Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/550022
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 2 AUGUST 2015 News 13 Economic Crimes Unit on 10 June, 2013. Daniel Zammit had been re- moved from the Criminal Inves- tigations Department as police inspector and stationed at the Valletta police station but in 2013, upon the election of the Labour government, Zammit was brought into the economic crimes unit on the insistence of the home affairs ministry. Although the current police commissioner and two former police chiefs were interviewed, the inquiry failed to establish why Daniel Zammit was re- moved from the CID and why he was transferred to the Economic Crimes Unit together with his brother. The inquiry failed to establish who ordered the transfers and whether the transfer of the two brothers to the same unit was permissible. A good cop is hard to find In many ways, the Daniel Zammit case reads like a classic 'corrupt cop' thriller: police operating beyond their remit, in an ethical vacuum and entirely against the 'serve and protect' ethos. In a further illustration of how art tends to imitate life and vice- versa, TEODOR RELJIC takes a look at some cinematic crooked cops we love to hate… Serpico (1973), dir. Sidney Lumet 'Many of his fellow officers considered him the most dangerous man alive – an honest cop'. So runs the tagline to Sidney Lumet's enshrined cin- ema classic, the true story of Frank Serpico (played by Al Pacino), who refused to be complicit in the endemic corruption at the New York Police De- partment where he'd graduate from uniformed patrolman to a plainclothes officer. Adapted from the non-fiction book of the same name by Peter Maas, the film's gritty realism, coupled with Pa- cino's iconic performance, cements its reputation as a story about a hero surviving beyond the heroic trappings of Hollywood drama. Bad Lieutenant (1992), dir. Abel Ferrara The clue is in the title, folks. A career-defining film for both director Abel 'King of Sleaze' Ferrara and his lead actor Harvey Keitel, Bad Lieutenant is often a tough film to watch, as our drug-taking, sports-gambling protagonist appears to have no re- morse about his inclinations and his easy recourse to abuse of power. But unlike the Werner Herzog- directed, Nicholas Cage-starring 2009 remake (which only really shares a title and a corrupt cop protagonist with Ferrara's original), Keitel's Lieu- tenant is given a chance at some form of redemp- tion towards the end… given Ferrara's Catholic background, the baggage here should be familiar enough. Training Day (2001), dir. Antoine Fuqua Bagging Denzel Washington a Best Supporting Actor Oscar and burdening director Antoine Fu- qua with a gem on his CV that he has yet to live up to, Training Day plunges us deep into the Los Angeles underworld and the corrupt police net- works that enable it to thrive. The key culprit here is Washington's Detective Alonzo Harris, who puts rookie officer Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke) through a 24-hour crash course in corrupt LAPD practices. Hooking Jake in with an enforced drug hit from the start, Alonzo proceeds to show how deep-rooted the rot is, encompassing the Russian Mafia as well as local gangs. The Guard (2011), dir. John Michael McDonagh The lightest entry on the list, this Irish police comedy is an odd-couple story, in which bad police practices – as engaged in by Sergeant Gerry Boyle (Brendan Gleeson) – serve as a comedic counter- point to the straitlaced FBI agent, Wendell Ever- ett (Don Cheadle), who hops over to Connemara, Ireland to collaborate with the locals on an inter- national drug crackdown. Technically corrupt but also irresistibly likeable, Boyle has his heart in the right place, making it easy for us to forgive his laps- es in professional behaviour. UPCOMING: Black Mass (2015), dir. Scott Cooper Boasting a stellar cast headlined by Johnny Depp, Black Mass will draw on the true story of Irish- American mobster Whitey Bulger – brother to a local state senator who forges a controversial alli- ance with the FBI just as he begins to rise in the criminal ranks. HONOURABLE MENTION: The Wire (2002-2008), dir. Various One of the shining jewels of the 'TV revolution', this HBO drama about the sprawling criminal Bal- timore criminal underworld is a meticulous, often harrowing indictment of institutions collapsing un- der the weight of greed and corruption. With a ro- tating cast of characters dipping in and out of focus in each of the show's five seasons, virtually every aspect of society – from the police to the political elite to education and the media – is eviscerated as being porous to contagion. The Zammit family: Daniel (above) father Ray (below) and (bottom) Roderick confirms worst Zammits