One of the things which has become apparent in the last few years is the number of "Bad Apples" in Police forces are far greater than anyone thought. Additionally, this is underscored by the ludicrous portrayal of Officers in TV dramas and movies.
Now I'm not talking ancient TV shows like Dragnet or Hawaii Five-O. Or even films, focusing on criminal behavior, like Copland, L.A. Confidential, or Training Day. The Police in those films are just glorified mobsters, running a criminal enterprise. Even modern classics (Yes, I'm referring to the oft-lauded David Simon catalogue) do not contain true and accurate portrayals of a frighteningly large number everyday police officers.
No, I'm referring to low-key racists and foot-soldier fascists which comprise a large segment of police in the United States. Watching the film Blue Bayou about the unjust treatment of Dreamers and other people living in the United States caught in the ludicrous and immoral immigration system there were 3 LEOs portrayed; an "ICE" Officer, who clearly seems to have emerged from the same streets as the film's protagonist Antonio LeBlanc (portrayed by Justin Chon), "Ace" the ex-husband of the female lead (Alicia Vikander) current wife of the protagonist, and "Denny".
LeBlanc's backstory is an adoption by white American parents when he was 3 from Korea and years in abusive foster care before attempting to eek out a living in the fringes of regular/criminal society, i.e. the streets Ivo New Orleans. Ace overhears LeBlanc and his ex-wife in a grocery store and Denny begins a confrontation with LeBlanc (ostensibly to help his white partner) and orders him to not walk away, before getting into a fight (with baton blows) and arresting LeBlanc. This incident puts LeBlanc back into the legal system for which he is utterly unequipped resulting in his eventual deportation.
Now, let's focus on Denny. Denny is a fat, goatee'd, low-brow bigot always talking about sausages. Denny has two more significant scenes. The first scene Denny and two buddies pull alongside LeBlanc as he is trying to make his deportation hearing and beat him up. I did not bristle or chafe at Denny's portrayal and while 10-15 years ago society would have just scoffed at this as "Hollywood" slander and an over-the-top caricature and while today Faux News and the entire right-wing social media propaganda machine would immediately, vociferously, and perhaps violently come to Denny's immediate defense the truth is Denny is a more true representation of Modern Police Officers.
Perhaps, you disagree... but, then you come to the realization that Denny's are patrolling Louisana to this day. From a ProPublica article comes the story of a big fat white deputy brutalizing a black woman who was already a victim of an assault that day. These type of allegations are not new,
For decades, members of the Black community have accused the [Jefferson Parish] Sheriff’s Office of using excessive force against them, making false arrests and failing to rein in abusive deputies.
For years respectable white society and disingenuous right-wing provaceuaters have dismissed allegations of racist police, mistreatment of minorities and an unjust legal system as the work of "Race Hustlers". Before I even finish typing this sentence I'm sure you can tell me the entire story of Jussie Smollet without a second thought. And why? Because the media is conditioned to repeatedly air rightwing agitprop and repeat rightwing narratives of policing and race in America.
But, for much of the Nation the truth is this;
The video begins with a sheriff’s deputy seen holding the wrist of Arnold, who is lying on her back on the sidewalk. The deputy appears to be dragging her along the pavement. The deputy then grabs Arnold’s arm with his other hand and jerks her upward, lifting her body off the ground. They briefly disappear behind a parked white vehicle. When they come back into view, the deputy is holding Arnold by her braids, slamming her repeatedly onto the cement. At one point, he whips her down so violently her body spins around and flips over.
It's only thanks to the ubiquitous nature of video recordings that these incidents are being investigated at all. A few years back the criminal bigot deputy would have written some ham-handed report about ordering the black criminal to the ground and assisting her down. And that would have been that.
Getting back to Blue Bayou, Denny's final scene involves his partner "arresting" him for beating up LeBlanc and allowing the female lead to smack him around in a scene which feels like the old Comics Code rule that justice must win out and the bad guy doesn't get away with it.
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