Television and film have always been fascinated with cops with shows like Miami Vice and characters like Dirty Harry all enjoying major success.But with new release Untraceable it's the female cops that are taking centre stage as FBI agent Diane Lane investigates murders taking place on the Internet.Welcome to the front line of war on cybercrime where special agent Jennifer Marsh (Diane Lane) has seen it all before... until now.A tech savvy internet predator is displaying his graphic murders on his website and the fate of each of his tormented captives is left in the hands of the public: the more hits the site gets the faster the victim dies.Here at FemaleFirst we take a look back at some female police women that defined this previously male dominated genre of film.Cagney and Lacey, which was first aired in 1982, was the first drama series to feature two female leads and for this reason the show is now looked back on as a landmark series.
Starring Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly Cagney and Lacey were new York City police officer in the fictional Manhattan's 14th Precinct.
The two characters were two very contrasting women Christine Cagney (Gless) was a single, career-minded woman, while Mary Beth Lacey (Daly) was a married working mother. Their opposite personalities, one tough the other sensitive, only led to strengthening them as a team.
Like Starsky and Hutch and Miami Vice before them the pair formed they were a dynamic due partners, allies, friends, and comrades in a man's profession.
It was the shows root in reality that made the series such a success not based on car chases and elaborate story lines it was always about the characters, their experiences and reactions to the case and the crime around them, the pressures of the job, the conflicts with each other.
By the time the series ended in 1988 they had received thirty six Emmy nominations with fourteen wins and seven Golden Globe nominations with one win.
In the UK the most famous police woman is Helen Mirren's Jane Tennison in Prime Suspect.
The character of Tennison has fought her way up the ranks of the Metropolitan Police Force surviving and thriving in this male dominated world.
The first season of the hit show, which aired in 1991 tackled the issue of sexism in the work pace as Tennison, who takes over a murder inquiry after the death of a male colleague, is forced to gain the respect of her fellow officers.
The show went on to have six more series and, after establishing Tennison as a strong no nonsense character, moved away from the theme of sexism to look at other issues including paedophilia, child abuse, and prostitution.
Veronica Mars is one of the more recent characters to join the list of successful women law enforcers.
Played by Kristen Bell Veronica isn't a police officer but helps her father form his own private detective agency after the death of her friend Lilly and her own drugging and rape.
Like Tennison before her Veronica is a strong minded young woman who often oversteps her mark in her bid to find the truth, usually solving the case before her father.
Police women have also made an impression on the bug screen. Police chief Marge Gunderson, played by Frances McDormand, faced a multiple murder investigation whilst seven months pregnant in the Coen Brothers' 1996 movie Fargo.
Jerry Lundegaard (William H.Macy) is an oldsmobile car salesman who is facing major financial difficulties.
In a bid to earn some cash he enlists the help of Gaear Grimsrud (Peter Stormare) and Carl Showalter (Steve Buscemi) to kidnap his wife and hold her to an $80,000 ransom.
But Jerry intends to tell his wife's rich father that the ransom is $1,000,000 which he will use to pay off all his debts.
However the kidnapping leads to a string of murders when Carl botches a bride attempt leads to the killing of a state trooper and two witnesses to the crime.
For her role as the dedicated cop Frances McDormand won a Best Actress Oscar.
Other famous female cops include Rene Russo's Lorna Cole-Riggs from Lethal Weapon, Amelia Donaghy played by Angelina Jolie in The Bone Collector and Ashes to Ashes' Alex Drake played by Keeley Hawes.
Untraceable is released 29th February.
FemaleFist Helen Earnshaw