In recent years, law enforcement has been viewed through camera lenses as either brutal and racist (think of Fruitvale Station and Detroit) or benign good guys who lock up miscreants (as in COPS and Live PD). Peter Nicks's documentary provides a more balanced consideration of one police department in Oakland, CA, that has a history of community relations problems, but also law enforcement officers who are trying (albeit not always successfully) to do their finest. In 2003, Oakland's city government agreed to enter into federal oversight of its police force following a civil rights lawsuit that deeply embarrassed municipal leaders. The Force opens in 2014, while federal oversight is still taking place. Despite promises by Chief of Police Sean Whent, many in the community, especially African Americans, are deeply frustrated with the local police, and the officers themselves have their own concerns about how the department is being run. Nicks presents footage from police ride-alongs that document the genuinely harrowing nature of this profession that is often absent from the anodyne reality TV shows. But Nicks also acknowledges the swelling anger of the Black Lives Matter movement and their bitter view of how police treat African Americans. A provocative documentary portrait of a police department at odds with itself and, too often, the people it is supposed to serve, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)
The Force
(2017) 92 min. DVD: $29.95. Kino Lorber (avail. from most distributors). Volume 33, Issue 2
The Force
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