17. "Magnum Force" (1973)

"I hate the goddam system! But until someone comes along with changes that make sense, I'll stick with the system." 

(Clint Eastwood as Harry Callahan)

Clint Eastwood reprises his role as Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan in this sequel to "Dirty Harry." In "Magnum Force," Callahan is reassigned from homicide to stakeout duty (surveillance, essentially a first or second-year officer's job). His new partner, "Early" Smith, and Callahan begin to surreptitiously investigate homicides around the city of recently acquitted criminals, let off by a technicality. Callahan and Smith begin to suspect that corrupt cops are at the center of the crimes, including their own boss, Lt. Briggs.

"Magnum Force" emphasizes police corruption, an issue of great concern in the 1970s and 1980s (this was also the main event in "Serpico"). Police corruption was rampant in police departments in most major cities because police officers have extremely dangerous jobs but are generally paid very little. The most common form of police corruption is bribery or skimming off the top of monetary evidence such as cash or drugs (so, money-oriented). "Magnum Force" focuses on the lesser-known type of police corruption that is vigilantism. This was an issue in the 1970s and 1980s as police departments were under much greater scrutiny after a series of U.S. Supreme Court decisions that applied the 4th, 5th and 6th Amendments to the states (and not just the federal government as had been previously interpreted). As judges began holding local police departments to higher standards of search and seizure and other legal issues, more and more criminals were acquitted or had charges dismissed on technicalities. This angered police departments, and some officers took the law into their own hands.

Several noteworthy advances have been made in the decades since "Magnum Force," including the New York City Commission to Combat Police Corruption, created in 1995. As such, while police corruption still exists, it is much less common and much more well contained. Police departments also have hefty consequences for ethical violations of corruption, especially with more transparent internal affairs and ethics review boards.

15. "Dirty Harry" (1971)

"Where the hell does it say that you've got a right to kick down doors, torture suspects, deny medical attention and legal counsel? Where have you been? Does Escobedo ring a bell? Miranda? I mean, you must have heard of the Fourth Amendment."

(District Attorney to Inspector Callahan)

The film Dirty Harry is a classic in the criminological realm, most obviously illustrating how policing used to be done in the 1960s and 1970s. Clint Eastwood stars as the title character, "Dirty" Harry Callahan, an inspector with the San Francisco Police Department. It is the first of the Dirty Harry series and focuses on Inspector Callahan's investigation of a murder in San Francisco. However, the film also is a textbook example of not only how policing was actually done pre-Miranda (and shortly thereafter), but also how media - and society at large - viewed police officers and how they do their jobs.

Dirty Harry often does what needs to be done to get the job done. He works within the law in that he is a police officer, but also works outside the law in that he does not abide by police procedure (as illustrated in the quote above). Many people view Dirty Harry as the embodiment of what's wrong in American policing - police brutality, withholding of legal counsel, and torturing suspects before and during interrogations. These sorts of practices were stopped during the criminal rights cases of the Warren and Burger Courts (1960s and 1970s), but some of these issues still crop up, especially when it involves minority suspects and white police officers.

Current police practices are a far cry from those in Dirty Harry, yet movies and television shows still include these as everyday occurrences in police departments across the country. Just about any episode of The Wire or watching films like American Violet make us believe that things really haven't changed in nearly 50 years, when in reality, things are very, very different. The effect of media on people's perceptions of police is widespread, often persuading people that police engage in brutal tactics on a regular basis, when in fact, that is not the case (for example, only 2% of cases involving officer use of force involve lethal force, and most officers do not use any kind of physical force in their interactions with the public). Incidents that garner widespread news coverage, such as the Rodney King incident in 1992 in Los Angeles, also contribute to these feelings of resentment and distrust.

Dirty Harry also brought to light - as did other films of this era, such as Serpico - the issue of police corruption. In the era of the film, policy corruption was rampant and often extended as high as the mayor or governor. Officers who toed the "thin blue line" were put in their place (or in the case of the New York Police Department, their place in the Hudson River). The very real concern of police officers engaging in unethical - not to mention illegal - practices contributes to the reason why certain segments of Americans still, to this day, do not trust police. Police corruption was vehemently combated during the 1980s and 1990s, especially in large departments such as New York or Los Angeles, but there are still incidents that shake our faith in the men (and women) in blue who are supposed to protect and serve.

Dirty Harry is a classic film for many reasons - Clint Eastwood's excellent performance, the mystifying plotline, the believable antagonist, and more - and should be required viewing for any criminology student or enthusiast. However, one must remember that sometimes films have a greater social impact than we believe, so we must encourage filmmakers, television producers, and music artists to be socially responsible in their production of entertainment material.