Cops are supposed to protect us. There's supposed to be a thick, clear line between a law breaker and a law enforcer: the former is to be despised, the latter, to be trusted. A cop is supposed to be someone who inspires a feeling of security in the common folk, someone to look up to, someone to trust. But that is not always the case. Sometimes, the cop is more dangerous than the common criminal. Sometimes it's the cop who you should watch out for. Today's villain is precisely that: Officer Frank Tempenny from GTA San Andreas.
artwork from http://villains.wikia.com/wiki/Frank_Tenpenny
After five years on the east coast, it was time for Carl "CJ" Johnson to return home. Carl's mom, Beverly Johnson, had been shot dead in a drive by orchestrated by the Ballas, a rival street gang. On his way back home, Carl runs into an old enemy: Officer Frank Tempenny. Tempenny takes Carl, steals his money (after calling it "drug money"), and frames him for the murder of another police officer. Frank Tempenny makes it clear to Carl that he (Tempenny) is the king and Carl is just another pawn. Tempenny and his partner, Pulaski, drop Carl off at Ballas territory, knowing the rival gang would kill Carl on sight.
It is made clear throughout the first third of the game that, in spite of being part of CRASH (Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums) a special police unit dedicated to gang related activity, that Tempenny is more like a crime boss that ALL gangs answer to, in one way or another. There are four major gangs in Los Santos: the Grove Street Families, the Ballas, the Varios Los Aztecas, and the Los Santos Vagos. Tempenny manipulates each of the gangs with varying success, with the most effective gang under his control seemingly being the Ballas. Tempenny also has some limited control over the Grove Street Families via his direct control over "Big Smoke" and "Ryder", two high ranking members of the gang. But "Sweet", leader of the gang and CJ's older brother, is not so easily manipulated. When Big Smoke tries to convince Sweet to focus on selling crack cocaine instead of racketeering and theft, Sweet turns him down, saying such a thing does too much harm to the "hood". Knowing that, as long as Sweet was alive the GSF would never be truly under his control, Tempenny orchestrates a murder. The Ballas were to drive by the Johnson household, shoot, and kill Sweet. But Sweet wasn't home at the time.
Beverly Johnson was.
Frank Tempenny continues pulling strings from behind the scenes. Those who refused him would find themselves at the wrong side of the law, be it the law of the courts or the law of the streets. In a second attempt to be rid of Sweet, Tempenny orchestrates a major gang war between the GSF and the Ballas. This time, however, the Los Santos Police Department would ambush both gangs, make plenty of arrests, and be hailed as "heroes". His plan would have worked perfectly if not for the fact that Carl Johnson had arrived later than expected. A friend of Carl's, Cesar Vialpando (leader of the Varios) exposed Big Smoke and Ryder's involvement with CRASH and the Ballas, leading Carl to suspect a trap. Carl was on time to save Sweet's life, but Sweet was still arrested and thrown in jail. Carl himself was taken by Tempenny and thrown to the San Andreas countryside, away from Los Santos, under threat of arrest if they found him anywhere near the city. From there, Carl becomes Tempenny's new puppet, with the threat that if CJ didn't obey, Sweet would be killed in jail.
Now with the GSF under his direct command, Grove Street becomes a cesspool of crime and drug addiction. Though never a "nice" neighborhood, things were never THIS bad. Tempenny ruled the streets of Los Santos, and everyone knew it. But there was no one who could dare stand against him; the records officially showed him as a stand up cop, and the average citizen saw the street gangs as the greatest ill in the city, a threat against "common, decent" folk.
But one man was taking a stand. Jimmy Hernandez, a cop under Tempenny's command, was blowing the whistle. Angered, Tempenny and Pulaski have the young cop murdered. But the whistle had been blown. But the day of his trial, Tempenny was acquitted. Why? Lack of witnesses and evidence. Where were the witnesses? Tempenny had them killed.
Tempenny's acquittal causes the streets of Los Santos to erupt into riots. All across the city people are burning cars, picking fights with cops, looting, and all things one does in a riot. (Hmmm, sound familiar?) Knowing his own life is in danger, Tempenny attempts to steal Big Smoke's drug money and leave town. But Carl, who already killed Big Smoke, attempts to stop him. Chasing him across the city, Carl is helpless to stop Tempenny from careening off a bridge, crashing down to the ground, gravely wounded. As Tempenny screams to the world how he regrets nothing, Carl readies the coup de grace, only to be stopped by his sister, who tells him Tempenny is already dead. His corpse is then mutilated by the rioters.
Tempenny, unlike most villains on this list, is armed not with advanced machinery or sorcery; he's a regular man armed with a gun and a badge. Tempenny stands out for two reasons: first off, he's the embodiment of corruption, how it destroys society slowly but surely, and how, when not dealt with properly, creates a festering wound that cannot be healed without great effort.
When we think of evil, we want to think there's this great line that's clear and distinct, where good and evil are well defined and it's easy to see who the good guys and bad guys are. And we are trained from childhood to see the police as the good guys and criminals as the bad guys. But what do we do when the police are the criminals? Who are the good guys then? And if police protects us from criminals, who will protect us from the police?
Aha, that's the second reason Tempenny stands out: guys like him EXIST. And it must be admitted, currently in the United States of America there is a great debate in regards to police brutality, particularly towards the African American community. I mentioned that, in game, the city of Los Santos erupted in riot. If that made you think of the Baltimore riots from earlier this year, I have some bad news for you: it was based on the 1992 Los Angeles riots over the trial of Rodney King, In the year 1992, LA based taxi driver Rodney King was stopped for speeding by five police officers, most of them white. A video clip showed the police officers beating the man, and thus a trial was had. When the officers were acquitted, the city of Los Angeles, which had been under a lot of tension due to several cases of police brutality towards minorities, erupted into a riot. 53 people were killed, two thousand injured, 11 thousand arrested. And now in Baltimore, barely a few months ago, we saw history repeat itself.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is what corrupt cops do to society. Corrupt police officers are a virus, a plague on society that is far worse than any street gang can ever hope to be, because they are spreading their evil while presenting themselves as protectors of "good, ordinary citizens". Bad apples have to be dealt with, swiftly and decisively, with zero hesitation.
Frank Tempenny is one bad cop. He's corrupt, he's psychotic, he's just plain evil. He's the second greatest video game villain.
The summary:
Name: Officer Frank Tempenny, LSPD
Type of Villain: The Corrupt Cop, The Don
Greatest Crime: Killing Jimmy Hernandez, the man who reported him to the Los Santos Police Department.
Current Status: Dead.
Before I sign off, one more important thing. Yes, there are bad police officers out there, but there are also many good police officers, honest cops trying to make an honest buck and making a change. Don't judge every police officer just because of a few bad apples. It's OK to be angry at injustice and corruption, but be careful who you direct your anger towards. Stay safe, be well. A PSA by your pal, Angel S. Adames Corraliza.
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