The movie “Training Day” captures certain aspects of corruption and unprofessional conduct of a Narc officer in the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). There are several instances of unscrupulous behavior by police officers. There are nineteen incidents of misconduct and two limitations shown in the movie. The incident leading to the unfortunate turn of events only finds mention in the movie. The Narc officer kills a member of the Russian mob and has to make a restitution by midnight to save his own life. The events portrayed in the movie involve the conspiracy played out by the Narc officer to save himself and frame the involvement of an innocent rookie officer (Gustafson, “A Descriptive Analysis of Police Corruption in Film”).
The first aspect of the framework is political accountability to the government. The Narc officer conducts searches without warrants in direct violation of the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution. In addition, he decides relevant punishment for different members of the community in a kangaroo court form of justice. Finally, his association with corrupt officers and a district attorney who evidently take a share out of the Narc officer’s ill-gotten wealth. Through his actions, the Narc officer is undermining the government and guarantees for the citizens. In addition, his violation in the discussed areas creates an aberration in the LAPD’s accountability to the city management.
The next aspect of the framework is professional standards. The Narc officer encourages and then compels the young rookie officer to inhale marijuana while on the job. Moreover, he does not record confiscating evidence from any of the defendants they encounter. He parks his vehicle in the middle of a busy intersection and then pulls a firearm on innocent motorists. The Narc officer is constantly with a beer or scotch. When the unauthorized search of the suspect’s residence goes sour, he does not call on the radio for backup. He engages the shooters by himself and places the life of the rookie officer in danger. The Narc officer fails to call it in on the would-be rapists. He set them free to commit crimes again, despite catching them in the act. All the violations in this area hurt the professional reputation of police officers (Swanson, Chamelin, Territo, and Taylor 401).
The third aspect of the framework is the limitations within the police department. The lack of proper checkpoints within the process allows the Narc officer and his team to embezzle evidence to the tune of a million dollars. Moreover, the lack of surveillance evidence and the lack of regular patrol officers while executing an arrest warrant allow the corrupt to violate the law freely. There is a complete breakdown in the system if crooked cops can kill criminals and steal from them without worrying about the consequences (Swanson, Chamelin, Territo, and Taylor 614).
The final aspect is for external review. The FBI will share a keen interest in corrupt police officers and district attorneys. They will also have interest in looking into two occasions where the Narc officer endangers the lives of police officers. The GBI’s scope for investigation in this movie is extensive. Payoffs to secure arrest warrants, misuse of warrants to commit robbery, committing armed robbery while taking refuge behind an illegally obtained warrant, conspiring to frame a police officer, conspiracy to kill a police officer, evidence tampering, and staging the crime scene. The GBI will use its forensic labs, investigative offices, and drug enforcement offices to reconnoiter the damage caused by a group of corrupt Narc officers in the LAPD (Swanson, Chamelin, Territo, and Taylor 628).
Works Cited
Gustafson, Joseph L. “A Descriptive Analysis of Police Corruption in Film”. Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture 14.2 (2007): 161-175. <http://www.albany.edu/scj/jcjpc/vol14is2/gustafson.pdf>
Swanson, Charles R., Chamelin, Neil C., Territo, Leonard, and Taylor, Robert W. Criminal Investigation. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print.
