What's the point of any movie? To be entertained, usually

I think the point was to make a somewhat realistic movie about the emotions and feelings that LA police have, and why they have them. In order to make that point, the movie is more violent than the real thing, which, from time to time, can get plenty violent. I think the movie succeeded in making its point.

No point. Make a piece of trash & earn money. The filmmakers did this one as a success.
"
Friends are dangerous things
"
~
John Cavil

That's kind of the point man. Sometimes beep happens. This was a glimpse into the life of two LAPD cops whose lives suddenly get very complicated.

"A day in the life"
Not sure what you were looking for.
Fak u Dolan..Gooby pls

It definitely wasnt Jumpstreet 21, thats for sure.

Well honestly, I think this movie had more of a point or purpose, and a better point or purpose, than the vast majority of movies. It showed audiences the brutal reality of LAPD Officers' day to day jobs in the Southland. It showed us something real, albeit a fictionalised account as opposed to the full on real examples of which are Band of Brothers, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Frost/Nixon etc.
Personally, I immensely enjoyed this film and thought it was fantastic and have recently come the the decision that this is my favourite and perceived best film of 2012.. yes it took me that long to decide. I rate it 9/10 and just think it's amazing and wish there was a tv series (unfortunately if there were a tv series Michael Pena would be absent and Jake would be with a boot or an officer straight out of probation or maybe a cynical older guy like Van Hauser in the film). I am aware of the tv show Southland, which I think is very good and I think this film caught that realism and amazing atmosphere also present on Southland the tv show. However, this film was much much better than Southland, which as it has gone on each season has gradually gotten worse, slightly more convoluted and less coherent.
Anyway, this film - much more, and better, purpose and point than most films in my opinion. Then again I am truly fascinated by the Southland.. a part of me wants to go there and check it out first hand but honestly I'm kinda' scared, especially given that I am one unlucky guy. It's not all bad though obviously just.. some parts of the Southland it seems are truly brutal.
"I'm the mother focker that found this place sir"

It's fairly simple.
Two mostly decent human beings are police officers. They're immature and inexperienced (although it's obvious that they're well trained). They don't make great decisions and they probably needed an injection of seriousnesswhich they are getting as the movie progresses.
They're still impressionable. They're still naive. They still regard police work as superhero work.
But, again, they're both decent, likable, honest men.
Eventually, they end up way over their heads. The Fed officer tries to warn them; Trey tries to warn them. They don't get it. The point of the story is all shown in perhaps 30 seconds of the funeral scene:
The higher-ranking office helps Brian to the podium; this is the cop who talked earlier about the officer who took the bullet for him. Sacrifice. Brian can only say "He was my brother". Sacrifice. Mike's wife cries inconsolably. Sacrifice. Janet sees this and is now afraid to be the wife of a cop. Sacrifice.
In short, the point is: Here are these two well-meaning boy-men cops, learning to do the job, without a true sense of the evil that really exists in the world and what the proper response is to it for a police officer. They don't understand the long-reaching repercussions of one bad decision in the field. They're still kids. And, through tragedy, this is what in literature would be called Brian's "coming of age" story (I forget the German - Bildungsroman?) He has no choice now but to see the world as it is and to deal with it in those termsor give up dealing with it altogether.
I never saw this as police propaganda. I never saw blatant anti-Hispanic racism. I never saw a glorification of law enforcement or crime. I saw basically a story about two men who's naivete and inexperience cost them and those around them great suffering. It's a story about human existencelike all stories
It's a flawed movie but still a good movie.