Top 250 Tv Shows Like Dutch

In cases ripped from the headlines, police investigate serious and often deadly crimes, weighing the evidence and questioning the suspects until someone is taken into custody. The district attorney's office then builds a case to convict the perpetrator by proving the person guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Working together, these expert teams navigate all sides of the complex criminal justice system to make New York a safer place.

Raymond "Red" Reddington, one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives, surrenders in person at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. He claims that he and the FBI have the same interests: bringing down dangerous criminals and terrorists. In the last two decades, he's made a list of criminals and terrorists that matter the most but the FBI cannot find because it does not know they exist. Reddington calls this "The Blacklist". Reddington will co-operate, but insists that he will speak only to Elizabeth Keen, a rookie FBI profiler.

A gangster family epic set in 1919 Birmingham, England and centered on a gang who sew razor blades in the peaks of their caps, and their fierce boss Tommy Shelby, who means to move up in the world.

The story of New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads. Those difficulties are often highlighted through his ongoing professional relationship with psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi. The show features Tony's family members and Mafia associates in prominent roles and story arcs, most notably his wife Carmela and his cousin and protégé Christopher Moltisanti.

In the criminal justice system, sexually-based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories.

A close-knit anthology series dealing with stories involving malice, violence and murder based in and around Minnesota.

21 Jump Street revolves around a group of young cops who would use their youthful appearance to go undercover and solve crimes involving teenagers and young adults.

An anthology series centered around some of history's most famous criminal investigations.

After a billionaire engineer witnesses his best friend’s murder, he takes charge of Chicago’s troubled 13th District and reboots it as a technically innovative police force, challenging the district to rethink everything about the way they fight crime.

Huntress, Dinah, Oracle are determined to carry on Batman's fight for justice against the ruthless criminals of New Gotham City.

Atlantic City at the dawn of Prohibition is a place where the rules don't apply. And the man who runs things -- legally and otherwise -- is the town's treasurer, Enoch "Nucky" Thompson, who is equal parts politician and gangster.

A riveting police drama about the men and women of the Chicago Police Department's District 21 who put it all on the line to serve and protect their community. District 21 is made up of two distinctly different groups: the uniformed cops who patrol the beat and go head-to-head with the city's street crimes and the Intelligence Unit that combats the city's major offenses - organized crime, drug trafficking, high profile murders and beyond.

A fast-paced character-oriented story, focuses on the lives and loves of the young assistant district attorneys in New York, following their career paths as these passionate but naive ADAs are confronted with tough, emotional cases that challenge their limited experience – and force them to mature quickly or be overwhelmed.

A Las Vegas team of forensic investigators are trained to solve criminal cases by scouring the crime scene, collecting irrefutable evidence and finding the missing pieces that solve the mystery.

As a young associate, Mitchell McDeere brought down the prestigious Memphis law firm of Bendini, Lambert & Locke, which operated as a front for the Chicago mob—and his life was never the same. After a difficult decade, which included a stay in the Federal Witness Protection program, Mitch and his family now emerge from isolation to reclaim their lives and their future—only to find that past dangers are still lurking and new threats are everywhere.

Hunter is an American police drama television series created by Frank Lupo, and starring Fred Dryer as Sgt. Rick Hunter and Stepfanie Kramer as Sgt. Dee Dee McCall, which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1991. However, Kramer left after the sixth season to pursue other acting and musical opportunities. In the seventh season, Hunter partnered with two different women officers. The titular character, Sgt. Rick Hunter, was a wily, physically imposing, and often rule-breaking homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. The show's main characters, Hunter and McCall, resolve many of their cases by shooting dead the perpetrators. The show's executive producer during the first season was Stephen J. Cannell, whose company produced the series.

Jake and the Fatman is a television crime drama starring William Conrad as prosecutor J. L. "Fatman" McCabe and Joe Penny as investigator Jake Styles. The series ran on CBS for five seasons from 1987 to 1992. Diagnosis: Murder was a spin-off of this series.

A character drama based on the 2001 Elmore Leonard short story "Fire in the Hole." Leonard's tale centers around U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens of Kentucky, a quiet but strong-willed official of the law. The tale covers his high-stakes job, as well as his strained relationships with his ex-wife and father.

King is a Canadian police drama which premiered April 17, 2011 on Showcase. The series stars Amy Price-Francis as Jessica King, a veteran police officer who gets promoted to head of the Major Crimes Task Force in Toronto after her predecessor has a breakdown on television. Season 2 began production in September 2011 and premiered 29 February 2012. On June 2, 2012, it was reported that King had been cancelled after 2 seasons.

Syd Burnett has left her complicated past behind to become an LAPD detective. Paired with a new partner, Nancy McKenna, a working mom with an equally complex past, Syd is pushed to examine whether her unapologetic lifestyle might be masking a greater personal secret. These two women don't agree on much, but they find common ground when it comes to taking on the most dangerous criminals in Los Angeles.

L.A. Law is an American television legal drama series that ran for eight seasons on NBC from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994. Created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher, it contained many of Bochco's trademark features including a large number of parallel storylines, social drama and off-the-wall humor. It reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s, and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot-topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights, homophobia, sexual harassment, AIDS, and domestic violence. The series often also reflected social tensions between the wealthy senior lawyer protagonists and their less well-paid junior staff. The show was popular with audiences and critics, and won 15 Emmy Awards throughout its run, four of which were for Outstanding Drama Series.

The third installment of the “Law & Order” franchise takes viewers deep into the minds of its criminals while following the intense psychological approaches the Major Case Squad uses to solve its crimes.

Complex, offbeat Detective Charlie Crews returns to the force after serving time in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Crews’ new lease on life has provided him with a Zen-like outlook, peace of mind and no need for vengeance, an attitude which can be challenging to maintain when someone he cares about is threatened — or when he is investigating the mystery surrounding the murder he was falsely accused of.

Major Crimes explores how the American justice system approaches the art of the deals as law enforcement officers and prosecutors work together to score a conviction. Los Angeles Police Captain Sharon Raydor heads up a special squad within the LAPD that deals with high-profile or particularly sensitive crimes.

Allison Dubois works in the District Attorney’s office using her natural intuition about people and her ability to communicate with the dead to help to solve crimes. Her dreams often give her clues to the whereabouts of missing people.

Night Court is an American television situation comedy that aired on NBC from January 4, 1984 to May 31, 1992. The setting was the night shift of a Manhattan court, presided over by the young, unorthodox Judge Harold T. "Harry" Stone. It was created by comedy writer Reinhold Weege, who had previously worked on Barney Miller in the 1970s and early 1980s.

The cases of master criminal defense attorney Perry Mason and his staff who handled the most difficult of cases in the aid of the innocent.

Sergeant “Pepper"” Anderson, an undercover cop for the Criminal Conspiracy Unit of the Los Angeles Police Department, poses undercover from mob girl to prostitute.

A provocative legal drama focused on young associates at a bare-bones Boston firm and their scrappy boss, Bobby Donnell. The show's forte is its storylines about “people who walk a moral tightrope.”

The lives and cases of young lawyers who work on opposite sides - the public defender's office and the district attorney's office - as well as those who sit in judgment on their cases.

Notorious Los Angeles defense attorney Sebastian Stark becomes disillusioned with his career after his successful defense of a wife-abuser results in the wife's death. After more than a month trying to come to grips with his situation, he is invited by the Los Angeles district attorney to become a public prosecutor so he can apply his unorthodox-but-effective talents to putting guilty people away instead of putting them back on the street.

S.W.A.T. is an American action/crime drama series about the adventures of a Special Weapons And Tactics team operating in an unidentified California city. A spin-off of The Rookies, the series aired on ABC from February 1975 to April 1976. Like The Rookies, S.W.A.T. was produced by Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg.

A locally born and bred S.W.A.T. lieutenant is torn between loyalty to the streets and duty to his fellow officers when he's tasked to run a highly-trained unit that's the last stop for solving crimes in Los Angeles.

The exploits of a group of men and women who serve the City of New York as police officers, firemen, and paramedics, all working the same fictional 55th precinct during the 3pm to 11pm shift - the 'Third Watch'.

Sergeant Thomas Jefferson Hooker is a tough-as-nails veteran police officer with the LCPD who turns his back on a gold badge and goes back to patrolling the streets and training recuits. Along with his young partners in blue, Hooker take on Lake City's toughest criminals.

Ralph Lamb wants to be left in peace to run his ranch, but Las Vegas is now swelling with outsiders and corruption which are intruding on his simple life. Recalling Lamb's command as a military police officer during World War II, the Mayor appeals to his sense of duty to look into a murder of a casino worker – and so begins Lamb’s clash with Vincent Savino, a ruthless Chicago gangster who plans to make Vegas his own.

Clinical psychologist Dr Tony Hill's uncanny ability to see into the minds of murderers means he finds it difficult to distance himself from disturbing cases.

Women's Murder Club was an American police procedural and legal drama, which ran on ABC from October 12, 2007, to May 13, 2008. The series is set in San Francisco, California and is based on the 'Women's Murder Club' series of novels written by James Patterson. Series creators Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain also served as executive producers alongside Patterson, Joe Simpson, Brett Ratner, and R. Scott Gemmill. The latter also served as showrunner, with Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts co-executive producing. The pilot was directed by Scott Winant.

Police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan. Each episode typically intertwined several plots involving an ensemble cast.

The District is a television police drama which aired on CBS from October 7, 2000 to May 1, 2004. The show followed the work and personal life of the chief of Washington, D.C.'s Police Department.

Fun-loving San Francisco Police Department investigator Nash Bridges is part of the elite Special Investigations Unit. He tackles crime using his keen sense of humor and charm. Joe Dominguez comes out of retirement to become Bridges' wisecracking yet more rule-abiding partner.

Sledge Hammer! is an American satirical police sitcom produced by New World Television that ran for two seasons on ABC from 1986 to 1988. The series was created by Alan Spencer and stars David Rasche as Inspector Sledge Hammer, a preposterous caricature of the standard "cop on the edge" character. Al Jean and Mike Reiss, best known for their work on The Simpsons, wrote for the show and worked as story editors.

Framed for murder, Detective Reno Raines becomes a fugitive bounty hunter who fights crime while trying to clear his name. His troubles began after he testified about police corruption, leading Lt. Donald Dixon to set him up.

Beauty and the Beast is an American drama series which first aired on CBS in 1987. Creator Ron Koslow's updated version of the fairy tale has a double focus: the relationship between Vincent, a mythic, noble man-beast, and Catherine, a savvy Assistant District Attorney in New York; and a secret Utopian community of social outcasts living in a subterranean sanctuary. Through an empathetic bond, Vincent senses Catherine's emotions, and becomes her guardian.

Two police officers, the older Lt. Stone and the young upstart Inspector Keller, investigate murders and other serious crimes in San Francisco. Stone would become a second father to Keller as he learned the rigors and procedures of detective work.

Special Agent Eliot Ness and his elite team of incorruptible agents battle organized crime in 1930s Chicago.

An eccentric warden and his staff run a bizarre maximum security prison full of dangerous prisoners.

Space Precinct is a British television series that aired from 1994 to 1995 on Sky One and later on BBC Two in Britain, and in first-run syndication in the US. Many US stations scheduled the show in late night time slots, which resulted in low ratings and ensured cancellation. The series was created by Gerry Anderson and was a mix of science fiction and police procedural that combined elements of many of Anderson's previous series such as Space: 1999, UFO and Thunderbirds, but with an added dash of Law & Order and Dragnet. Gerry Anderson was Executive Producer along with Tom Gutteridge. One of the series' directors was John Glen who had previously helmed various James Bond movies.

UC: Undercover is an action-thriller television series that focuses on the secret lives and private demons of an elite Justice Department crime-fighting unit that confronts the country’s deadliest, most untouchable lawbreakers by going undercover to bust them. The series was broadcast from 2001 to 2002. The stories were written by Shane Salerno. James Bond composer David Arnold wrote the main title theme and scored the pilot episode. Salerno said the show would be a "very music driven series." UC: Undercover was a production of NBC Studios in association with Jersey Films, Chasing Time Pictures, Regency Television, and 20th Century Fox Television. Its short but popular run ended when it was canceled by the network. The show developed a passionate following overseas and continues to run on FX International.

A realistic glimpse into the daily lives of the officers and detectives at an urban police station.

Close to Home is an American crime drama television series co-produced by Warner Bros. Television and Jerry Bruckheimer Television for CBS.

Sara "Pez" Pezzini searches for justice which brings her into contact with the Witchblade. An ancient, intelligent, living weapon so powerful it can battle Earth's darkest evil forces. Week in and week out, Pez employs her skills as a police detective to fight crime. Pez finds she must employ the Witchblade to combat a much greater and frighteningly organized conspiracy of evil that threatens the very soul of humanity.

Michael Hayes is a TV series that ran on CBS from 1997 to 1998. It stars David Caruso and Ruben Santiago-Hudson. David Caruso plays in the title role as Michael Hayes. Hayes is an Irish Catholic ex-New York City police officer appointed acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York State. This series was Caruso's first attempt at a comeback on television, after he infamously left NYPD Blue a few years earlier and a failed launch into movies, when both Kiss of Death and Jade were box office and critical failures. Despite this, Michael Hayes was cancelled at the end of its first season, and Caruso slowly continued into supporting roles in film and guest spots on television before reaching new heights once again with CSI: Miami, which ran from 2002 until 2012.

Reasonable Doubts is a police drama broadcast in the United States by NBC that ran from 1991 to 1993.

Two high-class thieves caught red-handed strike a deal with the FBI to avoid imprisonment: put their skills at the service of an inter-agency task force whose mission is to recover missing and stolen government property.

The Green Hornet is a television series on the ABC US television network that aired for the 1966–1967 TV season starring Van Williams as the Green Hornet/Britt Reid and Bruce Lee as Kato.

The series follows officers of the Chicago Police Department as they fight crime on the streets and try to expose political corruption within the city.

As District Attorney Kathryn Peale and defense attorney Jimmy Nolan rally their teams around their arguments and prepare to go head-to-head in the the courtroom, they make frantic moves and countermoves of complex legal wrangling to tilt justice in their favor.

Steve McGarrett returns home to Oahu, in order to find his father's killer. The governor offers him the chance to run his own task force (Five-0). Steve's team is joined by Chin Ho Kelly, Danny "Danno" Williams, and Kono Kalakaua.

Elijah Kane leads a hardcore undercover team of Seattle based cops who take on the local criminal element with a high-octane style of enforcement.

It's the early '60s, and the legendary Playboy Club in Chicago is the door to all your fantasies... and the key is the most sought-after status symbol of its time.

Captain Wolf Larsen, the notorious Sea Wolf who rules the crew of his ship, the Ghost, with an iron fist. While on the high seas he takes on a castaway, the literary critic Humphrey Van Weyden. But instead of dropping him off at the next harbour, Larsen forces him to work in his crew as a ship boy. The young dandy has to fight for his very own survival in this new, rough world on board. But his most dangerous challenge is the captain himself, who involves him in an evil game.

A year ago, vampires, werewolves and zombies mysteriously descended upon the streets of California's San Fernando Valley. The Undead Task Force (UTF) was created to combat the emergence of monsters.

Set during Bruce Wayne's early years as the Batman, following his initial period of battling organized crime. He hones his skills with the assistance of his butler, Alfred Pennyworth. Bruce is introduced to Alfred's goddaughter, Tatsu Yamashiro. Tatsu is a martial arts swordsmaster hired to act as Bruce's bodyguard, but also recruited to act as a superhero partner to Batman.

The Client is an American television series that aired on CBS from September 18, 1995 to August 16, 1996. The series was based on the 1994 film The Client, itself adapted from the 1993 John Grisham novel also of the same name.

The early days of a young Endeavour Morse, whose experiences as a detective constable with the Oxford City Police will ultimately shape his future.

The extraordinary story of Gloucester housewife Janet Leach who played a key role in the uncovering of the crimes of Fred and Rosemary West.

The true story of a decades-long conflict between the Los Angeles Police Department, under the determined leadership of Police Chief William Parker, and ruthless criminal elements led by Mickey Cohen, a one-time boxer who rose to the top of L.A.'s criminal world. The series is a fast-paced crime drama set in Los Angeles during the 1940s and '50s. It's a world of glamorous movie stars, powerful studio heads, returning war heroes, a powerful and corrupt police force and an even more dangerous criminal network determined to make L.A. its West Coast base.

Every villain has a noble cause, and every hero has a dark side. Detective Ryan Lopez is a rising star in Los Angeles' elite Gang Task Force. What the world doesn't know is that long before Ryan became a cop, he pledged allegiance to a different band of brothers – a powerful Latino gang called Los Angelicos. When Ryan's best friend and police partner is senselessly killed by a notorious gang member, Ryan teams up with longtime Task Force member Cassius Green who has been at the forefront of the city's war on organized crime. In this war between law enforcement and gangs, the series explores how only people who really know the streets can win the battle on the streets.

A pair of detectives investigate stalkers in Los Angeles. Strong and focused, Lt. Beth Davis is an expert in the field of repeated harassment, driven by personal experience of being a victim. She heads the LAPD's Threat Assessment Unit, which investigates cases of stalking -- including voyeurism, cyberharassment and romantic fixation. The history of recent transfer Jack Larsen -- whose personality and questionable behavior have been an issue in the past -- may help him in his assignment to her team. Her other detectives are young but eager Ben Caldwell and deceptively intelligent Janice Lawrence. Together they try to stop situations from spinning out of control -- and to keep their personal obsessions at bay.

Mockumentary comedy series following the life of scottish police officers from different areas of the force in a fly on the wall style.

Drama following WPC Gina Dawson, the first Woman Police Constable to join Brinford Constabulary, a fictional police force in the West Midlands, in 1956. The show focuses on WPC Gina Dawson's struggle to gain acceptance in the male-dominated police station whilst having to deal with the sexist attitudes that were commonplace at the time.

A gritty chronicle of the war against Colombia's infamously violent and powerful drug cartels.

Trevor McDonald embarks on an eye-opening journey inside the secretive world of the American Mafia, gaining unprecedented access to people who have experienced first-hand, the money, glamour and violence of the United States’ most famous organised crime network. In this two-part documentary series, Trevor delves into the lives of people with a fascinating story to tell, some of whom have never appeared on television before.

London cop and compulsive gambler Harry Clayton is on the verge of losing everything. On the night when his huge debts are to be called in, he meets the enigmatic Eve, who gives him a mysterious bracelet said to endow the wearer with immense luck. Harry's fortunes suddenly begin to shift, but he also soon finds himself sucked into a sinister crime wave sweeping through the city.

The story of the legalization and subsequent rise of the porn industry in New York’s Times Square from the early ’70s through the mid ’80s, exploring the rough-and-tumble world that existed there until the rise of HIV, the violence of the cocaine epidemic and the renewed real estate market ended the bawdy turbulence of the area.

A dramatization of the life and death of Montreal mob boss Vito Rizzuto.

Loner Sam's life is transformed when he comes into possession of a gun and starts to break the law. His ambitious policewoman sister Gina is paid to uphold it and makes it her mission to find the owner of the weapon. The family saga plays out against an inquiry into the shooting of a local businessman that raises questions for Sam and Gina about their father's murder when they were young children.

Dr. Dylan Reinhart, a gifted author, university professor and former CIA operative is lured back to his old life by tenacious top NYPD Detective Lizzie Needham. Though Dylan and Lizzie initially clash, when it comes to catching killers, they make an ideal team.

Tensions run high between African American citizens and Caucasian cops in Jersey City when a teenage African American boy is critically injured by a cop.

High-profile district attorney Maya Travis fled L.A. after devastating defeat when prosecuting an A-list actor for double murder. Eight years later, the same celebrity is under suspicion for another murder, and Maya is lured back to the DA’s office for another chance at justice.

A unique look inside the mind of an infamous serial killer with this cinematic self-portrait crafted from statements made by Ted Bundy, including present-day interviews, archival footage and audio recordings from death row.

In early 90s Boston, an African-American District Attorney comes in from Brooklyn advocating change and forms an unlikely alliance with a corrupt yet venerated FBI veteran invested in maintaining the status quo. Together they take on a family of armored car robbers from Charlestown in a case that grows to encompass and eventually upend Boston’s city-wide criminal justice system.

Fresh out of prison, world-class thief Daisy ”Jett” Kowalski is forced back into doing what she does best by dangerous and eccentric criminals determined to exploit her skills for their own ends.

Loosely based on infamous crime boss Bumpy Johnson, who in the early 1960s returned from ten years in prison to find the neighborhood he once ruled in shambles. With the streets controlled by the Italian mob, Bumpy attempts to regain his piece of Harlem.

An alternate American history told through the eyes of a working-class Jewish family in New Jersey, as they watch the political rise of Charles Lindbergh, an aviator-hero and xenophobic populist, who becomes president and turns the nation toward fascism.

When an insidious supernatural force edges its way into a seemingly straightforward investigation into the gruesome murder of a young boy, it leads a seasoned cop and an unorthodox investigator to question everything they believe in.

Cordell Walker, a widower and father of two with his own moral code, returns home to Austin after being undercover for two years, only to discover there's harder work to be done at home.

A double-homicide in a small midwestern suburb rattles the lives of a group of teenagers and sends investigators searching for answers in the fall of 1995. A meditation on growing up, the passing of time, and the insidious violence that lurks in the suburbs.

A mysterious disappearance makes two completely separate worlds collide, creating an extremely odd couple – the lawyer Emily and recently released convict Teddy. They have two opposing desires. She wants up. He wants out. She wants to secure her future. He wants to leave his old life behind. They are both forced to thi

A fun and honest portrayal of two radically different female detectives in their early 40s following Guns and Gangs detective Sam and Narcotics detective Kelly, who by day are true action heroes in their own particular way: skilled, tough, determined, and ruthless. But by night, they’re both grappling with loneliness, dysfunctional families, screwed-up love lives, and a sense that their professional ambitions may not be totally in line with their personal needs.

A groundbreaking inside look at the long shot election and tumultuous first term of Larry Krasner, Philadelphia's unapologetic District Attorney, and his experiment to upend the criminal justice system from the inside out.

Inspired by John Ibrahim's best-selling autobiography, this series is an operatic story of two brothers, Sam and John Ibrahim who organize the street but lose each other in their ascent to power. The story tracks John Ibrahim's rise from a poverty-stricken immigrant with no education, no money, and no prospects, to Australia's most infamous nightclub mogul in Sydney's Kings Cross — a mini-Atlantic City, barely half a mile long with every form of criminality on offer.

In 1970s NYC, the “Torso Killer” preys on women to fulfill his grotesque fantasies while eluding police. A docuseries dive into crime’s darkest places.

The true story of three courageous women inside the notorious Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta mafia, working with newly-minted female prosecutor, Alessandra Cerreti, to bring down down the criminal empire.

Family man Joe Petrus is living the American dream with his fiancé and step-kids. However, unbeknownst to them, Joe was involved in a mysterious crime three years ago and now his dangerous past is about to catch up with him. When a killer starts targeting the crew behind the crime, Joe realizes it's only a matter of time before his family is targeted. He returns to London to track down his old gang and find out who is coming after them.

Having left the hollers of Kentucky 15 years ago, Raylan Givens is now based in Miami, balancing life as a marshal and part-time father of a 15-year-old girl. A chance encounter on a Florida highway sends him to Detroit and he crosses paths with Clement Mansell, aka The Oklahoma Wildman, a violent sociopath who’s already slipped through the fingers of Detroit’s finest once and wants to do so again.

Regina Haywood is the newly promoted deputy inspector of East New York, a working-class neighborhood at the edge of Brooklyn. She leads a diverse group of officers and detectives, some of whom are reluctant to deploy her creative methods of serving and protecting in the midst of social upheaval and the early seeds of gentrification.

After a night of partying with a female stranger, a man wakes up to find her stabbed to death and is charged with her murder.

The brilliant and eclectic team of U.S. NCIS Agents and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) are grafted into a multi-national taskforce to keep naval crimes in check in the most contested patch of ocean on the planet.