Dumbest Movie Cops Ever

We hate when movies play to stereotypes, but some clichés just play well on film—namely that of the dim-witted cop. Now, we’re not saying that all cops are dumb, but the ones on this list are the dumbest of the dumb and we’ll proudly laugh in their faces.

Littering and...?

Super Troopers

These Vermont state troopers aren’t just dumb, they’re downright silly. They have syrup-chugging contests for breakfast and mess with motorists with the word “meow.” The team’s needless pranking of their new recruit and radio dispatcher must take a back seat when they must solve a murder, bust a drug-smuggling ring and avoid having their post eliminated by the state’s impending budget cut.  The troopers also have an ongoing feud with city police officers, which typically results in all-out fistfights between the two squads. Do the Super Troopers just play dumb or are there real methods to their madness? Well…they are pretty stupid.

Paul Blart

Does it count if the character is a mall cop instead of a real cop? Why not? Blart fails his New Jersey police officer training due to his severe hypoglycemia, which makes him react very strongly to food and act all-out stupid on multiple occasions. Being a mall cop, Blart uses a Segway to get to his job each day, and even gets chased by small dogs. How quaint. When a mall robbery occurs, Blart must save the day  by rescuing hostages and keeping the loot from getting stolen. Cue some fat man running jokes and some mis-timed heroic rescue attempts, and Blart still manages to save the day…somehow. However, his character is so jolly and likeable that it makes up for his horrible policing.

Start humming the "Pink Panther" tune

Inspector Clouseau

The original bumbling idiot detective is still the top of the dumb cop list—and we mean the Peter Sellers version. Sorry, Steve Martin. Clouseau always managed to get his man by accidentally solving the crime and creating some hijinks in the process. Who could forget when he gets his hand caught in a knight’s armor? Whew. Funny stuff. Whereas most of these dumb cops might just infuriate audiences with their stupidity, Clouseau always makes us laugh while he’s sleuthing. Perhaps it was all an act?

Hot Fuzz

While not a traditional dumb-cop movie, Hot Fuzz takes a really good cop (Simon Pegg) and partners him up with an action-starved cop (Nick Frost) in a peaceful town in rural England. There, Pegg’s character finds crime in the strangest of places—confiscating a sea mine and searching for a lost swan—until he eventually suspects a string of accidental deaths are really murders. Ultimately the climax of the film takes place in a blaze of glory as Pegg and Frost, whose love of action films clouds his greater judgment, take on the bad guys with more guns than has ever been seen in film history.

Naked Gun

But perhaps no other dumb cop movie in history could compete with the Naked Gun series. Starring Leslie Nielsen (and sometimes O.J. Simpson), these flicks revolve around ridiculous kidnapping and murder plots that Detective Frank Drebin somehow manages to solve in ludicrous fashions. This series practically started the spoof films of the ‘80s and ‘90s and took cues from serious plots but turned them on their head with over-the-top slapstick comedy—mostly with Nielsen performing some wacky stunt, usually taking place in pathetic “undercover” disguises.