The Extreme Justice League By Michael Barnett

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).

This article interests me because it has become a very controversial topic recently. The Cop Watchers

Lack of training and policing standards are closely linked to the myriad problems bedeviling police work, especially in small departments (Brodeur, 2010). All over the country, police departments report cases of officers being caught in uncompromising and unprofessional situations, resulting in disciplinary actions such as redeployment, suspension or sacking. These cases of unprofessionalism have led to questions being asked about policing, occasioned by recurring series of questionable and controversial encounters with police officers (Brodeur, 2010). The consequence of such encounters is increasing public distrust in law enforcement agencies.

In this paper I argue that Alan Moore's Watchmen uses its dystopia to critique the selfish nature of humanity that abandons morals to achieve one’s goals and a society that trusts superheroes without legal and moral authority to oversee their power. By depicting each superhero’s violent actions and their moral decisions, it criticizes the consequentialist’s argument that “the end justifies the means” . Watchmen features superheroes that are normal humans who don’t possess super powers except Dr. Manhattan and struggling for their moral standings from their past. After Adrian Veidt destroys the half of New York, he asks, “I did the right thing, didn't I?”. Although other characters do not directly ask, we can see that they all ask the question

In the PBS Frontline documentary, Policing the Police, the Newark Police Department are under investigation for violating citizens of their constitutional rights when being stopped and searched. Newark is one of the most dangerous cities in the United States, so the police feel as though they have to be aggressive and suspicious of certain people. Others like Jelani Cobb, a writer and historian, feel like there is another way to police the community without violating their rights. A lot of people want safe to have a safe community, but how can they feel safe if they can’t even trust their own police department. The mayor of Newark and his team are destined to make this change. So, Jelani Cobb decides to tag along with some of the Newark police to help investigate.

Batman, Superman, and Catwoman are all examples of a vigilante, any person who takes the law into his or her own hands, as by avenging a crime. We have come to love and grow close to the idea of superheroes saving the day, but whether or not they’re doings are good, many debate. When there is a government that fails to fulfill its responsibility to its citizens, waves of rebellion from the people longing for a higher more just power are created. Vigilantism is justified when the government has failed to fulfill their duties in protecting their citizens.

Another important thing learned from the documentary film that I would like to outline here is that for the first time a documentary based on drugs, crime and law enforcement actually places its plot and central idea on the ways in which law enforcement agencies develop their work approach, perceptions and actions that they take against people involved in drugs and the overall decision making process that accounts for their action.

The Frontline documentary, Policing the police, makes the argument that there are many problems with police departments across the United States and uses his correspondence with the Newark, New Jersey Police Department to make that point.

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.

In 1994 a report by the Mollen commission on police corruption in New York exposed disproportionate corruption within the department. Violent crime, including gang type activity, cops in uniform routinely storming drug locations and stealing narcotics, money weapons and whatever they felt like taking. On duty police officers riding alongside drug dealers, providing protection while the dealers carried big amounts of drugs and cash. The commission also found cops who became drug dealers themselves starting up their own drug dealing networks and delivery centers. (Neighborhood Explanations) Although most officers are honest and hard-working, the Mollen report exposed serious, violent activity by some in the department.

Additionally, the continued development of superheroes became proved to be positive role models for kids. The expansion of superhero popularity in the media showed that superheroes’ thinking about law and justice spread beyond comics, reaching a large audience (Bainbridge

The Morality of Vigilantism From 2012 to present day a new superhero has been brought to our televisions. His name is Oliver Queen better known as the “Arrow”. In this hit series Oliver Queen, a party hard, billionaire playboy, ends up stranded on an island after his boat was shipwrecked. This island was unlike any other place, where Oliver had to overcome many perilous situations with some very dangerous people, which left him struggling for survival. Long story short, after being saved from the island he transforms himself into a hooded vigilante who tracks down the wealthy who plague Starling City to destroy all their illegal operations in an attempt to return Starling City to a state of justice.

In the recent event of the Texas church shooting, the gunman was stopped by two ordinary citizens. These two men chased down the gunman until he shot himself and crashed his vehicle. Without the help of these two citizens, the gunman may have gotten away and killed more people. These two heroes briefly took the role of being a vigilante; taking the law into their own hands in order to protect other citizens. Some argue that the act of being a vigilante can be an illegal act in itself. By idolizing comic book heroes, the audience has a strong influence of justice related morals given to them. Although the act of being a vigilante may be illegal, it is necessary to help ensure the safety of all citizens.

In this essay, I argue that the fantasies of vigilantism in popular culture weaken our society’s desire to undermine laws regardless of how unjust they may be. Vigilantism, being a common theme in popular culture, often portrays an all mighty ‘hero’ of sorts that counters a less-than impressive society. Meaning, with every superhero that comes along to save the day there is a population of people who are unable to help themselves. While the townspeople portrayed in these tales are often grateful for the sparing of their lives, they still remain helpless and reliant on their local vigilante. In most cases, the need for such a strong and skilled hero is due to the lack of a legal system, or a corruption of a governmental institution.

We create superheroes not for just the sake of it but to make the point that we are the real superheroes as we have the capability of creating them. They are those who provide us with great example of virtues over vices and goodness over evil. An ideology of a superhero is worldwide known, it is known by people so much that the definition of an Anti Hero is swept under a carpet. If we talk about general people then they refer any character who is having a supernatural or superhuman ability and who stands for the good cause is a superhero. Today the ideology of an anti hero is created on such a way that it has become difficult to distinguish between the superheroes and the anti heroes.