Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jim Drake directs. Robert Saad behind the camera. Robert Folk scores. David Rawlins cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 188 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
• 2Made its money back 4.5× over at the box office.
• 339 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
• 4Part of the "Police Academy Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
• 5Directed by Jim Drake, shot by Robert Saad. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 6Original score by Robert Folk. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 7Editor David Rawlins shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 8Steve Guttenberg and Bubba Smith and Michael Winslow carry the top of the cast.
• 9Marketing tagline: "On land, on sea, or in the air, no place is safe from them!".
• 10IMDB entry: tt0093756 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography

Robert Saad

Original score

Robert Folk

Editing

David Rawlins

Production design

Trevor Williams

Makeup / hair

Ken Brooke

Sound

Dick Weaver

Stunt coordinator

Michael DeLuna

Runtime

88 min · 1h 28m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$17,000,000

Box office

$76,800,000

Return

452% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

PG

IMDB

Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987) ↗

Part of

Police Academy Collection

A series of American comedy films, the first six of which were made in the 1980s. The seventh and to date last installment, Mission to Moscow, was released in 1994. The series opened with Police Academy (1984) which started with the premise that a new mayor had announced a policy requiring the police department to accept all willing recruits. The movie followed a group of misfit recruits in their attempts to prove themselves capable of being police officers. The main character, Carey Mahoney (Steve Guttenberg), was a repeat offender who was forced to join the police academy as punishment.

• 
  Police Academy

  1984
• 
  Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment

  1985
• 
  Police Academy 3: Back in Training

  1986
• 
  Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol

  1987 · this one
• 
  Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach

  1988
• 
  Police Academy 6: City Under Siege

  1989
• 
  Police Academy: Mission to Moscow

  1994

Also by

Jim Drake

• 
  Dad's A Dog

  1990 · ★ 9.0
• 
  The Crew

  1995 · ★ 8.5
• 
  Living Single

  1993 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Malcolm & Eddie

  1996 · ★ 7.8
• 
  The Suite Life on Deck

  2008 · ★ 7.7
• 
  The Suite Life of Zack & Cody

  2005 · ★ 7.6

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

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Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987) - Trailer

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Filipe Manuel Neto2022-10-10
  ★ 6/10

  An honorable sequence where the script sounds better, although some comic material seems a little worn out. This is the fourth film in the prolific “Police Academy” franchise, which visibly marked the 80s and 90s, and which still brings good memories to many people today. I can say that it was one of the comic franchises that I enjoyed during my childhood and adolescence, and that I still see it from time to time. In this fourth film, I felt that the production learned from the flaws of the previous films, especially when it comes to script writing. If the older films had in their weak scripts the biggest problem to overcome, this film responds with a more careful writing and the creation of a more logical story, capable of sustaining all sorts of jokes and comic situations created later. As a result, the film feels more like a cohesive work of cinema. However, it is undeniable that the comic material presented begins to show wear and tear and is not enough to make us laugh, even if it manages to do it several times. For the last time, the film brings together all the main names of the cast and crew from the previous films, and the replacement of Jerry Parris by Jim Drake in the director's chair is barely perceptible: the new director has really managed to capture the spirit of the franchise and give it an honorable following. Steve Guttenberg says goodbye to his character, Mahoney, who will live for the last time, walking out the big door with a job well done. Michael Winslow and Bob Goldthwait were also in excellent shape and seem to have a lot of fun with their characters, along with the excellent Tim Kazurinsky. Sharon Stone was a surprising addition, but it works well thanks to the actress' physical beauty. Technically, the film is very much on par with its predecessors, and the final aerial sequence really deserves a round of applause for the execution and the way it was done. Good sets, the costumes we already know, the soundtrack without major demerits or surprises and a decent cinematography make up the scenario of a film that, if it is not capable of enchanting, manages to convince most fans of the franchise.

  Read full review ↓
• r96sk2025-03-26
  ★ 5/10

  <em>'Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol'</em> is a lousy fourth entry to this franchise. I've not truly liked any of these flicks admittedly, but the last two did do some things well enough that I could see the potential. This one is more akin to the original, it feels aimless. I guess that is to be expected this deep into the series, hopefully it's not a sign of things to come for me across the next three releases. Any 'pluses' that I do have for this is anything I've 'praised' across the prior flicks, which is pretty much just the pleasantly returning cast. Sharon Stone and (a debuting) David Spade make for interesting newcomers. The plot isn't anything close to being fresh, it's basically the last three movies rolled into one; those ones are hardly anything memorable themselves, so that's an obvious problem. I will say that the ending here is at least visually interesting, if still not the real McCoy. Lastly, I know I keep saying it but I seriously don't know how I'm not finding Bobcat Goldthwait's Zed overtly annoying yet. Sure he is a little so, especially as he gets a needless extension of screen time on this occasion, though the character continues to bring a mini smirk or two. Beats me!

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Warner Bros. Pictures

  US

Key crew

• ProducerPaul Maslansky
• EditorDavid Rawlins
• StuntsScott Wilder
• CastingPamela Basker
• StuntsWink Roberts
• CastingFern Champion
• Set DecorationSteve Shewchuk
• Production DesignTrevor Williams
• Art DirectionRhiley Fuller
• Associate ProducerDonald L. West
• CharactersNeal Israel
• CharactersPat Proft
• Unit Production ManagerSuzanne Lore
• First Assistant DirectorMichael Zenon
• Second Assistant DirectorBill Bannerman
• Supervising Sound EditorRon Clark
• ADR EditorThomas Whiting
• First Assistant EditorMichael Mulconery
• Assistant EditorBen Williams
• Assistant EditorPaula McKee
• Assistant EditorAllan Gelbart
• Additional EditingGary Griffin
• Additional EditingStephan Fanfara
• Music SupervisorDavid Chackler

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• handcuffs
• police chief
• police operation
• sequel
• police headquarter

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1987-04-02PG

Also known as

International titles

• Polisskolan 4 - KvarterspatrullenFI
• Polisskolan 4 – KvarterspatrullenSE
• Police Academy 4US
• Police Academy 4 - Aux armes citoyensFR
• Academia de Polícia 4: A Patrulha do CidadãoPT
• Police Academy IV: Citizens on PatrolUS
• Rendőrakadémia 4. - Zseniális amatőrök az utcánHU