COVER
Do Not Resist Directed By Craig Atkinson, 72 minutes
North American Premiere: Tribeca Film Festival, April 2016 Winner Best Documentary Feature
North American Theatrical Premiere: Film Forum. New York, NY, Sept. 2016
Link to Trailer: https://vimeo.com/178977261
Link to Still Photos: https://www.hightail.com/download/cUJXb2VBUzhqV0JFQmNUQw
Website and Social Media: www.donotresistfilm.com www.twitter.com/donotresistfilm www.facebook.com/donotresistfilm www.instagram.com/donotresistfilm
PRODUCTION – VANISH FILMS: [email protected]
EDUCATIONAL DISTRIBUTOR – RO*CO FILMS: [email protected]
Page 2 of 36
FILM FESTIVAL SELECTION AND AWARDS
2016 Tribeca Film Festival – Grand Jury Best Documentary Feature Award 2016 Hot Docs Film Festival 2016 Montclair Film Festival 2016 Maryland Film Festival 2016 DOXA Film Festival 2016 Telluride Mountainfilm Festival 2016 Human Rights Watch Film Festival New York 2016 AFI Silverdocs 2016 Indianapolis Film Festival – Grand Jury Best Documentary Feature Award 2016 Traverse City Film Festival 2016 Dokufest Kosovo - Grand Jury Best International Doc Feature Nominee 2016 Camden Film Festival 2016 Zurich Film Festival – Grand Jury Best International Doc Feature Nominee 2016 Bergen International Film Festival 2016 Downtown LA Film Festival – Grand Jury Best Documentary Feature Award 2016 Mill Valley Film Festival 2016 Hot Springs Film Festival 2016 Emerson LA Film & Media Festival 2016 Chicago Film Festival 2016 Philadelphia Film Festival – Audience Award Honorable Mention 2016 Dok Leipzig 2016 Denver Film Festival – Maysles Brothers Best Documentary Award 2016 Brattleboro Film Festival 2016 Kassel Dokfest 2016 Stockholm Film Festival 2016 MIRA Film Festival 2016 Watch DOCS, Human Rights in Film, Warsaw, Poland 2017 Cinema Eye Honors – Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature Film Nominee 2017 DocPoint Film Festival, Helsinki, Finland 2017 Human Rights Weekend, Amsterdam, NL 2017 Frozen River Film Festival 2017 Pan African Film Festival 2017 Bellingham Human Rights Film Festival 2017 Sedona International Film Festival 2017 Social Impact and Media Awards – Best Doc Feature Editing Award 2017 American Bar Association Silver Gavel Award – Documentary Finalist 2017 Julien Dubuque International FF– Grand Jury Best Doc Feature Nominee
Page 3 of 36
SYNOPSIS
LOGLINE
DO NOT RESIST is an urgent and powerful exploration of the rapid militarization of the police in the United States.
SHORT SYNOPSIS
This urgent documentary explores the militarization of local police departments—in their tactics, training, and acquisition of equipment—since 9/11. With unprecedented access to police conventions, equipment expos, and officers themselves, filmmaker Craig Atkinson, the son of a SWAT team member, has crafted an eye-popping nonpartisan look at the changing face of law enforcement in America.
LONG SYNOPSIS
Starting on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, as the community grapples with the death of Michael Brown, DO NOT RESIST - the directorial debut of DETROPIA cinematographer Craig Atkinson - offers a stunning look at the current state of policing in America and a glimpse into the future. The Tribeca Film Festival winner for Best Documentary puts viewers in the center of the action - from a ride-along with a South Carolina SWAT team and inside a police training seminar that teaches the importance of "righteous violence" to the floor of a congressional hearing on the proliferation of military equipment in small-town police departments - before exploring where controversial new technologies, including predictive policing algorithms, could lead the field next.
Page 4 of 36
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
In April 2013, I watched the police response in the days following the Boston Marathon bombing in awe. I had never associated the vehicles, weapons and tactics used by officers after the attack with domestic police work. I grew up with the War on Drugs era of policing: My father was an officer for 29 years in a city bordering Detroit and became a SWAT commander when his city formed a team in 1989. What I wasn't familiar with, since my father's retirement from the force in 2002, was the effect the War on Terror had on police work. Making this film was an attempt to understand what had changed.
Knowing that interviews with experts would do little to communicate the on- the-ground reality of American policing, we instead set out to give the viewer a direct experience. We attended police conventions throughout the country and started conversations with SWAT officers at equipment expos and a seemingly endless cascade of happy hours, offering the only thing we could: an authentic portrayal of whatever we filmed together. On more than one occasion, we were on our way to the airport, camera in hand, only to receive a phone call from our contact in the police department instructing us not to come. Our access seemed to be directly tied to the amount of negative press the police were getting at that time. It became increasingly difficult to get access after the events in Ferguson, and there were many times we thought we would have to stop production altogether. The urgency of the situation, however, motivated us to continue.
We noticed a trend in early 2014 of police departments being solicited by technology companies offering new tools to help alleviate dwindling
Page 5 of 36 operating budgets and loss of personnel. One technology provider we filmed with offered the same IBM platform the NSA uses to collect web communications to police departments, for as little as $1,000 per year. Throughout 2014 and 2015, we watched as departments throughout the county adapted the technologies without any guidelines or policy directives governing their use. At times, the companies would make the chief of police sign a nondisclosure agreement preventing them from telling their communities they even had the technologies. The mantra we would continue to hear was that the police couldn't let terrorists know the tools they were using to intercept their plots. The problem is, in three years of filming police, there was never an opportunity to use the equipment on domestic terrorism. Instead, the military surplus equipment and surveillance technology were used on a day-to-day basis to serve search warrants, almost always for drugs.
In hindsight it's not hard to understand how we arrived at the current state of policing in America. Since 9/11, the federal government has given police departments more than $40 billion in equipment with no stipulations on how it should be deployed or any reporting requirements. Additionally, the federal government created a loophole that allowed police departments to keep the majority of the money and property seized during search warrants to supplement their operating revenue. If a police department makes a portion of their operating revenue from ticketing citizens or seizing their assets, then police officers become de facto tax collectors. We met many officers who said they didn't sign up for that.
Everyone wants to know what my father thinks of the film, and in all honesty, I think it pains him. It's hard to watch the profession you dedicated your life to evolve into something completely unrecognizable. During the 13 years my
Page 6 of 36 father was on SWAT from 1989-2002, his team conducted 29 search warrants total. Compare that to today, when departments of a similar size we filmed conducted more than 200 a year.
As we begin to share the film, the overwhelming response from audiences has been shock and disbelief. I can say that we were just as shocked while filming the material. Going in, we had no idea what we were going to find. We kept thinking we were creating opportunities to film with departments that would show the full spectrum of the SWAT experience, but time and time again, we found ourselves inside homes searching for things that we never found. It's my hope that both community members and officers working hard to challenge the culture of policing within their departments use this film to illustrate the dire need for change.
Page 7 of 36
Q&A WITH DIRECTOR CRAIG ATKINSON
Q: Could you talk about your own personal connection to law enforcement, within your family?
A: My father was a police officer for 29 years, outside of Detroit, and he was a SWAT officer for 13 of those years. Growing up, he used to take me on SWAT training exercises. When I was really young, I’d be a hostage, and when I got a little bit older, I would be an armed assailant, so it would be me vs. the SWAT team in an abandoned factory in Detroit. It was a way for him to create greater obstacles for his team, and it was very fun as a kid to go and participate in something like that. So I was relatively familiar with SWAT and tactical teams, going into this film, but I think that just allowed me to empathize with the police officers, because my dad was a very upstanding officer, and I know his heart and I know he was always trying to do it right, and I know there are a lot of cops out there trying to do it right as well.
Q: How does your father feel about the militarization of the police?
A: Well, I can tell you what he thought about the film. He was devastated by the film. You know, he dedicated his heart and soul to the profession and what he’s observing on-screen in the film is his profession devolve into something that he could never personally identify with or ever want to be a part of. So it was very difficult for him to watch.
Q: How did you get access to film the scenes in Do Not Resist?
A: We had constant access issues. If you can imagine every time you want to shoot a scene, it’s a six-week access battle. Just imagine from a documentary
Page 8 of 36 standpoint how challenging that would be. Often times, we would negotiate access with a police department that we thought was a fantastic SWAT team. We were constantly trying to show the full breadth of the SWAT experience, because there are obviously times when you need this equipment: look no further than the Orlando shooting; this is a fantastic use of SWAT. A not fantastic use of SWAT is raiding Gibson Guitars for using illegal wood, or the same SWAT teams in the Orlando area hitting barbershops for cutting hair without a license.
So we were trying to show the full breadth of the SWAT experience, and we thought that the Ohio State Patrol team was a very respectful, locked-down group of individuals. We did a training session with them and were literally on our way to the airport to go film with them and the Walter Scott incident happened and the media kicked up about it, and so they called us and said don’t come. And so it was this type of thing all the time. We fought for access anyway that we could.
Q: Are there any ex-military that become a part of SWAT?
A: Anecdotally speaking I can say that about 40% of all the SWAT team members that we went out with were former military, who had done the same raids in Fallujah and in Afghanistan. If you know anything about muscle memory and conditioned response you’re going to snap into that mode when you’re doing a raid domestically. Not only that, but you have many of the same tools of war and techniques in SWAT. And obviously there should be a separation between the military tactics and domestic police force tactics. My other concern is the ill will that you create in the community when SWAT teams are hitting houses over 200 times a year, as one of the SWAT commanders in the film mentions. And those raids aren’t all over the country,
Page 9 of 36 they happen time and time again in the same places, in the most economically depressed areas. What about the children that are growing up in those homes that are getting that type of psychological trauma on a day- to-day basis. That person is probably going to feel disdain towards cops as they get older and that’s going to have a multiplying effect. And we’re causing the same ill will that the drone program essentially is creating when statistically it comes out now that oh by the way 90% of the people that are killed in drone strikes are unknown targets and we only get 10% of accurate targets. Well that creates ill will over the course of time and that’s no different than these SWAT raids going into the community to serve search warrants for low-level offenses, it causes trauma. These communities have been saying this for the last 30 years. I am not saying anything new. This is something that people have been saying for a very, very long time.
Q: How have audiences reacted?
A: It’s a very difficult subject to watch, but people have really appreciated getting a first-hand account of a lot of the headlines that they have been hearing since Ferguson. There’s so much confusion around what’s actually happening in law enforcement that people have just really valued being able to see it directly. People have said, thank you so much for not narrating it. Thank you so much for not putting your personal story into it. Thank you for letting these scenes unfold and giving us the opportunity to just bear witness to these things.
Q: Did you meet any officers that are open to changing the culture of policing?
Page 10 of 36
A: Hopefully the film opens up the discussion about training. There are a lot of young officers who come in to do what the profession is presented as—to protect and serve. And I think these young officers are highly impressionable.
I’m hoping we identify ways to give them the tools they actually need the most in the field. When I’d go on ride-alongs over the last few years officers were mostly being called for domestic violence situations or for people having a mental health crises. More often than not, officers need to be able to de-escalate the situation. I saw them often times grossly unprepared for de-escalating the situation. However, if the situation turned into violence, they were very well equipped to handle that. One, I hope the film starts that discussion.
Two, no matter who gets elected in the next presidential election, I think the discussion is going to move toward federalizing the police force. That is something we need to be cautious of because look at who has provided the equipment to law enforcement that has created this environment of over- militarization: the federal government. I think it would be the wrong choice to turn around and hand law enforcement to the influence that has gotten us away from the community policing model which we all thought we were operating on, before events like Ferguson woke us up to the fact that we’d gone a different direction.
Page 11 of 36
WHAT THE FILM EXPOSES
• How police officers across America have been armed like the military.
• The Pentagon transfer of armored vehicles to small community police forces.
• Extraordinary access to multiple search warrant raids as they’re happening.
• Exposes how local police forces behave on a live drug raid.
• Testimony by the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense at a Senate hearing on police use of military equipment.
• Police training seminars with the number one trainer of all US military and law enforcement.
• The top down messaging from the federal government to local law enforcement leaders.
• Adaptation of surveillance technology once reserved for the highest levels of government being used within local police departments.
• Predictive policing tools reminiscent of Minority Report being introduced into policing.
Page 12 of 36
TIMELINE
1965
• The Watts riots in Los Angeles, California prompt Los Angeles Police Department officer Daryl Gates to create America’s first SWAT team in order to “address the sort of threat posed by the snipers, rioting and the violence he witnessed in Watts.” (Balko, “Rise of the Warrior Cop” 53)
• Daryl Gates suggests the acronym SWAT to stand for Special Weapons Attack Team, but later changes it to Special Weapons and Tactics. 1969
• SWAT teams across the country are stated to be mainly used for imminent threats, including riots, barricaded gunman, hostage and active shooter scenarios.
• There is a stand off between LAPD SWAT and The Black Panthers. The Department of Defense gives LAPD SWAT commander Daryl Gates “permission to use a grenade launcher on the Panthers building.” (Balko, “Rise of the Warrior Cop” 78) 1971
• Richard Nixon declares a War on Drugs. He declared drug abuse “public enemy number one” and asked for emergency powers and new funding to “wage a new, all-out offensive.” (Balko, “Rise of the Warrior Cop” 104)
Page 13 of 36
1975
• The number of SWAT teams in the United States grows to around five hundred. (Balko, “Rise of the Warrior Cop” 132) 1981
• Ronald Reagan elected President, with a renewed focus on the War on Drugs, particularly marijuana.
• Ronald Reagan enacted the “Military Cooperation with Law Enforcement Act, a proposed amendment to the Posse Comitatus Act that would carve out a much larger role for the military in the drug war.” (Balko, “Rise of the Warrior Cop” 145) 1983
• “The government sent U-2 spy planes to the state of California to search for marijuana.” (Balko, “Rise of the Warrior Cop” 148)
• Correction Corporation of America is established as the world’s first private prison company. (Pauly) 1984
• Correction Corporation of America “begins operating a county jail and a juvenile detention center in Tennesee.” (Pauly)
• In 1984, “Congress passed the Comprehensive Crime Control Act. It established a special fund that turned over proceeds from forfeitures to the law-enforcement agencies responsible for them. Local police who provided federal assistance were rewarded with a large percentage of the proceeds,
Page 14 of 36
through a program called Equitable Sharing. Soon states were crafting their own forfeiture laws.” (Stillman) 1985
• Daryl Gates and the LAPD use an Armored Personnel Carrier attached with a batting ram for the first time on a drug raid. They punch a few holes in the side of the house and end up finding no drugs. On their way home, the driver loses control and crashes the vehicle. (Balko, “Rise of the Warrior Cop” 155)
• SWAT deployments grow to just under 3,000 per year. (Balko, “Rise of the Warrior Cop” 207) 1986
• Congress passes The Anti Drug Abuse Act of 1986, which sets mandatory minimum sentences for first time drug offenders. (Sterling)
• Correction Corporation of America goes public on the NASDAQ stock exchange. (Bauer) 1987
• A policy within the National Defense Appropriation Act “instructed the National Guard to provide full cooperation with local and federal law enforcement agencies in drug investigations.” (Balko, “Rise of the Warrior Cop” 155)
• “Congress ordered the secretary of Defense and the US attorney general to notify local law enforcement agencies each year about the availability of surplus military equipment they could obtain for their departments. It established an office in the Pentagon specifically to facilitate transfers of
Page 15 of 36
war gear to civilian law enforcement. Congress even set up an 800 number that sheriffs and police chiefs could call to see what was available, and it ordered the General Services Administration to work with the Pentagon to produce a catalog from which police agencies cold make their wise lists.” (Balko, “Rise of the Warrior Cop” 158) 1988
• As part of the 1988 crime bill, Congress creates a new set of federal grants called Byrne grants through the Justice Department’s Justice Assistants Grants (JAG) program. These grants are supposed to provide state and local units of government with funding to improve the functioning of the criminal justice system and to enforce laws. (Data from 2012 – 2013, shows that 64% of these grants were spent on law enforcement o purchase weapons, 9% on courts, 5% on drug treatment and 6% on crime prevention and education). (Balko “Rise of the Warrior Cop”) (American Civil Liberties Union)
• “In 1988 Congress passed another, pre-election Anti-Drug Law. One of the provisions was urged by the Department of Justice to simply close a little loophole. The change was to apply the mandatory sentences of 1986, intended for high-level traffickers, to anyone who was a member of a drug trafficking conspiracy. The effect of this amendment was to make everyone in a conspiracy liable for every act of the conspiracy. If a defendant is simply the doorman at a crack house, he is liable for all the crack ever sold from that crack house -- indeed, he is liable for all of the crack ever sold by the organization that runs the crack house. After the conspiracy amendment was enacted the prison population swelled. Within 6 years, the number of drug cases in federal prisons increased by 300%. From 1986 to 1998 it was up by 450%. (Sterling)
Page 16 of 36
1989
• “President Bush created yet more regional joint task forces to further coordinate between the military and law enforcement agencies across the country… for drug policing.” (Balko, “Rise of the Warrior Cop” 167)
• “Nearly every population of 100,000 or more either had a SWAT team or was well on its way to getting one.” (Balko, “Rise of the Warrior Cop” 168) 1990
• 1208 Program created: Section 1208 of the National Defense Authorization Act allowed the Secretary of Defense to “transfer to Federal and State agencies personal property of the Department of Defense, including small arms and ammunition, that the Secretary determines is— (A) suitable for use by such agencies in counter-drug activities; and (B) excess to the needs of the Department of Defense.” It was called the 1208 Program, the predecessor to the 1033 program. (Wafford) 1995
• The United States Department of Justice establishes the Troops to COPS program, designed to encourage the hiring of recently separated military veterans to serve as law enforcement officers. Troops to COPS grants reimbursed agencies up to $25,000 per veteran. (United States Department of Justice)
• SWAT deployments are just under 30,000 per year. (Balko, “Rise of the Warrior Cop” 207)
Page 17 of 36
1997:
• 1208 Program becomes 1033 Program: Congress later passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997; this act expanded the 1208 program to the 1033 program, allowing all law enforcement agencies to acquire property for bona fide law enforcement purposes that assist in their arrest and apprehension mission. Preference is given to counter-drug and counter-terrorism requests. ((LESO), Law Enforcement Support Office)
• “In 1997 the Department of Justice and the Department of Defense Technology Program released a report on the new agency’s anniversary. The report discusses developing sound cannons for use in crowd control and a project to develop miniature, low cost, wireless, modular devices that can locate, identify, and monitor the movement of selected individuals.” (Balko, “Rise of the Warrior Cop” 194)
• North Hollywood Shootout: “At that time, patrol cops' basic armament consisted of semi-automatic pistols and 12-gauge shotguns….patrol officers had been outgunned by professional criminals, patrol officers had never before been engaged in such a protracted, high-intensity firefight. The shootout gave law enforcement a compelling reason to better arm patrol officers with semi- automatic rifles.” (Parker) 1999
• “Troops to COPS grants were awarded to 259 agencies.” (United States Department of Justice)
Page 18 of 36
• World Trade Organization protests in Seattle gets out of control and results in the crowd being tear-gassed. “Going forward control would be the prevailing objectives for police handling protests.” (Balko, “Rise of the Warrior Cop” 236) 2001
• 9/11 Terrorist attacks
• The U.S. Congress enacts the USA Patriot Act. “The USA PATRIOT Act (officially the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act) was quickly developed as anti-terrorism legislation in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks. The large and complex law received little Congressional oversight and debate and was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001.” (Electronic Frontier Foundation)
• The “Sneak and Peak” warrant, or Section 213 of the Patriot Act was enacted “granting law enforcement the power to conduct a search while delaying notice to the suspect of the search… law enforcement was adamant Section 213 was needed to protect against terrorism.” (Tien)
• The Madison Capital Times investigation finds that the state of Wisconsin “distributed the Byrne Grants, COPS grants, and block law enforcement grants it received from Washington to local police agencies based solely on their drug policing statistics.” (Balko, “Rise of the Warrior Cop” 221-222)
• The New York Times reported, “Despite widespread public interest and a provision in the 1994 Crime Control Act requiring the attorney general to collect the data and publish an annual report on them, statistics on police shootings and use of non-deadly force continue to be piecemeal products of
Page 19 of 36
spotty collection, and are dependent on the cooperation of local police departments.” (Balko, “Rise of the Warrior Cop” 274) 2002
• The Department of Homeland Security is created and begins giving out anti- terrorism grants including funding to state and local law enforcement that includes the Homeland Security Grant Program and its two main components: the State Homeland Security Program and the Urban Areas Security Initiative. (American Civil Liberties Union)
• “The NYPD was conducting over 450 drug raids per month, the vast majority under no-knock warrants.” (Balko, “Rise of the Warrior Cop” 263) 2003
• The Department of Homeland Security establishes Fusion Centers. “Fusion centers are information centers that enable intelligence sharing between local, state, tribal, territorial, and federal agencies. They are actual physical locations that house equipment and staff who analyze and share intelligence.” (Kayyali) 2008
• The Prince George’s County, Maryland SWAT team mistakenly raids Mayor Cheye Calvo. (Sullivan, Hawkins and McCormick) 2009
• “As a result of (Mayor Cheye) Calvo’s notoriety and persistence…Maryland (becomes) the first state in the country to make every one of its police departments issue a report on how often and for what purpose they use their SWAT teams.” (Sullivan, Hawkins and McCormick) 2010
Page 20 of 36
• The first reports from the legislation in Maryland show that “over the last six months of 2009, SWAT teams were deployed 804 times in the state of Maryland, or about 4.5 times per day. In Prince George’s County alone, with its 850,000 residents, a SWAT team was deployed about once per day. According to a Baltimore Sun analysis, 94 percent of the state’s SWAT deployments were used to search or arrest warrants, leaving just 6 percent in response to the kinds of barricades, bank robberies, hostage takings, and emergency situations for which SWAT teams were originally intended.” (Balko, 4.5 SWAT Raids Per Day) • • Asset “forfeiture programs confiscated homes, cars, boats and cash in more than 15,000 cases. The total topped $2.5 billion, more than doubling in five years, Justice Department statistics show.” “In fiscal year 2010, there were more than 11,000 noncriminal forfeiture cases, according to available federal statistics. That figure has held fairly steady for the past five years.” (Emshwiller and Fields)
• Corrections Corporation of America “saw a record revenue of $1.67 billion, up $46 million from 2009.” (Justice Policy Institute) 2011
• The Center for Investigative Reporting reports that Homeland Security had given out at least $34 billion in anti-terrorism grants since its inception. (Balko, “Rise of the Warrior Cop” 254)
• Data collected by the Electronic Frontier Foundation reveals that the sneak and peak warrant, or Section 213 of the Patriot Act is being used for narcotics cases rather than it’s intended purpose of terrorism related cases.
Page 21 of 36
Out of a “total of 6,775 requests. 5,093 were used for drugs, while only 31 (or .5%) were used for terrorism cases.” (Tien)
• The CIR report also found that “in Montgomery County, Texas the sheriff’s department owns a 300,000 pilotless surveillance drone, like those used to hunt down al Qaeda terrorists in the remote tribal regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan A couple months before the CIR report, the sheriff in Montgomery County had broached the possibility of arming his drone with rubber bullets, or possibly tear gas. Five months later, the department made headlines when its DHS-funded drone accidentally crashed into its DHS- funded Bearcat.” (Balko, “Rise of the Warrior Cop” 256)
• The Santa Cruz, CA police department becomes the first to adopt Predictive Policing, “a complicated math equation to predict where crimes will likely happen in an effort to better utilize their shrinking force and stop the bad guys in their tracks.” (Boudreau and Francis) 2013
• The Department of Defense begins giving away MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicles as they return home from Iraq and Afghanistan to police departments at no cost through the 1033 program. (American Civil Liberties Union)
• Data from the sneak and peak warrant, or Section 213 of the Patriot Act “reports a total of 11,129 requests. Out of those only 51, or .5%, of requests were used for terrorism. The majority of requests were overwhelmingly for narcotics cases, which tapped out at 9,401 requests.” (Tien)
Page 22 of 36
2014
• The ACLU releases the investigative report “War Comes Home.” Data from the report finds that 80% of the SWAT raids studied were conducted to serve search warrants, usually in drug cases.
• Mike Brown is shot to death by a police officer in Ferguson, MO. The response from the SWAT team to quell protests is criticized and opens up a nationwide discussion about police militarization.
• The 1033 program doled out $5 billion in equipment between 1990-2014. (Musgrave, Meagher and Dance)
• NPR reports that over 600 MRAPS have been given away to police departments through the 1033 program, as well as 11,959 bayonets, 205 grenade launchers, 79,288 assault rifles and 479 bomb detonator robots. (Rezvani, Pupovac and Eads)
• Under a month after the initial protests in Ferguson The Washington Post reports that “some of the towns in St. Louis County can derive 40 percent or more of their annual revenue from petty fines and fees collected by their municipal courts. A majority of these fines are for traffic offenses, but they can also include fines for fare-hopping on MetroLink (St. Louis’s light rail system), loud music and other noise ordinance violations, zoning violations for uncut grass or unkempt property, violations of occupancy permit restrictions, trespassing, wearing “saggy pants,” business license violations and vague infractions such as “disturbing the peace” or “affray” that give police
officers a great deal of discretion to look for other violations.” (Balko, How
Municipalities in St. Louis County, MO., Profit From Poverty)
Page 23 of 36
• “In 2014, for the first time ever, law enforcement took more property from American citizens than burglars did.” (Ingraham) “According to the Institute of Justice, the Treasury and Justice departments deposited more than $5 billion into their respective asset forfeiture funds. That same year, the FBI reports that burglary losses topped out at $3.5 billion.” (Ingraham)
• President Obama creates the Task Force on 21st Century Policing, “a coalition of community leaders and law enforcement (to develop) solutions that will help build and maintain trust and transparency in community policing. “ (Somanader)
• It is reported “that the FBI makes local police departments sign non disclosure agreements before they are permitted to buy a Stingray from the Florida-based Harris Corporation.” (Wessler) The Stingray phone tracker is an advanced cell phone surveillance tool initially developed for the military. 2015
• The Washington Post and The Guardian start a database on police involved shootings, data that is not tracked by any federal agency. The Washington Post reports that 990 people were shot and killed by police in the U.S. 2015. (Sullivan, Hawkins and McCormick)
• 130 police officers were killed in the line of duty in the U.S. 2015, 8 were due to 9/11 related illness and 27 were attributed to automobile accidents. (Officer Down Memorial Page)
• Criminologist Peter Kraska estimates that there are somewhere between 50,000 – 80,000 SWAT raids a year.
Page 24 of 36
• The American public bares witness to multiple alarming police use of force incidences, which calls into question the nature of police training.
• President Obama signs an executive order to “ban federal transfers or certain types of military-style gear to local police departments. The banned items are tracked armored vehicles, bayonets, grenade launchers, ammunition of .50 caliber or higher and some types of camouflage uniforms.” (Nakamura and Lowery) Police departments who have already acquired this type of gear do not have to return it. Also, MRAPS are not included.
• President Obama’s Task Force on 21st century police comes back with recommendations, “many…emphasize the opportunity for departments to better use data and technology to build community trust. As a response, the White House launched the Police Data Initiative, which has mobilized 21 leading jurisdictions across the country to take fast action on concrete deliverables responding to these Task Force recommendations in the area of data and technology.” (Smith and Austin) 2016
• The Nation reports that Predictive Policing is actively being used by nearly 60 police departments in the country. (Harwood and Stanley)
• Dallas sniper attack. Five officers are killed. First time a police killer robot is used to kill a suspect. (Fox-Brewster)
Page 25 of 36
PRESS LINKS
“Do Not Resist” and the Crisis of Police Militarization
The New Yorkers | Dexter Filkins | May 13, 2016 http://bit.ly/1R6Pxtf
A Look at the Militarization of Local Police Departments
(LISTEN) WNYC | The Leonard Lopate Show | Sept. 30, 2016 http://bit.ly/2d3QRBG
‘Do Not Resist’: A chilling look at the normalization of warrior cops
Washington Post | Radley Balko | Sept. 30, 2016 http://wapo.st/2dzvY1g
“Do Not Resist”: The Police Militarization Documentary Everyone Should See
The Intercept | Ryan Devereaux | Oct. 12, 2016 http://bit.ly/2efRe1b
Reviews: Do Not Resist
RogerEbert.com | Matt Zoller Seitz | Sept. 30, 2016 http://bit.ly/2dBW1bY
This New Film Shows Just How Far Police Militarization Has Gone
Mother Jones | Bryan Schatz | Oct. 27, 2016 http://bit.ly/2foPKxe Review ‘Do Not Resist’ examines militarization of police
LA Times | Michael Rechtshaffen | Oct. 13, 2016 http://lat.ms/2dWBQUV
This Documentary Shows How Terrifying the Cops’ Military-Grade Weapons Are
VICE | Annalies Winny | Sept. 30, 2016 http://bit.ly/2cLEMAt
More press at: http://www.donotresistfilm.com/press
Page 26 of 36
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
CRAIG ATKINSON DIRECTOR/PRODUCER/CINEMATOGRAPHER/EDITOR
A multi-faceted documentary filmmaker, Craig Atkinson is a notable producer, editor and cinematographer. Most recently, Craig was an additional cinematographer on documentary Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You. Craig also produced, and was the co-cinematographer on feature length documentary Detropia, a lyrical exploration about the city of Detroit trying to re-invent itself in a post-manufacturing United States. The film premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and won the Editing Award for U.S. Documentary. Detropia went on to win ten additional awards worldwide and was short-listed for an Academy Award. While in Detroit, Craig was also a cinematographer on The Education of Muhammed Hussein, a 40-minute short documentary exploring the Muslim population in the Detroit area. The film, made for HBO, was short-listed for an Academy Award in 2012. Earlier is his career; he was Enat Sidi’s (The Wolfpack, Jesus Camp) assistant editor during 12th and Delaware, an HBO film that takes a compelling look at the ongoing abortion debate in America. The film was an official selection at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Craig holds a MA in Visual Media Arts from Emerson College.
LAURA HARTRICK PRODUCER/EDITOR
Laura Hartrick started her career working as a production assistant in Detroit on documentary Detropia in 2011. She went on to work at Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions, contributing to documentaries We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks and Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God. She also
Page 27 of 36 worked as an assistant to Director Jason Da Silva at AXS Lab, a non-profit organization dedicated to telling stories of disability through new media and documentary film. Laura is co-founder of Vanish Films. She holds a BA in Social and Historical Studies from Indiana University, and finished her last semester studying international journalism at Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain. This is Laura’s first credit as producer and editor on a documentary feature.
DAVID MENSCHEL EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
David Menschel is a criminal defense lawyer and director of Vital Projects Fund, a charitable foundation with an interest in human rights and criminal justice reform. Through the Vital Projects Fund, Menschel has helped to fund several documentary films that advance progressive messages including Academy Award winning film Citizen Four, about NSA bulk surveillance and whistleblower Edward Snowden, as well as Sundance award winning films Detropia and The Oath. He received a B.A. from Princeton University (‘93) and a J.D. from Yale Law School (’02).
GRAYSON SANDERS COMPOSER
Grayson Sanders is a composer and performer from Los Angeles, CA. He holds a degree in Classical Composition from NYU, where he was Composer in Residence with the University's symphony. All four of his large-scale concert works have received premiers from New York Symphonies, including an orchestral commission of 'Cover Me,' for Bjork. Do Not Resist marks Grayson's first foray into feature-length documentary film. Grayson is also the lead singer/songwriter for the nationally touring indie outfit SNOWMINE.
Page 28 of 36
MICHAEL STEARNS ADDITIONAL MUSIC
Michael Stearns is an ambient music composer and performer, film composer, soundtrack producer for theatrical films, documentaries, large format films, commercials and themed attractions, His award winning scores to Ron Fricke’s non-verbal global film masterpieces Chronos, Baraka and Samsara have played to audiences around the world.
Page 29 of 36
FULL END CREDITS
DO NOT RESIST
DIRECTED AND PRODUCED BY Craig Atkinson
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER David Menschel
PRODUCER Laura Hartrick
EDITED BY Craig Atkinson Laura Hartrick
CINEMATOGRAPHY Craig Atkinson
ORIGINAL SCORE Grayson Sanders
SPECIAL THANKS Maggie Lear
DEDICATED TO Steven B. Atkinson Herbert Murray DeWitt Hicks
ADDITIONAL MUSIC Michael Stearns Blair French
SUPERVISING SOUND MIXER Scott Weber
SOUND EFFECTS EDITOR Bob Costanza
SOUND MIXING FACILITIES Smart Post Sound
POST PRODUCTION SERVICES
Page 30 of 36
Final Frame
DI COLORIST Will Cox
DI PRODUCERS Caitlin Tartaro Hannah Macdonald
DI ONLINE EDITOR Ben Kiviat CREATIVE CONSULTANT Ion Furjanic, We Are Kix
GRAPHICS Bil Thompson, Fixture Films TOIL Boston Ion Furjanic
FISCAL SPONSORSHIP Fractured Atlas
PUBLIC RELATIONS NY Donna Daniels Donna Daniels Public Relations, LLC
PUBLIC RELATIONS LA David Magdael David Magdael & Associates, Inc.
DISTRIBUTION ADVISORY SERVICES Annie Roney ro*co films
THEATRICAL BOOKING SERVICES Michael Tuckman mTuckman Media
ACCOUNTING Fried, Zwick & Associates, P.C.
FOOTAGE COURTESY OF Center for Investigative Reporting, Inc. C-SPAN Archive Framepool Inc. Bill Alleman, Adventures in the Free State
POSTER ART Gary Irwin
Page 31 of 36
Variant Creative
“Dayparting” From the Album, Picture of the Climates Witten by William Selman
THANK YOU
The Tribeca Film Festival The True / False Film Festival Genna Terranova Paul Sturtz Cara Cusumano Dave Wilson Cara Mertez Rii Kanzaki The Film Forum Kevin Moore Heidi Ewing Collin Cameron Rachel Grady Accomplice, Boston Enat Sidi TOIL, Boston Tony Hardmon Benoit Joossen, Aero Quartet Steve and Paula Atkinson Javier Boronat Dan Atkinson Marcel Martin Katie Atkinson Brent Miller Nancy Hartrick Michael Molina Steve Acker Lisa Kerr James Hartrick Danielle Lurie Nicole McUmber Lenny Light Christina Gonzales Adam Davis Karen Bult Stash Laura Bult Rachel Thomas Jim and Eveline Atkins Simon Parkes William and Doris Atkinson Kenny Bahr Ryan Murray JB Daryl and Nicole Sawyers Ryan Walkup Chad Sprankle Sara Walkup Damien Lewis Carlos Fabian Escobar Eyal Marcovici Tom Kelly Matt Swenson Trisha Kelly Karina Swenson Spike Milligan Emil Lamprecht Margee Weiss Tyler Baldwin Violet Ikonomova Shashi Thandra Amelia Anderson The Hathors Paula Fader Tom Kenyon Cora Engelbrecht Crimson Paws Dexter Filkins 2040 Anthony Freda Omar and Family Tiffany Frances Lavell Williams Tugce Zaloglu Nahin Choudhury Dominique Camara John Schweitzer SRT Supply Clint Zadorsky Claire Machia
Page 32 of 36
Jason DaSilva Carla Ciatto Alice Cook Angelo Bellabono Heather Adasek Paola Camillo Doug Korenic Hana Cleveland Trevor Millay Marie Buckingham John Wirth Jr. Rymn Massand Tim Wooster Kai Zimmermann Michelin Hall Anushka Manchanda Waajeed George Dellinger Chuck Christie Lucy Alper Dave Bailey Rebecca Adorno David Nedorezov Erin Casper Shauna Galligan Calvin Pia Stephen Higgins Alex Takats Bob Hickman Robie Flores Eric Gulliver Tommy Schell Katie Triest Jesse Rosenberg Andrew Potvin Josh Wolff Sadia Shepard Richard Goerling Andreas Burgess Nicholas Stein Par Parekh Ivan Garcia Nico Stone Gerardo ZaVe Alone Doug Easdon Matt Ruskin Jorge Boetto Victoria Cook Gigi Boetto Ryland McIntyre Zona Rosa, Brooklyn Nicole Prowell Hart Cliffbells, Detroit John Gianvito Bruce Hartrick Nathene Morley Della Cimini Sandile Nkogi The Osantowske Family Lee Hirsch Jesse Genet Jason Schoenherr The Cook Family Bianca Jones The Shumer Family Chris Rubino The Szalai Family Jan Roberts-Breslin Andrew Catauro Elle Scanlan Eric Ward Suzume, Brooklyn Kirsten Levingston The Solari Report Jon Rappoport Dr. Joseph Farrell
Do Not Resist was made possible through the support of the Vital Projects Fund, Ford Foundation/Just Films, and the Frances Lear Foundation.
Produced in association with the Filmmakers Fund and American Documentary | POV
Executive Producers for American Documentary | POV: Justine Nagan and Chris White
The program was produced by Vanish Films, LLC
Page 33 of 36
which is solely responsible for its content. © 2016, LLC All Rights Reserved WORKS CITED FOR TIMELINE
(LESO), Law Enforcement Support Office. 1033 Program FAQ.
American Civil Liberties Union. War Comes Home. June 2014.
Bauer, Shane. My Four Months as a Private Prison Guard. July 2016.
Balko, Radley. —. 4.5 SWAT Raids Per Day. March 2010.
Boudreau, Abbie and Enjoli Francis. Santa Cruz Police Using Computer Program to Predict Prevent Crime. August 2011.
Electronic Frontier Foundation. The PATRIOT Act. August 2016.
Emshwiller, John R and Gary Fields. Federal Assets Seizures Rise Netting Innocent With Guilty. August 2011.
Fox-Brewster, Thomas. This Company Supplies Robots To Dallas Cops. It Says Bomb Kill Was A Good Thing. . 8 July 2016.
Ingraham, Christopher. Law Enforcement Took More Stuff From people Than Burglars Did Last Year. 23 November 2015.
Page 34 of 36 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/11/23/cops-took-more- stuff-from-people-than-burglars-did-last-year/>.
Harwood, Matthew and Jay Stanley. American Military Technology Has Come Home - to Your Local Police Force. May 2016.
Justice Policy Institute. Gaming the System. June 2011.
Kayyali, Dia. Why Fusion Centers Matter: FAQ. April 2014. < https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/04/why-fusion-centers-matter-faq#2>
Musgrave, Shawn, Tom Meagher and Gabriel Dance. The Pentagon Finally Details its Weapons-for-Cops-Giveaway. 3 December 2014.
Nakamura, David and Wesley Lowery. Obama Administration Bans Some Military- Style Assault Gear from Local Police Departments. May 2015.
Officer Down Memorial Page.
Parker, Bob. How the North Hollywood Shootout Changed Patrol Arsenals. February 2012.
Rezvani, Arezou, et al. MRAPS and Bayonets: What We Know About The Pentagon's 1033 Program. September 2014. < http://www.npr.org/2014/09/02/342494225/mraps-and-bayonets-what-we- know-about-the-pentagons-1033-program >.
Smith, Megan and Roy L. Austin. Launching the Police Data Initiative. May 2015.
Page 35 of 36
Somanader, Tonya. Why President Obama is Taking Steps to Demilitarize Local Police Forces. May 2015.
Sterling, Eric E. Drug Laws and Snitching: A Primer.
Stillman, Sarah. Taken. 12 August 2013.
Sullivan, John, et al. In Fatal Shooting by Police, 1 in 5 Officers' Names Go Undisclosed. April 2016.
Tien, Lee. Peekaboo, I See You: Government Authority Intended for Terrorism is Used for Other Purposes. October 2014. < https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/10/peekaboo-i-see-you-government- uses-authority-meant-terrorism-other-uses>
Wafford, Taylor. How America's Police Became an Army: The 1033 Program. 13 August 2014.
Wessler, Nathan Freed. Documents in ACLU Case Reveal More Detail on FBI Attempt to Cover Up Stingray Technology. September 2014. < https://www.aclu.org/blog/documents-aclu-case-reveal-more-detail-fbi- attempt-cover-stingray-technology >.
Page 36 of 36