MovieChat Forums > Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) Discussion > They just get “assigned” a new police ch...

They just get “assigned” a new police chief? WTF

posted 6 years ago by SlackerInc (1101)
13 replies | jump to latest

I’m assuming that in Ireland, where Donagh lives, there is a more centralized national system of police or something like that? He portrays a situation where the local sheriff (or was it chief of police?) is dead, and a guy arrives from out of town who has been “assigned” to take over. Say what? If it was the chief of police: the mayor, city manager, or city council will decide on a replacement and in the meantime, name someone already on the police force to be the acting chief. If it’s the sheriff: that’s an elected position. Either way, the cops working there don’t just get “assigned” a new boss they’ve never heard of. That was a real WTF moment.

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

In this movie you can assault a school kid, two actually, and not face any legal consequences, so things clearly don't work like they do in the real world here.

[–] robbie2499 (19) 6 years ago

In my humble opinion, the chief Willougby had cancer and was dying. It's not a stretch to believe a replacement was already in the works. As "Mildred" said, everybody knew he was dying

[–] captainbucky (15252) 6 years ago

And that’s why they needed a new police boss

[–] SlackerInc (1101) 6 years ago

Okay, but in a small town like that, it wouldn’t be some random guy from out of town they had never heard anything about. The people in charge would be the cops’ friends, relatives, and neighbors.

[–] robbie2499 (19) 6 years ago

You raise a valid point.

[–] [email protected] (1354) 6 years ago

Hey Robbie2499 , I took your suggestion and just saw the film.

I felt the new Chief in charge really had no role...I thought he would be the guy to discover the killer. He was the catalyst to get Dixon out of the force, but the letter from Willoughby was what turned him around...

I liked the movie but if it had less comedic overtures it would have been better. It was a disturbing subject and called for a more serious and dark tone throughout. The constant crimes committed throughout the movie with no repercussions was not credible.
Frances McDormand is one of my favorites. Shes outstanding in every role she plays. Watch her in Olive Kittredge... That was superb, and she was excellent in it. Give that one a shot..I think it was a series. So good.

[–] KutWrite (1302) 6 years ago

I took it that the force was already under investigation due to the "person-of-color-torture(s)" and maybe lack of progress on this case, too.

The black guy seemed to be a temporary "fixer-upper" chief, probably sent by the State Attorney General or a similar office.

I also took it that the wheels of justice turned slowly in that little town, thus eventually Dixon would be arrested & tried for assault on the billboard guy, as Mildred would be for hitting the kids and probably for the arson. The fixer-upper chief probably had more pressing matters as to suppression of evidence and other improprieties preceding the period covered by this film.

[–] SlackerInc (1101) 6 years ago

But if a town were so corrupt as to have its police force taken over by the state, wouldn’t the actual process be to get a judge to agree to unincorporate the town, at which point law enforcement would be taken over by the county sheriff’s department?

[–] KutWrite (1302) 6 years ago

We're probably drilling down too deeply into a fictional town, but...

Judges don't generally have the power to unincorporate a town. Not yet, anyway. In states I know about, that would be done by the legislature, who incorporates a town to begin with. As we see, though the judicial branch, originally designed to be the weakest, can now pass or nullify laws, so who knows what the future holds.

Besides, governments like to hush up corruption that bad, So sending in a "regulator" (a la "Missouri Breaks") would entail making changes as subtly and quietly as possible. They'd probably even reinstate the guy the chief fired... with a desk job.

As you suggested, letting the county take over is a possibility, too. They could just decertify the police dept. to make that happen. The town council could stay as corrupt as it probably was!

[–] Yabeina (185) 3 years ago

You say he was assigned outta nowhere, but he appeared on the street in one of the earlier scenes, standing by the door of what I feel was a bank, but I don't remember a bank scene, actually.

Anyway, I was really puzzling about where the heck he came from, and then it was odd he appeared in the station without them all being informed beforehand, like at least by email.

Also the way he cleared up the mystery rapist's identity left me with questions I wanted answered. Did Dixon ever see the picture of the person on paper? Maybe the guy was driving in the other guy's truck, not his. Maybe the other guy was the soldier. The story felt unfinished. Because the fact that guy came in the shop and broke the store item suggests he is some kind of nut case.

[–] SlackerInc (1101) 3 years ago

Yeah, the script is a mess.

[–] SweetTooth43 (2047) 3 years ago

My take on it is that he was an acting police chief. You know, until they elect his replacement.

[–] SlackerInc (1101) 3 years ago

I understand, but who had the authority to order the department to accept an outsider no one there knew, who just came into town for that purpose? Why wouldn't it be someone who was second in command under the previous chief? Or at least someone who was already on the force rather than a complete outsider, someone who didn't know anyone in town much less anything about that police department?