Criminal Procedure 'Secret' Study Tip: Watch 'COPS'

By Gabriella Khorasanee, JD on May 12, 2014 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Here at FindLaw we pride ourselves on the smart, even scholarly advice we give to new law students as they embark on what may be their most difficult educational journey to date -- law school. We've given you our top study tips for the first year of law school, and even held a digital roundtable where FindLaw bloggers shared their favorite law school study supplements. And then of course, there was the controversial analogy of law school to boot camp.

If you thought you've heard it all, well, you're wrong. There's one tidbit we were saving for the second years -- read on for our secret tip.

Ok, ok, just hearing the word COPS makes you want to hear the theme song for yourself, doesn't it? So let's sing a bit, to get in the mood:

Now that we've got that out of the way, back the serious stuff.

We've done fun posts about the movies you should watch before going to law school, but this? Suggesting that you watch a television show to help you study? Yes, and I'm totally serious -- I actually did this in law school and it helped me.

How does watching COPS help you study criminal procedure? Because you are actually watching suspects get arrested, detained, questioned and more. It's a great way to spot rights violations one after another. And not only do you see the violations happen, you see how they happen, and at what point in the process.

Sorry, I wish I were kidding, but watching COPS after you've taken criminal procedure suddenly makes the show less funny, and more worrisome. No one is saying that cops have an easy job, but watching COPS makes you realize the importance of the Constitution, namely our favorite Fourth and Fifth Amendments.

But back to studying, watching COPS is great for issue spotting, and testing your knowledge of criminal procedure on the fly. Just don't forget to unglue yourself from the TV and hit the books too.

Will you watch "Cops" to test your knowledge of Crim Pro? Let us know @FindLawLP on Twitter.

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What to Wear to Law School -- Do's and Don'ts (FindLaw's Greedy Associates Blog)