"What ya gonna do?"

I watched a Clemson 103 project called “Cops” that portrayed a day in the life of the Clemson Police Department. At the beginning of the short film, there are clips of cops carrying children out of hostile situations and busting drug rings with the song, “Bad Boys” playing in the background. The song lyrics and photos suggest the “everyday hero” quality that cops are attributed to by society, and when Jermaine Dupree is introduced he seems positive an excited to start his ride with the police officers. Even the title is similar to cop shows on television that portray the cops as crime fighting good guys.

 Soon after the cops are introduced and their day begins, it becomes apparent that the cops are not all that wonderful. Jermaine acts as the voice of reason throughout the film as the cops arrest a kid for drinking an energy drink because they claim it is alcoholic, as well as for reading the statue in front of Tillman because he was not a senior, and finally the same boy was arrested for looking at a stain on his hall carpet that resembled cocaine. The short film soon develops the argument that the campus cops are not really doing anything from day to day except bringing money into campus through parking tickets. By making the arrests very ridiculous and humorous their argument that the campus police are power hungry and act foolishly towards the kids on campus is supported.

The video concludes with a questionnaire from Jermaine as he asks if all of the arrests were necessary, if the cops felt that they were overreacting, and what the campus would be like without them. The cops’ answer that without them Clemson students would be out of control and people would be shot. Jermaine does not seem convinced by this answer and the video concludes with the idea that Clemson Police are overbearing and usually wrong. Overall their video did a good job conveying their point, but without evidence the video was not as convincing as it could have been.