Victim/Suspect

This is a heavily intense true account whereby a young reporter explains how the police can sometimes misuse their powers when investigating sex cases.

A person makes an allegation of rape or sexual assault and instead of properly and fairly researching the case some police will incorrectly turn the tables and accuse the victim of making a false report and have that person prosecuted.

Quite shocking how frequently this can happen.

Also, what is disturbing is how the police are allowed to get away with lying to victims and persuading vulnerable people to admit they are the ones at fault when they are innocent.

But then again I ask myself why are police allowed to pretend to be underage children and lie to adults to entice them into sting operations?

Although this documentary could be made more exciting, the subject matter is well handled and worthy of a high rating. Six and a half rounded up:

7/10.

As "Victims/Suspects" (2023 release; 90 min.) opens, we are introduced to Rachel De Leon of the Center for Investigative Reporting out in Oakland, CA. De Leon stumbles on a story out of Tuscaloosa, Alabama where a young girl gets sentenced to jail for false reporting (reporting a rape that police concludes didn't happen). Intrigued, De Elon starts digging deeper, and finds a bunch of such other false reporting cases... At this point we are 10 minutes into the film.

Couple of comments: this is the second feature-length documentary from director Nancy Schwartzman ("Run Red Run"). Here she follows investigative reporter De Leon for several years, as De Leon digs deeper and deeper into these seemingly incomprehensible cases where victims become suspects. Watch cop after cop manipulate and "ruse" (i.e. Outright lie) these young women, to the point of arresting these young women who came forward to seek protection in the first place. It will infuriate you how this social injustice goes on all over the country. Some might say "but why do these women admit to having fabricated these charges", my answer is to WATCH THIS and you will understand why. This is of course not a new trend, and thousands of innocent people confess to something they never did, after lengthy manipulation by cops and prosecutors. Schwartzman lays it out very clearly from start to finish. Last but certainly not least, a big kudos to Rachel De Leon for her important investigative journalism in getting to the bottom of this.

"Victim/Suspect" briefly played in select US theaters, and then started streaming on Netflix, where I caught it this Memorial Day weekend. If you have any interest in social justice issues, I'd readily suggest you check this out and draw your own conclusion.

1 out of 3 women are victims of asult and those are just the ones that report it. I believe every parent should sit down with their teenager and watch this documentary.

Young girls and men who report asult every day, but are often written off or worse, criminalized themselves because it's easier than actually investigating the crime. From the time we are little, we are taught to trust the police but sometimes they can re-victimize the victim by either poor training or lack of empathy.

This documentary was extremely informative and well made. It was an eye opener, because I never knew that women who were assaulted were being convicted of "false reporting to a police officer" because of our broken justice system.

A must see for everyone. Never ever speak to the police without a lawyer present and always remember they can outright lie to you about anything and everything. This is yet another doc about police manipulation and taking advantage of a vulnerable population. Truly disheartening. It is disturbing to see the kind of men depicted in this doc, but everyone needs to be aware of these predators and how they take advantage of those they claim to like or help. Not only should this be required viewing for police, it should also be required for all 8th graders. I had heard of this happening but had no idea just how widespread it is. Our justice system may be one of the best out there, but it needs improvement.

I have to say the documentary was very well done. It demonstrated true journalistic work, which is of rarity today.

I was not aware how intentional police deception can be when investigating a sexual assault case, especially how the investigation can intentionally turn the victim into a suspect and railroading her into recanting his/her story. That's not investigative work. That is intentional and malicious investigation seeking to ensure the victim's claim is not deemed as the truth. That is wrong.

Very impressed with her journalism and am excited to see what she will tackle next. We need more journalists like her.