Officer Colten

Officer Colten in Cops 1/2

Cops: Noir

Officer Dale Colten is a main character of the *Cops* movie series. He has a long career in the police department, and has worked with Officers Bernard and O'Harris to solve his cases. He appears in *Cops 1: The Murder of Mr. Willshaw, Cops 1/2: The Gas Crisis* and *Cops Noir*giving him the most screen time of any character. Colten has an unusual manner of speech and has always worn sunglasses since the events of Cops: Noir since the return to a world with color hurt his eyes. He also for unexplained reasons cannot remember what O'Harris' name is and constantly mispronounces it throughout the videos in a variety of creative ways.

## In Cops 1

Colten appears in the first video of the series jumping down from a balcony alongside O'Harris to reach the crime scene of Mr. Willshaw's death. He lunges to the ground quickly spotting a blood splatter before telling O'Harris to comb for some evidence. O'Harris quickly finds a bullet casing and shows it to Colten but the two saw no weapon left in the area. Colten was then able to piece the crime together determining about where Mr. Willshaw was shot and reasoned that his body was quickly moved. As the two leave the scene Colten expresses the desire to question the neighbor since he would have had the best view of the crime. O'Harris agrees since he could have easily seen the crime and then sets out to get a search warrant.

Colten is then seen knocking on the door of the neighbor, Giovanni Tortellini's house with search warrant. Colten very aggressively begins searching cupboards and the sink faucet for a body attempting to scare Tortellini in revealing any information. Colten still acted distrustful of him and asked to view from a window overlooking the neighbor's property. Tortellini acted hesitant which Colten detected so he asked if he could have a glass of water getting him to leave the room. Colten then searches a drawer and uncovers a pistol that he picks up and places in an envelope with no gloves. Colten then leaves the residence and calls O'Harris on the phone to notify him of his findings as well as his intention to analyze the bullet casing and the gun he recovered for fingerprints. Colten quickly analyzes the two in the forensics lab so by the time O'Harris arrived he had uncovered Tortellini's fingerprints on both of the items. After further research in city documents Colten also discovered a land dispute between the neighbors over the land that the pool was built in. This provided the duo with a motive and an offender so Colten told O'Harris they would have to be ready to make the arrest.

The two then bust into the house with weapons drawn as they knew Tortellini was a dangerous man. They move through the house when O'Harris notices the basement door and proposes they look for him down there. The two carefully move around when O'Harris realizes they never checked a back corner. After Colten asks what back corner and O'Harris points it out to him Tortellini comes out and begins firing at the officers. Colten moves to flank around while O'Harris started insulting Tortellini and blind firing shotgun shells at him. Tortellini grew angry and charged O'Harris while Colten became lost briefly in the basement.

When Colten reached Tortellini's original position, he and O'Harris were already dueling and Tortellini had gained the upper hand. Colten hearing O'Harris blow his whistle in distress quickly ran and tackled Tortellini off of him starting a brief fistfight. Tortellini then threatened to bury Colten out back like the "pool boy" providing the final confirmation that the two needed. O'Harris then simply walked up behind him and knocked him down with his baton allowing Colten to place Tortellini in handcuffs. Colten pulls Tortellini out the building and send him to jail.

## In Cops 1/2

Officer Colten is first seen alongside Bernard as they disrupt mysterious deal between two individuals with the one throwing a gas can at the cops and then taking refuge in a nearby building. The criminal is chased into the building when he reveals himself to be Giuseppe Linguine, mixed martial arts master and how it was a mistake for the two to follow them in their. While Colten was speaking he launches an attack disarming the officer and then started punching Bernard incredibly rapidly many times. He then does an uppercut that is so powerful Bernard is obliterated into several limbs horrifying Colten bringing him to his knees. While Colten was at Linguine's mercy, the villain decided to spare him so he may tell his friends not to mess with his operations. Colten in pure shock, dropped his badge to the ground as he debated if he could continue in this line of work any longer.

In the next scene Colten is arguing with Police Chief Joe in his office as he is in disbelief he is already being assigned a new rookie partner. Chief Joe tells him his name and Colten instantly misunderstands how to pronounce it as O'Harris comes out of nowhere from behind. Colten is clearly displeased and the two head back to the crime scene. When arriving Colten tells his new partner to look around making O'Harris deduce that there was indeed a crime in the area to Colten's annoyance. O'Harris then discovers and overlooked Jerry can lying around and notices the name Giuseppe Linguine on it. Colten recognizes the name from earlier when the villain introduced himself so the two then return to the chief with the information of what was being sold. The chief seemed uninterested in the crime since gas was inexpensive making Colten upset since he had a personal vengeance against Linguine for killing Bernard. The next day changed however as the 1979 Oil Crisis occurred making the chief demand the two investigate the crime further. Colten frantically asks O'Harris where they should look making O'Harris suggest the archives to see if they could find a previous criminal record.

This would ultimately prove successful as O'Harris locates the records and finds an unusually placed piece of paper that revealed times and dates. O'Harris realizes these were meeting times and had proposed they try to act that very night so the two return once more to the chief. The chief then halts the operation as it was later discovered that he was cooperating with Linguine. His justification at the time is the cops had been working hard and deserved a break. O'Harris is disappointed but accepts the chiefs decision while Colten is enraged.. Once leaving the station O'Harris expresses his frustration to Colten saying they cant just sit around. Colten very fed up with the office then decides the two should set up their own sting operation using O'Harris as the decoy for the reason that Linguine had never seen him and would remember Colten. O'Harris accepts the plan but expresses his wish to not be stabbed during the operation.

Time goes forward as the two prepare to meet with Linguine. O'Harris is seen putting on a disguise as Colten gives him the instruction to call for help when needed as he goes to hide behind a building. Linguine is seen making a deal with an individual when O'Harris attempts to buy some gas. Linguine distrusts the officer due to his Irish accent and asks who sent him. O'Harris comes up with the name Jerry which Linguine did not know when O'Harris' baton then fell out of his jacket. Linguine realized what was happening and then went to run leading to a short foot chase with the officers in pursuit. Linguine was unable to outrun the cops and was knocked over after a hit to the leg from O'Harris' baton. Colten then puts him in handcuffs and tells O'Harris to chase after the goof that was making a deal with Linguine. O'Harris caught up with him hitting him in the leg to knock him over when it is revealed that it was actually Police Chief Joe. While O'Harris arrests him, Colten is seen trying to belittle Linguine telling him he will be unable to get out of those cuffs. Linguine makes a bet that he will break out of them on the count of five but then suddenly breaks free and punches Colten in the face. Colten begins firing rapidly yet he managed to miss every single shot since Linguine stood there like a stone wall. Linguine then managed then managed to shoot Colten in the leg after knocking him over. This injury was not serious as it was revealed in Cops: Noir that Colten always make sure to wear kneecap armor. Linguine was prepared to shoot Colten fatally before O'Harris came in and whacked Linguine on the back of the head sending him to the ground, before helping up Colten. Linguine incredibly was not finished after this hit and started to stand back up before getting blown up by a gas can detonated by Colten shooting it. Linguine was left a mangled mess the O'Harris did not want to deal with himself leading to his abandonment waiting for an ambulance which was late since it got a flat tire and had to stop in a Wendy's parking lot to change it. Colten is then heard at the end of the video describing the new chief, Police Chief Benjamin as "tough as nails, a real tough guy".

## In Cops: Noir

Officer Colten is first heard narrating the strange case he was about to encounter before it began while he and his partner, Officer Bernard, were eating some burgers at their favorite diner one night. The two are then seen walking as they exit the diner, trading stories from their time on the force. While on patrol, the Cops come across a dilapidated house, and see Dr. RC Cola performing some experiments in his lab. They decide that the situation is suspicious enough to warrant further investigation, and enter the building. As they do so, Dr. Cola runs away, prompting Bernard to chase him. While this occurred Colten walked back to the diner in order to use the payphone and inform the chief that they may have an unusual crime scene. Upon returning to the scene, Colten and Bernard find a piece of paper which reads, *"KILL CHILDREN, PROFIT"*, and deduce that the drink, *RC Cola,*is poisoned. Colten and Bernard then search for further evidence as Colten narrates more questioning the motive behind this criminal. The Cops are unable to find anything else that is substantial and then agree to meet the Chief in the morning since it was quite late.

At the precinct the next morning, the Cops sit down with Police Chief Joe and tell him about what they found. The two see he is drinking RC Cola and and yell out to him that it is poisoned causing him to spit all over the pair. Bernard then requests that a formal statement is made warning people not to drink the Cola, however Chief Joe denies the request due to the lack of evidence and the significant public outcry it would cause without any solid proof. He then sends them back to the scene to look for more evidence before sneaking in another drink. When they return to the lab however, the evidence has been all but destroyed, angering Colten as he further tries to piece things together in his narration. Bernard suggests that they take some time to look over their evidence at the local Soda Bar.

When they get there, Colten has a picture of his estranged wife fall out of his hat causing him to reminisce and ask Bernard if he could ever turn back the clock to which he said "nah". Colten then tries to elaborate further but is cut off by the bartender who asks what they want to drink (after unsuccessfully trying to get Coca Cola) they order some "local cola". They find it to be very tasty with Colten comparing it to his tears as "rich, bountiful, and sodium laced". The two become incredibly disturbed once they realize it is RC Cola. Colten demands the bartender stop serving the drink to which he says he'll start giving out Pepsi instead. Colten says don't do that either. The Cops then get the shipping box from the bartender causing another narration from Colten as he examines the box. Bernard interrupts this narration as he finds the address of the local grocery store printed on it. Bernard and Colten then leave without paying.

At the grocery store, the Cops encounter a worker and ask him about the shipment. Bernard is able to quickly sketch a clear image of Dr. Cola from the worker's description, and discover that Dr. Cola was on his way to delivering another shipment at Mike's Market. As the worker is speaking, he is shot from behind by Dr. Cola, who is then seen fleeing in the background. Colten goes to take Bernard's car, but Bernard reveals the car is in the shop (It is a Chrysler, and was purchased despite warnings from his mechanic Scotty Kilmer). Colten and Bernard then "borrow" the two bikes nearby and begin pursuit.

They chase Dr. Cola to his house, where Bernard spots a loose bike. Not wanting it to be stolen, Bernard puts his new lock on the bike and straps it to the drainpipe, before heading into the house. Once the Officers enter, they search the house and eventually enter a small workshop. Dr. Cola confronts them and reveals his plans to become the wealthiest man in America by making his drink addictive and launching a large yet fraudulent contest, which would lead people to buy the drink in the hopes of winning a nonexistent grand prize. Colten is confused along with Bernard, as the Cops had believed he was trying to poison children, however Dr. Cola quickly dismisses the idea as horrible. The Cops quickly talk and realize that Dr. Cola still committed a crime by distributing an addictive drink and shooting the grocery worker, and continue to attempt an arrest. Dr. Cola escapes however, and starts a bomb in the room to kill the detectives and end the investigation. Bernard finds the door to leave, and after Colten shoots the lock, they go back outside, where Dr. Cola is struggling to cut the lock off his bike. He does manage to free the bike and begins to cycle away, but Bernard and Colten take their "borrowed" bikes and chase him across town. Dr. Cola and the Cops trade gunshots, however nobody winds up getting hit, and Dr. Cola then flees into his lab.

Once in the lab Bernard follows behind Colten's lead as they venture further into the labyrinth. Bernard carefully scans the area and watches their rear when Colten is shot by Cola. Colten is off camera as Bernard takes down Cola but Colten manages to end up alright due to the fact he was wearing kneecap armor. He then helps Bernard take Cola to prison where he belongs.

## Skills

### Analysis and Planning

As seen in Cops 1, Colten possess an ability to accurately piece together crime scenes in his mind. He is also able to quickly research the property dispute between Willshaw and Giovanni giving him a motive after he analyzes the evidence in the forensics lab. Colten takes charge in creating plans of operation in the videos as he proposes the sting operation in Cops 1/2, and the plan of attack in the basement of Cops 1.

### Combat

While this skill is rather poor in the prequels, Colten significantly betters himself by the time of Cops 1 allowing him to save O'Harris and beat back Giovanni.

## Trivia

- Eric originally intended for Colten to have a mustache in Cops 1, but could not find one he liked. In Cops 1/2 however he is seen with the originally desire mustache.

- Colten's voiced is based off a comedy sketch by the the YouTube channel "Cyndago" where Ryan McGee plays an officer with a similar manner of speaking. Eric and Jack thought the videos were incredibly funny at the time so it was worked in.

- In Cops: Noir Colten does not speak with the strange voice and instead talks normally for two reasons. The first being it kind of annoying on Eric's part to keep the voice up, and the other is Noir conveys a serious tone that conflicts with Colten's typical manner of speaking.

## Gallery

In Cops 1At the crime sceneCooking up the remains of the bodyForensicsFLANKHey punkIn the archivesShooting rapidlyIn Cops: NoirIn the Chief's officeEver wish you could turn back the clockMaster locksmith