Page 14
October 14, 2015
Obituaries
Compelling Focus on Police Tactics
C ontinued from p age 9
In Loving
Memory
Veronica Polk
Veronica Polk was born May
22, 1966 and died Oct. 8, 2015.
Funeral services will be held
Tuesday, Oct. 20 at 11 a.m. at
Rose City Park Methodist Church,
5830 N.E. Alameda St.
Addie Jean Haynes passed
away on September 20, 2015 in
Gresham, Oregon. Addie was
born on August 30, 1926 to James
and Sylvia Thompson in Plumb-
ersville, Arkansas.
A memorial service for Addie
Jean will be held at Caldwell’s
Mortuary at 20 NE 14th Avenue
at 11:00 am on Friday, October
23, 2015 with the repast following
the service, at the June Key Delta
House on 5940 N. Albina St. You
can find Addie Jean Haynes online
at
www.caldwellsfuneralhome.
com for sending flowers and any
other information.
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tigation skills to several other
cases of violent police confron-
tations, including one in which
a half dozen officers dressed as
civilians stormed a man’s house
to serve a warrant at night. The
latter incident provoked a bloody
confrontation that left the man (a
veteran who claimed he was react-
ing to a perceived home invasion)
and several officers wounded and
one officer dead. The object of
the search? A basement marijuana
grow, with no evidence that the
homeowner had sold or intended
to sell any.
Since the 1970s, SWAT team
raids have increased in the Unit-
ed States by an estimated 15,000
percent, according to one of a
handful of very helpful analysts
interviewed. The film offers some
illuminating background about
how we got here, mostly via the
so-called war on drugs. Fueling
Lawrence’s concern about an in-
crease in militarization that has
gone largely unexamined is the sa-
cred trust that he believes officers
owe to the public, which he sees
getting lost in the escalation of as-
sault weaponry and military gear
that has become so prevalent.
Lawrence does indeed make for
a compelling figure around which
to build this film; he understands
and respects law enforcement and
appreciates from his own experi-
ence the real dangers they face.
He also credibly analyzes several
incidents in which members of
the public were killed or injured
in confrontations with police and
presents convincing alternatives
to the justifying narratives put
forth by police.
The film analyzes only Utah
cases involving white citizens; al-
though a couple of commentators
point out that incidents of police
violence are disproportionately
visited on minority communities,
I both missed further analysis of
that reality and marveled at how
strong a case can be made about
police violence even without ven-
turing there. I could not help but
that they found a compelling
spokesperson; rather, they build
a skillful narrative around Law-
rence’s concerns, filling in details
of specific stories he has investi-
gated and panning out to the larg-
er issues around police conduct.
They also give meaningful air
time to the views of law enforce-
ment. They have assembled an ex-
tremely compelling and nuanced
approach to a topic that demands
but rarely gets that kind of care,
and lucked into incredible timing
for their film’s release as concerns
about police militarization have
Since the 1970s, SWAT team
raids have increased in the United
States by an estimated 15,000
percent, according to one of a
handful of very helpful analysts
interviewed.
wonder about the vast majority
of people of any race who do not
have access to a relentless former
sheriff to investigate their cases --
and the fact that none of the cases
on which Lawrence has applied
his powerful police analysis have
resulted in meaningful account-
ability by law enforcement under-
lines the real difficulty in bringing
attention to the problems high-
lighted here.
Directors Barber and Chris-
topherson did not rest on the fact
increased since the events in Fer-
guson, Mo. that followed the po-
lice shooting of Michael Brown.
No matter where you think you
stand on these issues, this exam-
ination deserves attention.
Darleen Ortega is a judge on
the Oregon Court of Appeals and
the first woman of color to serve
in that capacity. Her movie review
column Opinionated Judge ap-
pears regularly in The Portland
Observer. Find her movie blog at
opinionatedjudge.blogspot.com.