James Bond in the role of a policeman?

This has long (1998) been one of my pet projects after I discussed it with a friend at school - that James Bond (on occasions) assumes the role of a policeman. The film version of Dr. No sees Bond referred to as a "stupid policeman" by No at one point, he refers to his "beat". In DAD Bond and Britain are said to be "the world's policeman". In many of the Fleming Bond novels, Bond uses a euphenism like "I work for the police/MoD/govt" etc. and on occasion he actually works with the Special Branch of Ronnie Vallance (MI5) (for e.g. in Risico). In the films - DAF - when Bond questions Tiffany Case, she says "Hey, you sound like a cop to me!" Then there are the John Gardner continuation James Bond novels where they unfold more and more like mysteries - from NDMB onwards - see Scorpius, WLOD and (especially) Never Send Flowers where Bond and Flicka von Grusse work as two homicide detectives/cops to follow the clues leading to a serial killer. In TSWLM novel Bond was also treated as a cop by Horror and Sluggsy.

Can anyone here think of any other instances from either the novels or films?

This has the potential to make a very interesting article - something I've been working at on and off on for years.

So, what are our thoughts on PC Bond?

Can Bond ever really be a policeman - should this angle of his character be pursued in a novel or film in the future?

Or is Bond too identified as a secret agent/spy/secret intelligence officer/trouble-shooter to ever really fit the role of a policeman?

Well the fact of the matter is that the kind of intelligence work Bond does is actually more of a combination commando/policeman than spy.

If you want to think of it in these terms, MI5 (SS) is like the police while MI6 (SIS) is like the army. One protects you from you fellow citizen and the other protects you from outside threats.

Similarly, whereas MI5, the FBI, the RCMP, etc. are concerned with lawbreakers, Bond and the SIS (and CIA, CSIS, etc) are more concerned with the elimination of potential threats.

Similar, yet different. But yes, the Bond novel certainly owes more to the detective thriller tradition at times than the Spy thriller -- it's the hero vs. the villain, as opposed to any kind of attempt at international intrigue like in Follet or le Carré.

Hi, Silhouette Man.

You may wish to take a look at an essay included in Christopher Lindner's anthology The James Bond Phenomenon, A Critical Reader (2009 edition). It's by Lindner himself and is called "Criminal vision and the ideology of detection in Fleming's 007 Series."

Major Tallon wrote:

Hi, Silhouette Man.

You may wish to take a look at an essay included in Christopher Lindner's anthology The James Bond Phenomenon, A Critical Reader (2009 edition). It's by Lindner himself and is called "Criminal vision and the ideology of detection in Fleming's 007 Series."

Well, thank you very much Major, I have a copy of that book - will very happily look this out!

It's really great to see an old fruend here on BAB!

Hope that you stick around!