When it comes to hopelessly incompetent movie cops, Frank Drebin from The Naked Gun trilogy is the undisputed king of clueless.
With his deadpan delivery, catastrophic investigations, and uncanny ability to turn even the most routine police procedure into a full-blown disaster, Drebin redefined what it meant to be a cinematic lawman. But he’s not alone.
From bumbling inspectors to well-meaning detectives who always manage to make things worse, cinema has given us a treasure trove of hilariously inept law enforcement officers.
Here are our 10 favourite clueless classic movie cops. Let us know in the comments who we missed.
10. Inspector Clouseau – The Pink Panther series
Arguably the blueprint for all clueless cops to come, Peter Sellers’ Inspector Clouseau is a French detective with a heart of gold and a brain made of marshmallows. His investigations are chaos incarnate, with slapstick disasters and mispronounced clues piling up by the minute. Somehow, he always solves the case—but only because everyone else is even more confused than he is.
9. Lt. Detective Doofy Gilmore – Scary Movie (2000)
A direct parody of Dewey from Scream, Doofy is the kind of character that makes you question how he ever made it into law enforcement. His incompetence is played for big laughs, and the twist ending makes his entire act even more hilariously absurd. He might be a spoof of a spoof, but he’s earned his place in the clueless cop hall of fame.
8. Sgt. Angel (early on) – Hot Fuzz (2007)
Okay, Nicholas Angel becomes the ultimate badass by the end of Hot Fuzz, but his early days in the sleepy village of Sandford see him wildly out of his element. Surrounded by local cops who range from lazy to outright moronic, Angel spends the first half of the film in a state of disbelief at their ineptitude. By the final act, though, he’s less Drebin and more John McClane.
7. Detective Nordberg – The Naked Gun series
It’s impossible to talk about Frank Drebin without giving a nod to his loyal partner, Nordberg (played by O.J. Simpson). From falling off boats to getting flattened by a hospital bed, Nordberg’s physical comedy is a masterclass in slapstick suffering. He means well, but like Drebin, everything he touches turns into a minor catastrophe.
6. Capt. Jack Cates – 48 Hrs. (1982)
Played by Nick Nolte, Cates is more grizzled than goofy, but his methods are as messy as any other cop on this list. Whether it’s breaking protocol, losing his temper, or relying on a con man to do most of the actual detective work, Cates bumbles his way through the case with all the grace of a bar fight.
5. Detective John Kimble – Kindergarten Cop (1990)
Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a cop forced to go undercover as a kindergarten teacher. That alone earns him a spot here. Kimble is completely unprepared for the chaos of a classroom, leading to some of the most unintentionally hilarious moments in his career. His transition from hard-nosed detective to soft-hearted educator is chaotic, cringeworthy, and classic.
4. Detective Jake Peralta – Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV, but honorary)
Yes, it’s a TV character, but Jake Peralta feels right at home among these cinematic peers. A brilliant detective with the maturity of a 12-year-old, Peralta constantly lets his ego and pop culture obsessions get in the way of doing actual police work. If Drebin were born in the 1980s, he’d probably be Jake.
3. Det. Axel Foley – Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
Axel Foley isn’t exactly clueless—he’s clever and street-smart—but he’s also a walking HR violation. His unorthodox methods cause more property damage than most criminals. He’s a chaos agent in a leather jacket, and while he gets results, it’s usually by turning everything upside down in the process.
2. Officer Michael Dooley – K-9 (1989)
James Belushi’s Dooley is a detective whose life is a mess, and partnering with a police dog only makes it more ridiculous. While the dog (Jerry Lee) ends up being the brains of the operation, Dooley blunders through shootouts, stakeouts, and personal crises with a Drebin-like flair for disaster.
1. Det. Frank Drebin – The Naked Gun (1988)
And of course, the king himself. Drebin isn’t just a clueless cop—he’s an entire philosophy of policing gone hilariously wrong. Whether he’s crashing press conferences, mistaking fireworks for gunfire, or moonwalking through crime scenes, Frank Drebin is the ultimate embodiment of chaos in uniform. His legacy? A genre-defining performance that made it okay for cops to be clowns, as long as the laughs kept coming.
Whether played straight, silly, or satirical, these detectives prove that being a good cop in movies doesn’t always require competence—just impeccable timing, a bit of heart, and a whole lot of accidents. And maybe a banana peel or two.
