Narc

Narc or nark may refer to:

Places

People

Art, entertainment, and media

Organizations

Science

Narc (film)

Narc is a 2002 American crime thriller film written and directed by Joe Carnahan and starring Ray Liotta and Jason Patric. The plot revolves around the efforts of two police detectives in search of the murderer of an undercover police officer. As they investigate, they engage in unethical behavior and uncover dark secrets that will challenge their fragile relationship.

Plot

Undercover narcotics officer Nick Tellis (Jason Patric) chases a drug dealer through the streets of Detroit after Tellis' identity has been discovered. During the pursuit, the dealer holds a child hostage. Tellis shoots and kills the dealer before he can hurt the child, however a stray bullet hits the child's pregnant mother, causing her to miscarry.

Eighteen months later, the Detroit Police Department asks Tellis to investigate the murder of an undercover narcotics officer called Michael Calvess. Tellis is initially reluctant, as there is little else he can do for a living however, he reads the investigation files and agrees to take the case, on two conditions. The first: he will get a desk job if he secures a conviction. The second: he is partnered with detective Henry Oak (Ray Liotta), whom Tellis is aware of through reading the files on Calvess' death. Tellis' reason for wanting Oak is his opinion that the only useful evidence in the investigation came from him. The department chief informs Tellis of Oak's reputation as a driven and effective policeman, but also warns him about his instability. Despite his reservations, Oak is assigned to the case.

Informant

An informant is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law enforcement world, where they are officially known as confidential or criminal informants (CI), and can often refer pejoratively to the supply of information without the consent of the other parties with the intent of malicious, personal or financial gain. However, the term is used in politics, industry and academia.

Criminal informants

Informants are commonly found in the world of organized crime. By its very nature, organized crime involves many people who are aware of each other's guilt, in a variety of illegal activities. Quite frequently, confidential informants (or criminal informants) will provide information in order to obtain lenient treatment for themselves and provide information, over an extended period of time, in return for money or for police to overlook their own criminal activities. Quite often, someone will become an informant following their arrest.