In terms of policing a definition of brutality must include use of physical force. In class we stated that brutality involved inappropriate or excessive use of force. More exactly we stated that force involved the use of power, energy and strength all of which are physical elements. In the brutality questionnaire that we completed for class, incidents that I found most brutal involved some unreasonably harsh physical violence. One incident that demonstrates the most brutality is the following:

"A child was kid-napped and ransom was paid which effected the child's release. The child had been somewhat battered. The suspect is approached by the police but he does not surrender even after warning shots are fired into the air. He is finally shot and wounded in the stomach by one of the officers. He had a long crim

I don't think I could have been as violent as Harry was if I were a police officer. I think that Harry's violence was a product of his life circumstances. He had a wife who was killed by a drunk driver. He seemed as though he was on a personal mission to save the city of San Francisco from crime. I think his violence may have come from his sorrow at the loss of his wife. I can't imagine myself ever being that violent. I could, as a police officer, shoot a suspect if they were putting me or a partner in danger. I don't think I could be as violent as Harry was toward Scorpio because I have not been through the same kinds of life situations.

I think Harry maybe similar to some real life police officers who get upset at how the system seems to help criminals. There probably are police officers in this country who think the system is set up to make their jobs more difficult. They would like to be able to do more in some cases but since the accused have such extensive rights the actions of the police officers are limited. I think that the extent to which officers use violence in their dealings with suspects varies by individual officers and the violence of the crime the suspect is accused of. I think Harry would have been more "efficient" than the average police officer if he had been allowed to work the way that he wanted to. Harry got hung up by the rules of the system. He could have arrested Scorpio much sooner if his superiors had allowed him to. His Lt. and the mayor made him play along with the killer's game of running all over the city to deliver the ransom money.

Was Harry a racist? Siegal, the film's director was correct in his claim that Harry certainly was a racist. Early in the film, Harry gets a new partner who happens to be a Mexican-American. Chico asks how Harry feels about Mexicans, Harry says to another police officer "tell him." He tells Chico that Harry "doesn't play any favorites... he hates everybody." This is clear evidence that Harry is a racist.

The movie Dirty Harry featured a police officer who relies on violence and brutality to get the bad guy. Some critics, at the time of the film's release and for some time afterward, said that Harry was "excessively violent," racist, and even cruel. I personally would define "excessively violent" as use of extreme force that is not necessary in order to accomplish a certain end given a particular situation. The use of violence becomes excessive when the victim or police officer is no

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