"Now are you sure you want to fight? Because I'm only going to use my thumb. My right thumb. Left one's much too powerful for you."
(Sean Connery as Lt. Colonel Alan Caldwell)
"The Presidio" is one of the few films that addresses the issue of military justice. It is a film in the early career of Mark Harmon, who later stars as Supervisory Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs in the CBS television show "NCIS," which is why I first watched this film a couple of years ago. The film did not win any major awards, but is a gem with a rockstar cast and a great story.
The Plot: "The Presidio" stars Mark Harmon as Detective Jay Austin of the San Francisco Police Department, who is investigating a series of inter-jurisdictional murders on the U.S. Army base, the Presidio, and the streets of San Francisco. He must work with Lt.-Colonel Caldwell (Sean Connery), who was Austin's boss (the provost marshal) when Austin was in the military police years ago. Caldwell took the side of a drunk driver, an officer named Lawrence, and demoted Austin, who left the military soon after. Caldwell's daughter, Donna (Meg Ryan), decides to start dating Austin at about the same time as the two men need to work together, which adds another thorn to the patch.
From 1847 to 1989, the Presidio served as the primary military installation on the Pacific. It was the assembly point for Army forces invading the Philippines during the Spanish-American War and was the center of the defense of the western U.S. during World War II. The Letterman Army Medical Center was built on the Presidio in the 1890s and was featured in every major U.S. conflict in the 20th century by providing high-quality medical care. Two interesting facts: The Presidio contains one of the two remaining cemeteries in San Francisco city limits - the San Francisco National Cemetery - and the soldiers at the Presidio became the nation's first "park rangers" by patrolling the new Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks between 1890 and 1914.
The Criminal Justice System: The issue of jurisdictions is a complex one, as cooperation between cities, states and the federal government is notoriously bad. Adding in special jurisdictions like Native American reservations and the military only compound the problems. It is often difficult for the military and civilian investigative branches to cooperate, especially since they have differing codes of justice (the military uses the Uniform Code of Military Justice instead of the local, state or federal penal code). This film does an excellent job of emphasizing the difficulties that jurisdictions deal with, especially when working with the military (e.g. the fact that Austin cannot arrest Major Lawrence until he is off of The Presidio and on civilian jurisdiction).
