#19

Racism and Corruption in the FBI/CIA/Police

by Dr. John Ruhland

The movies on this list are well suited to watching as a group to stimulate political discussions. You can find them at independent video stores. Many are also available at public libraries.

*highly recommended **must see

Kermit the Frog asks "Why are there so many songs about rainbows?" Well, everyone knows rainbows exist, but rainbows captivate the imagination because it seems impossible that they could exist. We ask, "Why are there so many movies about corrupt cops?" Likewise, everyone who reads or listens to the news knows bad cops exist, but they captivate the imagination because it seems impossible that such corruption could exist. While there may be "honest" police officers, it is difficult to be a truly "good" cop, because one purpose of police in a capitalist society is to prevent equitable distribution of wealth by protecting property "rights." Police control petty crime to some degree, but at the same time facilitate the much more serious stealing of wealth from the majority of producers (workers) by a minority of super-wealthy. Seattle attorney Paul Richmond deals with "bad" cops. He suggested that with the poor training new recruits get, much of their image of what policing consists of comes from cop movies. Yikes! Be careful out there...

3 DAYS OF THE CONDOR. The CIA attempts to kill an agent who knows too much.

3 NOCHES. Venezuelan version of Serpico, Prince of the City, or Training Day. Very cool, with great music.

*100 KILOS. R. Seville, 2001. The true story of marketing of cocaine in African American neighborhoods in order to fund the CIA's Nicaraguan Contras.

ABOVE THE LAW.

*AIR AMERICA. Roger Spottiswoode, 1990. A humorous look at the mechanism of US covert actions.

ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE. The Black Panthers and COINTELPRO. Note that COINTELPRO was not just extremist "rogue agents," but an actual FBI program aimed at, among other things, preventing African-Americans from joining any kind of liberation movement.

ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13.

*THE AWFUL TRUTH. One episode of the second season of Michael Moore's TV Nation shows a test to prevent intelligent people getting hired by police in some departments.

BAD COP CHRONICLES.

BAD COP 1.

BAD COP 2.

BAD LIEUTENANT.

THE BORDER. Jack Nicholson.

THE BOURNE IDENTITY. Crooked CIA.

CARACARA. Crooked FBI.

CONFESSIONS OF A POLICE CAPTAIN.

COP LAND. James Mangold. This film provides a good explanation why applicants to some police forces are turned away if they score too highly on an intelligence exam (see Michael Moore's THE AWFUL TRUTH on this subject.)

CORNBREAD, EARL AND ME. Joe Manduke, 1974. Talented inner-city basketball player is shot by cops.

CORRUPT (aka CORRUPT LIEUTENANT).

DARK BLUE.

*DEFENSE OF THE REALM. David Drury, 1985. Story of attempted cover-up by Britain's secret police, the MI-5, of a near nuclear disaster.

DIRTY KOPZ.

GANG RELATED.

THE GLASS SHIELD.

HATE. (French) Matthieu Kassovitz, 1995. Powerful film about life in the 'hood, including the police brutality.

INCIDENT AT OGLALA. Michael Apted. Robert Redford narrates in this documentary on Leonard Peltier's frame-up.

IN TOO DEEP. The creation of a Black undercover cop.

KILLER COP.

LA CONFIDENTIAL. Curtis Hanson, 1997. Only noteworthy for showing the depth - and height - of corruption within police forces, and how the corruption continues decade after decade.

THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT. Renny Harlin, 1996. Action film noteworthy for the mention that the CIA knew about the Oklahoma City Bombing, and in fact may have perpetrated that incident to continue the flow of money to the CIA, to "combat terrorism."

THE LORDS OF DISCIPLINE. Franc Roddam, 1982. Racist police tradition causes group of cadets to attempt to eliminate black police trainee.

MUMIA: A CASE FOR REASONABLE DOUBT. 1996. The case of Mumia Abu-Jamal, an innocent man on death row.

NARC.

NEW WORLD BORDER. Border Patrol.

ONE MAN'S JUSTICE. Crooked FBI.

PASSIN' IT ON. John Valadez. Documentary on the case of Dhoruba Bin Wahad, in the context of the Federal Government's COINTELPRO attack by the FBI on the Black Panther Party.

THE RECRUIT. Roger Donaldsen. Shows a CIA agent gone bad. Weakness is that it suggests this is an exception, rather than showing how common it is.

RONIN. John Frankenheimer. Former spies from KGB, STASI, MI5, CIA, and other "intelligence" organizations, willing to murder without scruples and without qualm are available to the highest payer.

SCARFACE. Brian DePalma. The introduction shows Fidel Castro addressing the topic of those people leaving Cuba for the US. Also shows police abetting Miami mafia.

*SERPICO. Sidney Lumet, 1973. True story of corruption of NY police, although accurately representative of any large city's police force.

*SHOOT TO KILL. 1990, (Venezuela). Woman whose son is killed by police attempts to bring his killer to justice.

*SIRENS. White American woman takes on the Cleveland Police who killed her black American ex-husband in cold blood in front of her.

THREE STRIKES. Excellent comedy about three strikes legislation.

THUNDERHEART. AIM vs. FBI's COINTELPRO. With Val Kilmer.

TOUCH OF EVIL. Orson Welles, 1958. Film noir style crime story involving a corrupt policeman.

*TRAINING DAY. Antoine Fuqua, 2001. An update of SERPICO, with a few additional insights into common patterns of police corruption.

UNLAWFUL ENTRY.

URBAN WARRIOR. Matt Ehling, 2002. Documentary on the militarization of the police. We can give you a local contact if you are interested in this topic.

**WACO: THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT. Willian Gazecki, 1997. Clarifies whether the ruling class truly desires freedom and democracy.