The timely and chilling new documentary, "Sound of the Police," codirected by Stanley Nelson ("Attica") and Valerie Scoon, is a scathing indictment that shows why the Black community has long had justified reasons to fear the police. Opening with scenes of Amir Locke's funeral — Locke was killed by Minneapolis police officers who entered his home while he was sleeping — the film traces the history of law enforcement officials killing and abusing Black people from the era of slavery, through decades of lynchings, to the present day. Various talking heads, including Rev. Al Sharpton and Salon's Editor at Large D. Watkins, comment on the examples.
The case studies presented by Nelson and Scoon show how systemic racism has developed over centuries as fugitive slave laws and Stop and Frisk policies were designed to keep Black citizens from living freely. There are discussions of so-called Karens — white women who call the police on Black men framed as threatening, as in the Central Park birder case — and how cop TV shows, starting with "Dragnet," reinforced positive images of policemen. Meanwhile, members of the Black community experience fear and insecurity, as they feel unserved and unprotected by the police.
