Power

Questions about unchecked police power have become one of today's hot button social issues, and the public is deeply divided about it, depending on who one speaks with. Writer-director Yance Ford's latest pours ample fuel onto this fire with a cinematic essay that clearly has an impassioned view on the subject, making a strong case that some will obviously agree with but that others are likely to decry as an agenda-driven leftist treatise. Through a series of interviews with academics who have studied the issue and criminal justice insiders, viewers are shown the dual-edged sword surrounding this subject. While the film acknowledges that there is a need for policing in light of the prevalence of violent crime, it also argues that the supposed deterrent to this problem - a greater police presence with wider, legally sanctioned latitude in carrying out its mission - is simultaneously contributing to its growth, circumstances that have long gone unrecognized and/or willfully ignored as a result of longstanding prejudicial societal conditions that have only furthered the proliferation of this issue. Those conditions, in turn, are dissected in terms of how and why they fell into place through the years as a means to curtail the freedoms of those who were seen as posing an inherent (if somewhat overblown and paranoic) threat to the social order imposed by an entitled power structure (namely, anyone whose demographic attributes didn't match those of the self-appointed elite). Archive footage thus explores the efforts of early police forces to contain the lives and activities of slaves, indigenous peoples, immigrants and labor organizers, all of whom were considered suspect simply by virtue of their own innate identities. And, from these dubiously sanctioned roots, the power of those in charge has only grown more formidable and pervasive in forcefully holding down those who are perceived as dangers to the status quo, such as student radicals, social and political opponents, and others outside "the mainstream," thanks to the supply of increasingly alarming means more typical of paramilitary operations than the civilized maintenance of law and order necessary for the functioning of a supposedly mature democracy. Good cases are made in favor of these arguments, to be sure. And, in all fairness, the film incorporates the views of constituents within the system who are legitimately trying to reform it internally. Admittedly, though, "Power" has a tendency to become somewhat circular in making its point, redundantly repeating its genuinely valid contentions but without offering solutions to a scenario that only seems to growing worse without impactful efforts to contain it, a decidedly missed opportunity to meaningfully address the situation. Perhaps that's what is needed next, with this offering serving primarily to draw attention to and raise awareness of the issue, but I think the public at large is already sufficiently cognizant of the situation that this release could have gone farther in tackling its subject. Sustained recognition of the problem is certainly a noteworthy takeaway from this production, but it's unfortunate that it didn't seek to expand on that notion and offer us more in terms of providing answers - and hope for the future.

Was very very poorly put together. I was so excited to watch but it turned into a major disappointment. The film uses footage from other countries even though it's all about policing in the U. S. and for some reason while they are talking about the police they keep showing films of nuclear weapons testing lol??? Very odd movie and a huge shame that they couldn't have made this better about a very important topic in our country:/ hopefully someone better can come along and get this topic right in the future. Surprised Netflix let this air?? I would have thought they would have teams of reviewers making sure their products aren't complete nonsense. So many better things to watch!

There are avenues left to explore when it comes to policing in America, but this documentary fails to find any of them.

Instead of, as they say in the intro, encouraging the viewer to question policing, the documentary tries to tell you exactly what you should believe about policing, what policing is, and it's all the same points you hear parroted online (police are slave patrol descendants, policing is unfair so you shouldn't obey, etc.). It's a film that stokes racial adversity rather than offering the fair analysis of policing that it claims in the intro.

If you've ever gone down a twitter thread about race and policing, then you've already seen everything this film has to offer.

The documentary is really constructed using and reinforcing biased social theories to try and lead viewers to a desired conclusion as most documentaries do. Unfortunately there are a lot of inferences and truthfully flawed correlations used in trying to paint ultimately what the documentary clearly wishes to portray, which is a Marxian portrayal of police conflict theory.

There are sociologists with intimate knowledge on policing vs those who have a surface level solely academic comprehension on the topic which is unfortunately the source of choice used in the piece. I don't think those with intimate knowledge of policing who try and move the field forward would work very well within the constructs of this piece as it's more likely to contradict the desired outcome of what is ultimately a flawed portrayal on the policing entity. Which is likely the reason you didn't see many "experts" with those qualifications used in the film.

A system designed and modified by those voted into power via a democratic system, implementing and changing laws via a democratic system, being interpreted by states attorneys and judges put in place by a democratic system, judged for their actions both socially and by those put in place by a democratic system, still somehow socially falls squarely on the shoulders of single entity that is also a reflection of the majority of society due to the democratic process (the very thing democracy is supposed to be) isn't especially logical. Conflict theory will find a problem in every situation at it's very foundation. The police could hand out candy all day and take no law enforcement action and conflict theory would still tell you how the police are the problem because someone would still benefit from what is the spear of a significant social tool and face of the justice system. It's systemic with conflict theory and will always exist.

Policing isnt a rogue entity. It is a fluid reflection of society at all points through America's history. There are checks and balances. Politically, judicially, and ultimately by we the voters who hold the entire system accountable.

"Power," the 86-minute long documentary about the history of policing in America that was written, directed and produced by Yance Ford and is currently streaming on Netflix is a thought-provoking examination of our failed systems of justice and our longstanding prejudices that merits attention. The documentary shows how policing, which began with the corraling and erasure of the indigenous on the frontier, and proceeded, even with the first police force in NYC in 1844 that arose directly as a result of the problems of immigration, to evolve as a force that curtails the powers of the oppressed and minorities in service of the white elite.

The documentary is not a "hate-the-police" show or plug, as it also features the words and efforts of caring, experienced police officers, rather, a call to think and care about the systematic oppression by authorities of the weak and underserved that has prevailed through centuries here in the name of "law and order."

Of course we need police, but the standards by which police operate, the documentary makes clear, are largely determined by police themselves, and as long as the shadow force of policing continues to exert its power unchecked in this country, we are in danger of losing our freedom and democracy.