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By Robert Isenberg
Special to MSN Entertainment

Good cop, bad cop -- or just a little off-kilter? Consider the idealistic rookie beat cop vs. the cynical, burned-out chief. The thing is, police officers are people, too. They defend the law, but they can be just as flawed and ... moreemotional and unobjective as the rest of us. Keeping their eyes peeled for criminal intent, patrolling the most broken streets in America, cops are among the most beloved characters on TV.

Here is a selection of some of our favorite TV lawmen -- the forceful, the funny and the flabbergasting. These aren't private eyes or Western deputies; they're just ordinary police officers battling to uphold the law, and maybe they solve a few mysteries in the process. And when your roster includes detectives, lieutenants and forensics experts, men and women, young upstarts and old cranks, you'll find that law enforcement is one of television's more diverse professions. Roll call!