Minneapolis St. Paul Film Festival: Reviewing the showcase of independent films

Crime and Punishment

Director: Stephen Maing

Summary: This documentary shines a light on the efforts of a private investigation, several active duty police officers, and allies, to expose racial discrimination within the New York Police Department. The black and Latino officers risked their jobs to fight the department’s illegal use of – among other practices – quotas which often targeted minority citizens for the sake of getting a higher number of arrests.

My take: I thought this was a really compelling documentary about a subject that needs to be brought to light as extensively as possible. Although the fight these officers participated in was very public, I am a New Yorker and I don’t remember hearing about it, which goes to show it didn’t reach everyone – and it should. The talking heads were great, with really important comments and insight. The interviewer clearly had a knack for making them comfortable with speaking their mind and the subjects were bold in doing so without holding much back. The news footage was well-chosen, and the level of access Maing gained was incredible.

However, while it’s a stylistic choice to not tell a story chronologically, this documentary was so very much out of chronological order that it made it hard to follow. With so many different subjects involved and different facets of the story – from the private investigator to the different active-duty officers – it was easy to get lost regarding who was who and what stage of the legal battles were being discussed at any given time. The jumping around didn’t detract from the message and the sense of significance of the documentary topic, but it did take away from an understanding of the situation, which is a disservice. I think it’s one subject best told in a more linear fashion.

Rating: 3

You can check out more on the film at: https://www.crimeandpunishmentdoc.com/