What happened in the film?

  • What did Decklin see?
  • What do you think other characters saw?
    • What do the other characters in the story tell us about Decklin?

How does the role (of a police officer) impact your individual perception of the story?

  • Did Officer Decklin do his job well in the movie?
  • You see a police officer and you assume what?
    • Are they good? Are they bad? Do they help help? Do they hurt?


  • What are the roles police officers have in your community?
    • What is your understanding of what they do?
    • What do you expect of them?
    • Do you hold them to a different standard than other community members?
    • Do you trust them?
      • What influences your trust?
    • How do police officers interact with your community and you, individually?
      • When/where do we see them?
    • What is “personal bias”?
    • What impacts our perceptions? (Provide examples).
      • Background
      • Race
      • Gender
      • Class
      • Religion
    • How do you decipher between mental illness, personal guilt, or racism — or all or none?
    • What is “group think”?
    • How do you hold individuals accountable?
      • There are three levels of accountability (self-accountability; supervisor accountability; administrative responsibility – SEE ARTICLE ON READ TAB).
        • How do you understand each?
        • How do you interpret them in this film?
      • When you think of protection – who protects you; who do you protect?
        • Why do you protect them?
        • How do you interpret the brotherhood of police officers?
        • How do you interpret the concept of “protect your own”?
      • What is the take away from this film?
      • How can you make a change in your family, friends, home, school, and community?
        • What are actions to you can take to make change?

Refer to the Read tab for more useful information.