why didn't batman just become a cop???

[lunar zoe]

he could just arrest badguys in stead of bieng a vigilante...

[Marty Nozz]

When Bruce Wayne returned to Gotham after acquiring the education and training he had devoted himself to the Gotham City Police Department was horribly corrupt. They were part of the problem. He took it upon himself to take a different route and that choice made an opportunity for good Cops like Jim Gordon to eventually take control of the GCPD. By that time, Batman had become an ally of Gordon and he wasn't really a vigilante so much as a concerned citizen with the means to aid Police efforts.

[Tenzil Kem]

It's a shame, because I would have read a series called "Bat-Cop."

[Devonix]

Tenzil Kem

It's a shame, because I would have read a series called "Bat-Cop."

With Gordon ad "Good-Cop"

[BlackMarket123]

Not to mention that, as a cop, Bruce Wayne is a representative of the state and its interests under the law. Batman is free to enforce his own brand of justice. Plus, Batman functions as a symbol for the citizens of Gotham to rally around (unintentional) and for the scum of Gotham to fear.

The boogeyman is infinitely more scary to a child than any actual person because of what he represents: the unknown. Batman is capable of anything. GCPD officers are just bodies in uniform.

[Marty Nozz]

And do you know how much paperwork police have to deal with? I'd rather where spandex and a cape than deal with it too.

[The Lazy Village]

because hes like the punisher
except for the killing part
otherwise almost exactly alike

[NegaPanda]

There's a scene from the ... 80's?... I think... with Bruce Wayne attending classes in preparation for becoming a policeman. He ends up having an argument with his professor over "Justice vs the Law", and decides that the Law often has constraints that limit Justice.
The idea that he wanted to be a cop at first never jived with me, because he tried it AFTER he got all of his training around the world. The book would be called "Sgt. Wayne: World's Most Overqualified Beat Cop". You'd have Commisioner Gordan yelling at him for violating a perp's civil rights by using Tibetan meditation-based hypnosis during an interrogation, or using "equipment from home" to take down criminals.

[Max Mercury]

NegaPanda

There's a scene from the ... 80's?... I think... with Bruce Wayne attending classes in preparation for becoming a policeman. He ends up having an argument with his professor over "Justice vs the Law", and decides that the Law often has constraints that limit Justice.
(snip)

"Untold Legends of The Batman."

Unless you're referring to a different scene.
Bruce was in college, where he majored in Criminology, and minored in Psychology.
He was in Criminology class, and the professor put forth a situation for discussion.

Two youths go out and steal a car. They joyride around.
The youth in the passenger's seat begins to have second thoughts.
Before he can tell the driver, the car hits a pedestrian, killing her.
Is the passenger guilty of felony manslaughter?

Bruce considered, and said the passenger was guilty of car theft, but not manslaughter.

The professor corrected him, saying that the law considered both criminals guilty of both crimes.
"That's the law."

[NegaPanda]

Max Mercury

NegaPanda

There's a scene from the ... 80's?... I think... with Bruce Wayne attending classes in preparation for becoming a policeman. He ends up having an argument with his professor over "Justice vs the Law", and decides that the Law often has constraints that limit Justice.
(snip)

"Untold Legends of The Batman."

Unless you're referring to a different scene.
Bruce was in college, where he majored in Criminology, and minored in Psychology.
He was in Criminology class, and the professor put forth a situation for discussion.

Two youths go out and steal a car. They joyride around.
The youth in the passenger's seat begins to have second thoughts.
Before he can tell the driver, the car hits a pedestrian, killing her.
Is the passenger guilty of felony manslaughter?

Bruce considered, and said the passenger was guilty of car theft, but not manslaughter.

The professor corrected him, saying that the law considered both criminals guilty of both crimes.
"That's the law."

That's the one! Thanks!

[Max Mercury]

NegaPanda

Max Mercury

NegaPanda

There's a scene from the ... 80's?... I think... with Bruce Wayne attending classes in preparation for becoming a policeman. He ends up having an argument with his professor over "Justice vs the Law", and decides that the Law often has constraints that limit Justice.
(snip)

"Untold Legends of The Batman."

Unless you're referring to a different scene.
Bruce was in college, where he majored in Criminology, and minored in Psychology.
He was in Criminology class, and the professor put forth a situation for discussion.

Two youths go out and steal a car. They joyride around.
The youth in the passenger's seat begins to have second thoughts.
Before he can tell the driver, the car hits a pedestrian, killing her.
Is the passenger guilty of felony manslaughter?

Bruce considered, and said the passenger was guilty of car theft, but not manslaughter.

The professor corrected him, saying that the law considered both criminals guilty of both crimes.
"That's the law."

That's the one! Thanks!

Hm.
Someone did a wikipedia page on the miniseries, and the entry even makes a passing
mention of what we were discussing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Untold_Legend_of_the_Batman

Quote:

Issue 1: In The Beginning

Checking through Bruce Wayne's mail, Batman opens a package to find the shredded remains of a bat costume once worn by his father. He investigates to find the costume missing from its display case in the Batcave, with a threatening note left in its place.

Batman reminisces about the time when his father, Dr. Thomas Wayne, wore the costume to a charity costume party and was taken hostage by a group of thugs looking for a doctor. He was taken to see their boss, bank robber Lew Moxon, who had been shot and needed the doctor to remove the bullet. Instead, Wayne attacked the thugs and defeated them. He turned them over to the police, including then-Lieutenant James Gordon. Wayne testified against Moxon, who was convicted. However, years later he was released and threatened to have his revenge against Wayne. Several weeks later, Wayne and his wife Martha were shot dead in front of their son Bruce (Batman) by an apparent mugger named Joe Chill. Batman also recalls those who looked after him following his parents' deaths – Leslie Thompkins, and his uncle's housekeeper, Mrs. Chilton. Unbeknownst to him, but known to his butler, Alfred, Mrs. Chilton was also Joe Chill's mother.

Young Bruce dedicated his life to bringing his parents' killer to justice and waging war against all criminals. He studied and trained hard, and followed the career of a police detective named Harvey Harris. Wayne created a costume (that of the original Robin) to hide his identity and set out to meet Harris. Wayne happened upon a criminal waiting to attack Harris, and managed to thwart him. To repay him, Harris taught Wayne everything about the art of detecting, and gave him the name "Robin".

Wayne continued training and went on to college to study criminology. A lesson learned in a law class – that the law and justice are not one and the same – dissuaded Wayne from becoming a police officer as he had intended, feeling that he would be too hampered by the law. While trying to decide what kind of symbol to become in order to strike terror into the hearts of criminals, a bat flew through his window, inspiring him to become Batman.

After years of crimefighting and failure to locate his parents' killer, Batman happened upon a smuggling enterprise run through a trucking company owned by Joe Chill. He confronted Chill with his story, and revealed his identity to him. Batman let Chill run scared; he ran to his see his henchmen at his garage and told them what had happened. But after they learned he was responsible for creating Batman who had plagued them for years, the henchmen shot and killed Chill before he could reveal Batman's identity.

Several months later, Wayne happened upon his father's costume and journal. He learned from the journal that Chill had not been a mugger, but was working for Lew Moxon. However, Moxon had been in a car accident and suffered from amnesia. He did not remember Thomas Wayne or what he had done. With his own costume torn during a fight with Moxon's henchmen, Batman decided to wear his father's costume instead when he confronted Moxon. The costume jogged Moxon's memory, and he ran in fear from Batman right into the path of an oncoming truck, which killed him.

[Max Mercury]

Here's some scans from the first issue. (And 1 scan ending the 3rd/last issue.)
Simply amazing what one can find on the internet nowadays.
I am continually in awe.

http://www.byrnerobotics.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=16219&PN=1&TPN=1

[Klaark]

He probably thought the cops weren't doing a good enough job and thought dressing up like a bat with bat themed gadgets would be more effective.

[Sorcette]

Plus, criminals are a cowardly and superstitious lot.
So being Batman works a lot better than being a cop.

[God-Slayer-Seraph]

I think he should be a P.I. at the least.