MovieChat Forums > The Devil's Own (1997) Discussion > O'Meara's a lousy cop and a lousier serg...

O'Meara's a lousy cop and a lousier sergeant

posted 15 years ago by cm289
27 replies | jump to latest

Any officers out there think that Harrison Ford's character is a piss-poor cop? First he lets the shoplifter go, then he doesn't even draw his own gun when his partner is being held at gunpoint at the domestic, and finally there's the scene where Ruben Blades shoots the auto-burglar in the back and Ford goes ballistic on him for shooting an unarmed suspect, totally ignoring the fact that Blades had a reasonable belief the suspect was armed (since he had just been shot at by the suspect) and that the suspect a posed threat to the officer and the public. How'd he pass the sergeant's exam?

[–] Fire God 12 years ago

One thing many of you are ignoring is the difference between what is legal and what's RIGHT. Yes, the law in this kind of case was not represented well, and bad writing was the cause of it. However, most of this stuff is more about how great a person Tom was, even though he made mistakes just like the rest of us. I also think you underestimate how willing most cops are to plant evidence and allow it to happen. To suggest that it is a no brainer for O'Meara to keep Diaz from planting evidence and lying about it shows profound ignorance in how strong the code of silence is in almost all police departments. This case was borderline at MOST, regardless of what the law says, and not in anyway a cut and dry case of police doing the right thing or wrong thing.

[–] Planet-38 12 years ago

When I was growing up, in my neighborhood, officers of the law were allowed to use their discretion. They could arrest you, take you home, hold you until you calmed down or sobered up and a host of other options (not talking about major crimes). For instance, the shoplifter might have been hauled back to the store, the officer might then return the merchandise and might then ask the merchant if they wanted to press charges.

Granted, that was just one small area of a semi-major city.

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[–] nutsberryfarm 9 years ago

sounds smart to me.

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[–] davedave11 9 years ago

Fords's character saw the perp throw the gun - "drop the gun don't make me shoot you" Fords's character was ready to shoot the armed perp in the back. When the perp threw the gun away, Ford's character decided to retrieve the weapon and let the perp go. HE SHOULD HAVE TOLD HIS PARTNER.

[–] jgroub 9 years ago

Yeah, he's a pretty sh!tty cop, I'll say. But he made up for some of it because he did "cover" for his partner - and to my mind, rightfully so. And I'm a bleeding heart liberal pinko commie left-wing red atheist.

That guy shot at a cop. Eddie had no way of knowing that the guy tossed the gun. You shoot at a cop, you're going down, in the back or otherwise. I have absolutely zero problem with that.

I want the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.

[–] CriticalCatalyst (115) 3 years ago

Shooting a felon in the back is illegal. The US Supreme Court decided in 1985 with TN vs. Garner. Even if the bad guy had a gun and was only trying to get away it would’ve been illegal for Eddie to shoot him in the back. Tom was right to scold Eddie.