Training Day Sparknotes

In the 1980s, New York was considered one of the most dangerous major cities in the United States. Crime was on an ultimate high, especially in Brooklyn, New York. The documentary, “The Seven-Five” directed by Tiller Russell, focuses on a police officer named Michael Dowd who worked in the 75th precinct. The 75th precinct was known for being the most dangerous area with the most crime. However, not only were individuals within the community committing crimes. Dowd, who’s been on the job for two years, went from being a good cop that followed all protocols to a corrupt cop that went down the path of crime. This documentary goes into details on Dowd’s crime streak, how he got caught, the case against him, and the testimonies of his partners in the police station. This case was considered a “major corruption scandal in New York City in the 1980s” (Michael Dowd, 2015).

Fledgling is the story of an apparently young, amnesiac girl, whose alarming unhuman needs and abilities lead her to a startling conclusion. She is in fact a genetically modified, 53 year old vampire. Forced to discover what she can about her stolen former life, at the same time learn who wanted and still wants to destroy her and those she cares for. This is a very interesting parable that tests the limits of otherness and questions what it means to be truly human.

Today’s justice professionals are in the public eye more than ever. There are a multitude of devices out there that allow civilians to capture every move a street officer makes. It is more crucial now than ever that these officers arm themselves with the knowledge of ethics along with the items on their utility belt. The wrong choice in any decision a justice professional makes will have the public ready and willing to lash out. These difficult ethical decisions are all part of the job that they have taken. Taking the time to learn about what is right and wrong is essential to their positions in society.

After reading the article titled, “The Challenge of Policing in a Democratic Society: A Personal Journey Toward Understanding” by Officer Charles H. Ramsey, I was able to relate with his view points and argument. In this article Ramsey, who was a sergeant for the Chicago Police Department discussed the core of ethics. His main example was the Holocaust in Europe during the 1930’s and 1940’s. Ramsey stated police officers worked together with the Nazi soldiers during this time and in return were not protecting their citizens. Similarly, when the police made no intervention to the killings and hangings of blacks in the south of the United States during the Civil War era.

“Somebody didn’t sleep through ethics training” (Ayer and Fuqua, 2001). This statement made by an officer in the movie Training Day, best exemplifies a major theme of the movie. Training Day should be shown to rookie officers as an example of how a police subculture can allow officers to abuse power. The movie is an over exaggeration, but provides depth and detail into certain situations officers may find themselves in. This paper will look at the specific concepts of a police subculture that officers may encounter.

Antoine Fuqua’s, Training Day (2001) is an intense movie that follows a rookie police officer Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke), whose dream in life is to become an elite narcotics agent for the LAPD. But before landing this difficult job, Hoyt must prove his worth. Enter the ultimate badass, thirteen-year veteran Detective Sergeant Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington), who accepts to test Hoyts capabilities by riding with him for a day around the cruel streets of South-Central Los Angeles. This is a crime thriller that depicts a police culture entrenched in corruption and violence. While Training Day is a great movie, it uses storybook stereotypes of black males with strong masculinities to portray what seems to me to be a negative representation of black society in America.

5. Should ethics training be offered as an on-going process for law enforcement officers? * 5. “On-going ethics training is always a good idea. We train with our guns and cars every year. Couldn’t hurt to make ethics required every year too.” (Shonda Ellis Duncan, personal Interview 2011) 6. Do the interviewees feel that education and/or training in ethics would reduce incidents of police corruption? * 6. “Training may reduce corruption incidents. It’s a nice idea. A wise man once told me though that power corrupts. I believe this to be true. If you think of yourself as a superior to everyone else, there is no law, no training or in-service that can fix that kind of ugly. I don’t know if someone can be “trained” to be humble. Either you are or you ain’t. I think this is true for cops. You’re either a good one or we appreciate your interest in law enforcement. Of course a good cop has to maintain order. You must have respect to be successful. An officer’s presence alone demands it. One must remember the spirit and the letter of the law though and hold it dear as it is precious. “(Shonda Ellis Duncan, personal Interview 2011)

The correctional officer chose to become whistle Blowers after the death of inmate Preston Tate, and after the other officer said that he was the attacker in this situation. However, the correctional officers main allegations was of “brutality that the correctional officer were exploiting racial tensions to stage fights between inmates for entertainment of the prison guards (Holding, 2009)”. The prison tape shows all of this illegal behavior going on, and the two whistle blower watch other officer cohorts their coworkers in how to alter their reports to make it justifiable for the shooting that took place in the recreation yards.

Law enforcement (police) subcultures have specific set of moral values and a certain mentality exhibited by those in law enforcement. It’s always the public against the police so they form an alliance for supportive reasons. However, people may believe police subculture is breaking down. Police subculture is breaking down because it is inconsistent with the formal morals and values related to the culture and that police are not the same as each other in their qualities and attributes. Examining ethics and its relation to the police subculture is important to help delineate not only the grey area of ethics but also the grey area within which the police operate (McCartney and Parent, 2015). For example, police officers are known to defend their own whether its something right or wrong. However, if another officer feels that the situation interferes with their morals, then it becomes inconsistent with the other officer’s

For years police corruption has been a major problem in American society but where is the line between moral and unethical police corruption, many modern movies address this vary issue. Some films portray how types of police corruption can have a positive influence on society, while others show the dark side of police corruption. Many law enforcement agents join the criminal justice with the basic idea of "justice for all," however, most of them do not realize that the nice guy doesn't always win. Even though there are vast amounts of movies which specifically address police corruption we will use three main movies for our argument today, mostly LA Confidential, however, also Training Day.

Throughout history laws and regulations have formed for society to abide by to avoid a world full of absolute chaos. Ultimately leading to the creation of police officers who would enforce these laws and regulations. However, this is one of the world’s most dangerous and stressful professions. Mainly because police officers are expected to put their lives on the line every single day to protect and serve society. Even though this is the case, becoming a police officer has always been a goal of mine. Edward Conlon book called, “Blue Blood” provides amazing insight on what it’s like to be a police officer. This is because Edward Conlon was previously a police officer and based this book around his personal experiences while he was on the job. Since this book is based around first-hand experience and written as they were happening it made me enjoy the book even more. Mainly because these events weren 't over exaggerated. However, since the book is based around stories within stories, I sometimes found it difficult to follow. This book presented many examples of issues that the police face daily and showed that sometimes these issues aren’t easy to handle. Three specific issues that Edward Conlon faced as a police officer that relates to my issues in policing class is dealing with the mentally ill, using discretion, and police training.

Write an 800- to 1,000-word paper in which you analyze the relationship between ethics and professional behavior in the administration of criminal justice. Explain the role of critical thinking with regard to the relationship of ethics and professional behavior. Include in your paper a proposal for a seminar in ethics training for law enforcement officers. In your proposal choose five areas of ethical conduct that will be stressed in the seminar. Explain why you chose those areas and what the expected benefits of the training will be for both officers and the community.

Police “officers work and live in a constantly changing environment in which they are exposed to a myriad of ethical conflicts. When either unprepared or unaware, police officers are more likely to “go with the flow” than they would be if they were adequately prepared to face potentially ethical risks.” (Gilmartin & Harris, 1998) Most ethical violations are committed because the officer is exposed to a situation in which he was inadequately prepared. The lack of time to think about the situation before committing an ethical violation has detrimental life changing consequences. Police work can be very exciting and very rewarding but if not properly prepared and trained an officer can easily find himself involved in an ethical violation. Understanding the issues and being mentally prepared will help police officers become more responsible and make better

As I read Rising Strong by Brene Brown it really hit home with me. In her book she talks about something most people do not like to deal with, which is shame and being vulnerable. We all feel shame no matter who we are. Some people take it better than others do. Some people take their shame and burry it deep down inside them and others takes their shame and makes great success stories out of it. Brene Brown talks about how much she struggled with being vulnerable and how she dealt with it. She starts off her book with a long presentation of her book and how we can approach shame. She enlightens us that Rising Strong is regarding getting to the heart of the most excruciating and uncomfortable minutes we 've ever experienced, getting genuine about the path in which those moments have made us feel and being sufficiently striking to consider ourselves responsible to get up and develop from the past as we move into what more there is to come. She likewise focuses on that yes, most definitely, disappointment is excruciating, exceptionally difficult. Tragically be that as it may, the stories of battle to achievement that we 're so regularly told do more than see their way through the pain and make their way to be success stories. Brown states that all we need are, “a critical mass of bad asses who are willing to dare, fall, feel their way through tough emotion, and rise again” (Brown, 2015, p. 30.)

While watching the film the word formalism ethic was all over my brain staring in the film with Officer Ryan and ending it with officer Hansen. At the beginning of the film Officer Ryan showed me what a police officer should never do. Officer Ryan not only violated the code of ethics of the police force but he violated the rights of the producer and his wife with his racial comments and actions. Also, Officer Hansen tried to do something about it but he had no luck with his superiors instead he was given a lot of excuses of why he should not pursue his inconformity with Officer Ryan. Through out the movie everyone had some of racism and discrimination against someone else. But, the one person who really surprised me at the end of the movie