L.A. Confidential: Good Cop-Bad Cop

The Los Angeles Police Department has representations of both good cops and bad cops in L.A. Confidential. This thesis will focus on Detective Ed Exley (Guy Pearce); the dubious good cop and why he follows the rules and regulations in the line of duty. In addition L.A. Confidential will represent Exley as a police officer who understands the hierarchal authoritative system and tries to benefit from it. He will be depicted later as a public-image conscious figure in this film. There may be more concern on his part about his image and the perception of police legitimacy than whether the political system is genuinely legitimate (Sankowski 2002).

The Los Angeles police department’s representation in cinema and television has been viewed for almost 70 years. From the early days of Dragnet to End of Watch, the L.A.P.D. has been critically analyzed for its use of violence, scandals, corruption and sometimes honesty since the days of the William H. Parker. The toxic mixture of reality and fiction has created a genre that has attracted television and film audiences for decades. The film representation of these men and women in blue has boiled down to a number of characterizations, including murderers, thieves, blackmailers and drug dealers. Amongst the more popular scenarios which may be less glamorous, and emerges in the police genre films are, the good cop goes bad or the good cop faces a moral test and fails the ethical dilemma he is tested with.

 L.A. Confidential is the 1997 film noir classic based on a novel by James Ellroy, with the screenplay written by Brian Helgeland. James Ellroy has also penned several other police dramas including The Black Dahlia, Dark Blue and Rampart. L.A. Confidential explores the darker side of the Los Angeles police force in Southern California in the 1950’s. There are four police officers who closely interact and they have distinctive views and personalities on how police work should be accomplished and administered. On the surface, these officers are very dedicated to the Los Angles police force. Captain Dudley Smith, portrayed by James Cromwell, Officer Wendell “Bud” White played by Russell Crowe, Detective Ed Exley, portrayed by Guy Pearce and Detective Jack Vincennes played by Kevin Spacey. The characters try “to protect and to serve,” the general public, but through the authorship of James Ellroy, the only citizens which are being served are the powerful criminals and political elite, who are intertwined with the dark underbelly of the Los Angeles police force.

 The surface characterizations of good cops/bad cops are hard to define at first, as a layer of mystery and deceit descends upon the first act. Captain Dudley seems like a lifer, a good honest cop, who bends the rules with brutality to get the hard police work done. Bud White is the muscle behind the badge, with an agenda to right the wrongs of abusive wife- beating men. Detective Exley is the outsider, the good cop, and college graduate with glasses, who is more politician than cop, in the eyes of his colleagues. Vincennes is the glamor cop, who has been accepted in the fraternity. He takes bribes or hush money from the editor of Hush Hush magazine for news tips. He is dirty as the rest, but has a sleazy appeal.

According to Cecil Greek, in The Big City Cop as Monster, Greek believes Hollywood depicts law enforcement officers in movies and television as monsters (Greek 1994). The police emerge as rouge monsters, which are sent out like Golem in Jewish folklore to save the population from the scourge of evil (Greek 1994). It was said in the 1600s Hasidic Rabbi’s in Prague created golem out of clay to protect the Jews from Blood Libel and a Jew-hating priest who was trying to incite Christians against Jews (Oreck 2013). At first Golem is an obedient protector, defending the poor, the abused and the weak. But during his fight for justice and protecting the innocent his programing becomes confused. The Golem has a difficult time to determine right from wrong.  He is charged to solve problems of criminal activity, but takes the law into his own hands and solves the problem at any cost. At this point the Golem is no longer a friend of the community, but becomes a feared ruthless authoritative figure in the community.  Unfortunately, once this happens, the Golem becomes uncontrollable and must be restrained or destroyed. What is thought-provoking is the Golem myth was “to protect and to serve” which are the same words displayed on the side of the Los Angeles Police Department’s squad cars.

In many cases, the rouge Golem is similar to the rouge cop, or cops who have been portrayed in L.A. Confidential.  Unfortunately for Exley, he tries to be the humble good cop, and attempts to stop rouge cops. But the actions of the rouge cops are repeatedly overlooked and ignored.  Frequently, they are encouraged with this behavior by the hierarchal order, who wishes to reinforce the rouge cop brand of hooligan-golem justice.

In the first scene Bud White is portrayed in pure noir style. The opening scene dissolves from black to a monstrous close up of Bud, as he stares from his police unmarked squad car into the house of a suspected wife beater.  Bud in dramatic style, rips down the Christmas lights of his L.A.-style bungalow home to attract the attention of the perpetrator inside. The wife beater opens the door to see what the commotion is about. Bud and the suspected assailant get into a fight, Bud administers some homegrown justice, beats the man to a pulp, handcuffs him to a rail and radios the police dispatcher to investigate a disturbance at the L.A. home. This type of enthusiasm for justice goes unpunished at the Hollywood police station.

On the opposite end of the justice scale, Exley is first introduced in L.A. Confidential as a noble police officer. With a Speed Graphic camera snapping photographs, and light bulbs flashing in his face, Exley is asked by a crime reporter why he wanted to be a cop. With the shadow of his fathers excellent career as a police officer cast over him, Exley answers quietly with his glasses smartly placed,” I wanted to help people”. He says with a grand religious zeal, with confidence and without any emotion or cynicism, like a priest at confession. This scene and the following scenes foreshadow the rise of Exley in the department. The photographer and reporter hover over Exley like paparazzi at a Hollywood opening.  The reporter seemingly knows Exley’s fate and how he will be severely tested, morally ethically and emotionally in future events.

Exley, the only bespectacled policemen on the force is also portrayed as shorter and more formal then the rest of the police officers. In the film, the camera, in its establishing shot of Exley, is emphasizing Exley height, by shooting him at upward or downward angles.  This is another device, which allows Exley to stand out in the crowd. Also, Exley is portrayed as smiling and happy, rather than the glum look of the other run-of-the-mill police officers on duty.  This simple device of facial expression helps Exley to be unusual and go against the tide of cronyism and corruption, which exudes in the L.A.P.D.

 In reality, Exley would have been an impeccable cop under Chief Parker’s administration in the 1950’s -- A by the book, police bureaucrat whose mission it was to defend the law. Parker tried to implement an attitude of incorruptibly and unapproachable brashness, of a few good men, similar to the superiority of the Marine Corp. In Parker’s view the Dragnet Detective Joe Friday was the perfect representation Parker wanted. He dreamed of a force that would do battle with the immoralities of Los Angeles (Davis 1990).

Indeed, Exley goes against the grain of the new noir style of the 1990’s, which Sharon Y. Cobb identifies, in her work, Writing the New Noir Film. Exley is not an antihero or is he portrayed necessarily as a desperate character. As the films protagonist, Exley’s initial motives are not dishonorable, and like many noir characters, Exley is not a liar who is not constantly deceiving himself or others. But as the protagonist, Exley is a likeable character, but on an emotive level, like most noir characters the audiences may not connect emotionally to his good guy presentation at first. As the audiences began to understand why Exley is the way he is, and how he will eventually get to a wretched place, the audiences will become interested in his outcome as he becomes an intriguing character in the traditional noir style.

In L.A. Confidential, they’re many opportunities for the good cop Exley to be the bad cop. Police brutality and violent incidents seem to occur at regular intervals, which can be largely due to the geographical location of Los Angeles as a metropolitan area with a dense minority population (Oreck 2013). Particularly in this situation, violence, drugs and crime are acerbated in Los Angeles with its large Mexican and African-American minority communities, which is fertile ground for police brutality and foul play. This scenario of minorities being abused by law inforcement is a crucial backdrop to the bad-cop/good-cop themes that runs through a number of scenes in LA. Confidential.

If we look at the Christmas scene at the city jail we can view the racism in real time. And view Exley, in his calculating role as the protector of justice.

 EXLEY: What’s going on?

COP: They got the spics who japped Helenowski and Brown. Helenowski lost an eye and Brown’s got brain damage.

EXLEY: I have the report right here. They’re home with bruises and muscle pulls--Oh Shit…(Helgeland 1995).

In the Bloody Christmas scene Detective Ed Exley, plays the good cop by following the rules and regulations of standard police protocol, and tries to use common sense to cool down his fellow police officers. Unfortunately the “spics” are taken down stairs and a fight ensues when Bud White’s partner Stenslend (Graham Beckel) who is half tanked from drinking rum and coke on duty, attacks one of the “tacos” for hurting one of his fellow officers. A melee brakes out, with Bud White and Jack Vincennes joining in as they attack the Mexican prisoners. During the confrontation Ed Exley, the good cop, tries to stop the brutal and senseless beating by ordering the officers to stop and threatens the police officers, they’re actions are going in his report.  These idle threats mean nothing to the seething police officers. They knock Exley down on the ground and lock him in a cell, and ignore his pleases to let him out at once. The camera pans to Exley, screaming at the top of his lungs, but can’t be heard in the locked cell. This scene demonstrates that  Exley is out of his league with the rest of the squad, with his fellow police officers and his temporary assignment as the evening watch commander. Captain Dudley Smith plays this situation smartly as the commander of the bad cops. He stays indifferent to the riot down stairs in his police jail, and to the excess of drinking alcohol, with on duty Police officers. At the Christmas party, Smith some how allows the press to photograph the transgressions of his fellow officers.

Unfortunately, the Bloody Christmas scene was a bit of reality, which was ripped from the pages of history. On December 25th 1951, 50 drunken Los Angeles police officers severely beat seven men in custody, including five Mexican-Americans. At the time L.A.P.D.’s new police chief, William Parker launched an internal investigation to examine the misconduct. But in this real version by all accounts, there was no good cop like Exley.

Also as a direct result of this period of blatant racism, the L.A.P.D. closed ranks. They implemented a strict code of silence and conduct in all internal disciplinary matters.  In essence, it was a publicity campaign to assure the public that everything was above board at police headquarters. Unfortunately, these tragic episodes have lead to a strained relationship with the Los Angeles Mexican American community and other minority groups that resided in Los Angeles in the 1950’s (Escobar 2003). Mexicans and other racial and cultural minorities are the most vulnerable faction in the communities of Los Angeles. Many of whom do not speak the language and may be culturally unaware of certain protocols in the U.S. These individuals are the most susceptible to law inforcement criminal activity on and off the screen.   

The result of the Bloody Christmas episode had been a political nightmare for the Police Chief (John Mahon), D.A. (Ron Rifkin) and Dudley Smith. The newspapers have the riot as front-page news, in bold letters “BLOODY CHRISTMAS” is displayed prominently in the Los Angeles Times. The corrupt authoritative hierarchy needs answers and a quick resolution to satisfy the public and other high-ranking city officials. As each officer who was a participant of the riot is brought in and questioned. Not one police officer will testify against a fellow officer. Each police officer is protecting the other police officer, which protects the system of corruption.

 Bud White is brought in and asked to testify to the Grand Jury concerning the incident. Bud states that  he will not testify against his fellow police officers. Bud’s refusal to testify has resulted in the Police Chief asking for his badge and gun and suspends him from duty. In an additional blow, the Police Chief adds that  Bud White is a disgrace to the police force. In the next scene, Exley is shown walking down the hall as he approaches the Police Chiefs office to be questioned.  White, as he leaves the Police Chiefs office, the film is intercut to show both men approaching each other, both have primarily the same type of lighting, with the approximately same camera angle, demonstrating they are both equals at the time of the interview. White had his opportunity; he dismissed it, hiding behind his badge of honor which is shrouded in secrecy.

When the triumvirate interviews Exley, he immediately jumps in and takes the high road and the offensive, “Justice has to be served, of course I will testify”, “ The public will expect the department to sweep this investigation under the carpet. We should shift the guilt to men who pensions are secure, but somebody has to swing, your new department will not tolerate officers who think they are above the law”.  The Police chief accepts Exley proposals, for ending this political nightmare.  Bud White’s partner Stensland will be let go from the department, and Vincennes will take the fall and testify against several of his police officers at the Grand Journey investigation.

During the interview with Vincennes, Exley is behind a one-way glass, watching the cross examination of Vincennes. Exley, the new puppet master is watching his well-played plan come to a conclusion. His image is reflected on the one-way glass observing the impromptu interrogation, demonstrating his ability to take command. It’s a powerful scene, but the power with the placement of images is very subtle. Dudley Smith is somewhat surprised by the acuteness of Exley’s display of cunning. “You may reap the benefit Edmund, but are you truly prepared to be despised within the department, yes sir I am, so be it.”

 Exley is the plotting politician as Dudley Smith pointed out in an earlier scene, “Edmund you’re a political animal, you have an eye for political weakness but not the stomach.” Apparently, Exley has proven Smith wrong by having the stomach and the will to carry his case forward for justice, as he sees it, within the department.

As the plot for L.A. Confidential moves forward another racial incident raises its ugly head, displaying the full force of the good cop/bad cop scenario. A mass murder has been committed at the Nite Owl coffee shop, a late night joint that serves steak and eggs till the midnight hour. Six people have been killed including White’s ex- partner Stenslend. At the scene of the crime, 45 spent 12-guage Remington shotgun shells have been found, it is speculated that three men with five-shot-capacity are responsible.  Earlier that evening, three “negro youths were spotted firing shotguns in Griffith Park from a late model Mercury Coupe” (Helgeland 1995). Captain Dudley Smith holds an impromptu meeting to discuss the investigation strategy of the Nite Owl shooting. He orders his team to search for the coupe and the three Negro assailants.  “Gentlemen go out and get them, use all the necessary force” Exley, then quips, “Why not put a bounty on them”.  Indeed some may say the L.A.P.D. has been permanently haunted by racial politics. Peter Boyer in his article for the New Yorker points out in the nineteen-twenties, the chief of police in Los Angeles, Louis Oaks was a member of the Ku Klux Klan. Also, the L.A.P.D. had a long history of institutional racial profiling before that term had currency (Boyer 2001). Regrettably, the L.A.P.D. did not integrate its police force until 1961, even though the Los Angeles black population quadrupled between 1940 and 1960 (Boyer 2001).

They’re few remaining scenes where Exley retains his good cop image. His protagonist image is quickly going to fade, due to the confrontations he is going to face. In Exley’s case, eventually there will be a set of norms and values that will govern his behavior. He morphs quickly, not by a hostile criminal, but by a stressful situation working with his corrupt fellow police officers. This situation will be enlarged and amplified when Exley discovers his superiors in the police administration and local politicians are orchestrating the police corruption schemes, which are motivated by big money and drug dealing. Fortuitously for Exley, his lonely battle against city hall will be joined by White who will eventually join him, in this up hill battle against the corrupt elite. This union will indeed result to be an intriguing moral struggle for both parties.

As seen in L.A. Confidential, the plot is deeply cynical about the authoritative governmental systems, which appears to be entangled with the mob scene and other unscrupulously activities. The police are barely distinguishable from the criminals they are supposed to keep in check. This cover-up of an illegitimate authority is an essential fragment that engages and entices Exley for his search for truth and justice. But as Exley ultimately becomes the corrupt hero, he must render to a number of moral struggles within himself, with his police enemies and his loved ones (Gustafson 2007).

Exley and Detective Carlisle arrive and 1^st and Olive at a seedy apartment with a tip that three Negroes who escaped from the city jail after being incarcerated and questioned for the murders at the Nite Owl cafe are in hiding. The detectives burst into the apartment and find the three Negroes with two other men. A gun melee ensues and everyone is shot and killed except Exley and the unarmed suspect, Coates. Coates escapes and runs down the hallway to an elevator. Coates enters the elevator, unarmed and the elevator door slowly closes. Exley quickly approaches the elevator door and pumps a round of shotgun shells into the elevator and mortally wounds Coates. Exley pokes his head in and stares at the bloodied body of Coates. Exley crosses the line, from good cop to bad cop by killing an innocent and unarmed man in cold blood. Who would have thought Exley would become “Shot Gun Ed”, as he’s been dubbed by his exuberant fellow officers, welcoming him into their private club. Exley has turned the corner of acceptance with his fellow police officers. He has been ordained into the fraternity of crooked cops, the band of brothers who will do anything to protect each other.  

Exley has slid down the slippery slope of moral uncertainty, and now faces one of his first of many moral dilemmas. He experiences the unannounced test of personal strength and moral judgments, which in this case he failed. If we look back at the Christmas party scene, Captain Dudley Smith tries to convince Exley not to pursue a new position in the Detective division because of his by the book attitude, and proceeds to ask Exley a few pointed questions.

DUDLEY: Would you be willing to beat confessions out of suspects you knew to be guilty?

EXLEY: No.

DUDLEY: Would be willing to shoot hardened criminals in the back to offset the chance--

EXELY: No. I know you mean well, Dudley, but I don’t need to do it the way you did. Or my father.

Who would have thought “Shot Gun Ed”, now the bad cop Ed Exley, turns the corner of acceptance with his fellow police officers and gains the loyalty from the fraternity brothers in blue. When Exley returns to the squad room after his bloody battle, he is welcomed as a hero, as a long lost brother, with blood dripping from his clothes, “You did good kid”. For Exley his work as a murderer will be rewarded with fame and publicity. His compensation for his dirty work for the police department is their highest honor, The Medal of Valor.  Subsequently for Exley the time came for choosing the code, the code of honor, with respect to his fellow officers and to the crossroad of loyalty, brotherhood and silence.

At the hospital, Exley interviews the rape victim who places the three Negros at the Nite Owl café at the correct time. While Exley helps Inez Soto (Marisol Padilla Sánchez) out of the hospital, he discovers Inez does not remember any thing about the night she was raped. You remember what time the Negros left you? Right? In your statement, you said they left you at midnight.  Ms. Soto answers, “I don’t know what time they left me, I wanted them dead, would anyone care they raped a Mexican girl from Boyle Heights?... If they hadn’t killed those white people at the Nite Owl, nobody would care”.  “I did what I had to do for justice”. Exley is shaken by this turn of events; there are doubts in his heroic actions. At least a half dozen people are dead, and the facts are not adding up to the justice Exley desires.

At this point in the plot and story, the hero Exley is feeling uncomfortable with the facts of the Nite Owl case. He begins to question the medial examiner, concerning the truths of the murders. By his surprise, Exley discovers Bud White has also been asking questions concerning the murders with the medical examiner. This interaction with Exley and White is an example of how this contact is an essential element in the narrative structure of the cop-genre film (Brown 1993). In act one, the hero is quickly introduced, along with his superiors and adversaries when Exley does not have a police partner, and he is isolated from the police pack, due to his by the book nature.  In act two, when the plot advances, the conflicts between good and evil become more defined and clearer. Also during this act, the hero will adapt to a new partner. White and Exley, are the polar opposites in police procedures, rules and regulations. Both of these men need to go forward in their personal conflicts to increase the dramatic skirmishes and tensions in this film. Indeed these opposites began to attract each. Their intentions are the same, and as one would expect, but each of their methods are vary different.  But as White and Exley work towards the same common goals, their methods become increasingly identical.

A theme in Exley’s world is the reasons why the characters in L.A. Confidential wanted to become cops. In Exley’s case it’s Rolo Tomassi. Rolo Tomassi is a metaphor for the person he thinks has killed his father. Exley’s father was also a respectable policeman in the L.A.P.D. With Vincennes, who is jaded and corrupt, can’t remember why he wanted to be a cop. Vincennes, also has been taking payoffs from Sid Hudgens (Danny Devito), who has been involved in a blackmail scheme with Hush Hush magazine. Its also worth mentioning for the author of L.A. Confidential James Ellroy's, was motivated by an unsolved mystery "I was ten years old in June of 1958, living in Los Angeles, when my mother was murdered, her death engendered in me a tremendous curiosity for all things criminal-police work”. In L.A. Confidential, shows these characters, which have lost parents as the result of violent acts that went unsolved (Tibbetts 1997).

The dreams however of becoming a policeman are very real for some. If we briefly look at recent history of the L.A.P.D., we can identify Rafael Perez’s, the corrupt cop in the Rampart scandal and member of the elite CRASH unit. Perez as a boy living near Philadelphia with his mother would watch cop shows on TV and imagine one day of having a badge and a gun (Boyer 2001). Granted Perez’s motivations are rather benign. Exley’s on the other had, wants to correct the wrongs of the world. He wants to catch the criminals who thought they could get away with murder. Exley has imagined a scenario to keep his father alive. Since the only facts in his father’s death, were the six bullet holes, which riddled his body. But Exley has also thought about justice, and somewhere along the way he has lost sight of Lady Justice.

The powers of justice seem to sway in Exley’s favor; at least with two of his corrupt associates, as they begin to believe that all is not what it seems to be in the Nite Owl murders. For White it’s his motivation to seek and destroy individuals who mistreat women who may also be involved in the Nite Owl murders. For Vincennes, it’s the thought that he was involved in a photo-op black mailing the District Attorney, which has resulted in a murder. Both of these factors indicate that a corrupt cop with his own rational can justify good and bad in a single instant. But the overall aura of Exley’s good cop intentions has influenced Vincennes and White. Exley’s constant and vigilant search for justice has placed doubts in the minds of his associates.

 Unfortunately for Vincennes, with his trusting nature and need for a clear conscious, he searches out Dudley Smith concerning some facts in the recent murders. Sadly for Vincennes, Dudley is the perpetrator and mastermind of the recent murderous misdeeds. And without hesitation upon answering a few questions from Vincennes shoots him thru the heart a point blank range.

DUDLEY: Have you a valediction, lad?

Dudley leans low, to listen to Jack’s response.

JACK: Rollo Tomasi... Dudley frowns in ignorance at the name.

After the press conference the next day, Dudley stands in front of the waiting police detectives and orders them to administer justice to the killer of Vincennes, “it must be swift and merciless”. Dudley pulls Exley aside and asks him, “Did Vincennes ever mention the name Rollo Tomasi? Exley is frozen in time, and knows Dudley has killed Vincennes.”

With Vincennes dead, Exley needs a partner to eradicate the corrupt Dudley. Bud White is a reluctant partner since he has been shown photographs of Exley making love to Lynn (Kim Basinger). But after a brief fight over Lynn, White accepts Exley’s account of Dudley murderous escapades.

EXLEY: Stay smart, Bud. We build a case. We play by the rules.

BUD: There are no rules!  Why the fuck are you doing this?  The Nite Owl                   made you.  You want to tear all that down.                                 

EXLEY: With a wrecking ball.  You want to help me swing it?

Again we see the bipolar Exley, at one point he wants to obey the law to the letter, then the next moment, he wants to give it all up, and play the corrupt cop. Exley, for example can have many reasons to break the code of conduct by hanging the corrupt District Attorney out the window for a confession. Especially since the District Attorney knew what corrupt and criminal deeds Dudley and Patchett (David Strathairm) were up to. With Exley, there are hints of spiritual growth to be reborn with the personal vendetta to find and kill, Rolo Tomassi. Exley at this point in the film cares little about fame in the department; he wants something new, the blood of Rolo Tomassi.

Exley and White drive to the Victory Motel with its landscape noir style, where Dudley Smith is waiting with his gang of police thugs. There is a tremendous hail of bullets. Bud White and Exley are shot but not killed by Dudley Smith. Exley looks down the barrel of Smith’s revolver and quietly says, Rolo Tomassi, you’re the guy that gets away with it. There is a slight skirmish, and Exley grabs a shotgun, and points it at Dudley.

Dudley: “Are you going to shoot me or arrest me, good lad, always the politician, hold up your badge so they will know you are a policemen”. At this point in the film, Dudley is quite sure of himself. He has killed so many policemen that one less will not make any difference. Dudley than offers Exley a bribe, I will make you Chief of Detective, just let me do all the taking.

Exley, the politician, the man holding the gun pointed at Dudley, is alone with his emotions and jumble of thoughts. The supreme moment has arrived at this critical instant of morality vs. justice. Somewhere one of the two men must remember the earlier conversation at the Christmas party, at the Hollywood percent.

DUDLEY: Would you be willing to shoot hardened criminals in the back to offset the chance --                                 

EXLEY: No.

When Dudley exits the bullet-ridden motel, the police sirens are heard in the background, with Dudley’s arms raised walking toward the oncoming police cars, Exley, shoots Dudley in the back.

In the press, both Exley and Dudley are acclaimed as heroes, an arrangement that Exley has plotted and managed, while he was interrogated for the murders of the police officers at the Victory Motel. Exley seems to have adopted moral blinders in the course of this film. With justice and Rolo Tomassi being the guiding force of his own moral compass, Exley seems to have drifted off course. In Exley’s philosophical view, which has been a driving force throughout this film, Exley has had some significant gaps with his ability to judge what is truthful and what is moral. These decisions, which Exley has made, seem to occur when his own actions are a stake, demonstrating a type of schizophrenia when it pertains to a decision concerning his own activities. This overall behavior of Exley, demonstrates an absolute certainty of his character and to some extent a self-righteousness which may be blinded by his own interpretation of the truth. Or is this simply a way for Exley to grab power for the good of himself and the department?

The picture of Exley, in the integration room, after the shoot out at the Victory Motel is quite interesting. He is at one moment greening from ear to ear, with his uncanny ability to predict what the District Attorney and Chief of Police are discussing  and planning after his wretched account of Dudley Smith’s activities as a murderer, con-artist and drug king pin. Later in the scene, Exley has the crazed look of a mad man, a man who has just escaped death, but sees that life is out of balance situations more clearly.

Exley’s actions seem to make him above the law, due to his father’s murder by Dudley. There is retribution in his blood, for justice and for himself. Obviously, he feels somewhat vindictive in his approach to the police department, by not being recognized as a superior candidate within the department. Exley also scored high in the Lieutenant’s test for the police force, and his ability to ferret out corruption at it highest level. Exley was and is a superior policeman, by some standards, if we consider the situation which was handed to him. But do the ends justify the means for Exley actions?

If we reconsider Exley for a moment, we may find that he maybe fanatical about ferreting out bad cops and he has the responsibility to execute justice, now on his own terms (Grant 2003). In the end Exley uses his information for his own promotion rather then to stop the system of depravity. In fact Exley, the good cop, has keep silent at two award ceremonies, rather than admit his complicit actions. By the final scene Exley consents to the organization and his elevation in the face of all he knows to be true about the police force. This knowledge places him in a category of honorable uncertainty and possibly collusion.

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