Position Assignment Paper on the Movie Training Day (2001)

Training Day
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Introduction and Summary
Training Day is production that was released in 2001 starring Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawk. Denzel Washington plays the role Alonzo Harris of a Los Angeles cop who will use any means including those considered unorthodox to clear the streets of Los Angeles off drugs. Ethan Hawk plays Jake Hoyt, a rookie who undergoes training and is supervised by a seemingly rogue officer. The set up of this movie depicts Los Angeles as a city gone rogue with drug dealers ruling the streets. The drug cartel networks are well connected and it will take dedication and courage for police officers to dismantle the network. Detective Harris has attempted to play by the rules but it is becoming increasingly difficult to accomplish the set mission. He therefore resolves to use other means that are seen as unethical, sometimes even breaking the very laws that he ought to protect and uphold. This paper is an analysis of the movie Training Day and has sought to establish the implications on society when police officers use the means employed by Detective Alonzo in dispensing their duties.
Plot
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) is committed to cleaning the city streets from drug cartels. Assigned to head this mission is a well accomplished cop who has dealt with narcotic crimes effectively, Detective Alonzo Harris. In his company is a newly employed rookie who will earn on the job under the instructions and supervision of Detective Harris. The first mission the cops engage in is confiscation of marijuana from a gang of drug dealers (Fuqua, 2001). Officer Jake is dazzled when he is asked by his supervisor detective Harris to have a hit on some of the marijuana they have confiscated. Staying true to his oath of office, Officer Jake refuses to touch the marijuana. It is only when Alonzo threatens to shoot Jake that the latter relents and takes a puff. This incident is one of the many that the two cops encounter which leaves the audience questioning on the morality of the police officers. On one hand, the officers can be praised because they successfully rid the streets off drugs by carefully and strategically dismantling the complex drug cartel networks. However, on the other hand, the means they use to realize their goals is a total contradiction of the rule of law that they stand for. How does their behavior impact the society that they purport to serve?
Consequences to a Community
The Los Angeles Society had a lot of faith and hope in LAPD. It is expected that LAPD would use the resources at their disposal to uphold the law and protect the citizenry. Although Alonzo and his partner have endeavored to deal with drug dealers head on, the means employed negates all their efforts. Alonzo and his partner are dirty cops who use crime to get rid of crime. Stealing money and drugs from criminals has seen them violate ethics and get in trouble with some of the drug dealers including the Russian Mafia. What is even more disturbing is that LAPD in general does not seem know the dealings that Alonzo have and constantly laud him for a job well done (Gordon, 2011). Detective Harris is a dirty cop and it is unfortunate that he successfully impacts the same character on his trainee officer Jake.
The implication herein for a society with much hope on a reliable police department is disillusion. Once the society is aware that even the very people they could trust for protection of their life and property are also rogue, then society is likely to take law into their own hands. This can explain the increase in the number of gun owners in American society and hence an increase in fatal sporadic shootings (Jesse, 2012). To have cops such as detective Harris taints the image of the police department. What is even mor...