kurt Russell portrays an L.A. cop who follows his own rules in ``Dark Blue,'' opening Friday. The LAPD refused to cooperate with director Ron Shelton.

(7) In Shelton's ``Hollywood Homicide,'' opening June 13, Josh Hartnett, left, and Harrison Ford play sympathetic LAPD officers. The department gave the film its blessing, even allowing the crew to film at Parker Center.

(8) Harry Morgan and Jack Webb in ``Dragnet''

(9) William Shatner in ``T.J. Hooker''

(10) Keanu Reeves in ``Speed''

(11) Bruce Willis in ``Die Hard''

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LAPD: That's entertainment (see text)