Understanding And Combating Police Corruption

Subject One: Understanding and Combating Police Corruption

Police corruption has plagued this country for decades. Whether it's done out of need or greed, it affects every community and has tarnished the image of police departments across the country. Community relations are a vital part of police work and without it officers have a hard time doing their job. Corruption causes distrust and prevents officer from getting cooperation from the public. Police corruption has been glorified and documented in several movies throughout the years. It has been shown in old westerns with crooked sheriffs to more recent movies where corruption is seen from the lowest officer to the highest government officials. The reasoning for the corruption varies from character to character, however the end result is usually the same; either the officer pays or those around him do.

One movie that comes to mind when thinking about police corruption is "Training Day." It was released in 2001 and portrayed a rookie cop Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke) who is starting his first day as a narcotics officer. He is assigned to work for a seasoned, but rogue cop Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington), who has a lot more on his plate than just doing his job. Hoyt has been on the force for a short time but has shown promise to be an excellent narcotics officer. He is a little naÐ"Їve when it comes to his new job, but is tough as nails and has good instinct and intelligence. Harris is corrupt down to the bone and it is evident pretty much from the start of the movie. He has a huge debt to repay due to some illegal gambling, and uses his connections with corrupt officials to get the money to pay his debt, or lose his life. His team of narc officers is also corrupt. He puts Hoyt's character through his paces on his first day and forces him to choose between corruption and doing the right thing. Hoyt being of good moral character turns down Harris's proposal and decides to turn