Reeling Back

The policeman is your friend. That, at least, is what the good folk who created today’s (January 9) National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day would have us believe. Founded in 2015 by a Missouri-based organization called Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.), its stated purpose is to show police officers “that the difficult career path they have chosen is recognized by the people who they protect and uphold the law for.” Aware of the counter narratives promoted by such movements as Black Lives Matter, C.O.P.S. has taken the initiative “to change this negative portrayal of police officers in the news in recent years into a positive one.” Their campaign suffered something of a setback in May 2020 when a white cop named Derek Chauvin was photographed killing the non-resisting black man George Floyd on a Minneapolis street. In May 2021, a jury found Chauvin guilty of murder. Despite the best efforts of blue-line boosting television franchises like CSI, Law & Order and Chicago, issues of police brutality, militarization, systemic racism and institutional corruption just won’t go away. For the most part, feature films have favoured the pro-cop point of view. But not always. Today's five-feature package includes director Jonathan Kaplan's 1992 attempt at a serious examination of the "rogue cop" phenomenon. In it, Ray Liotta plays an unhinged suburban officer set off by an Unlawful Entry.