PEACE OFFICER is a timely and important documentary examining how policing has changed over the past thirty years. Given the protests happening today throughout the country and the world, we decided to revisit this deep dive into how we got here—not regarding race relations per se, but about how police training has evolved into its current form.
“A powerful and important film about policing tactics that have crept into everyday use with little scrutiny, PEACE OFFICER makes its case effectively enough to move even the staunchest law-and-order civilians.” — The Hollywood Reporter
Our 2015 SummerDocs series wrapped up with the provocative—and even more timely now—documentary PEACE OFFICER, which examines the increasingly militarized state of American police. The film is told through the story of William “Dub” Lawrence, a former sheriff who established and trained his rural state’s first SWAT team, only to see that same unit kill his son-in-law in a controversial standoff 30 years later. Driven by an obsessed sense of mission, Dub uses his own investigative skills to uncover the truth in this and other recent officer involved shootings in his community, while tackling larger questions about the changing face of peace officers nationwide. PEACE OFFICER won both the Grand Jury Prize and Documentary Audience Award at SXSW.
You can watch PEACE OFFICER via Amazon Prime Video, iTunes, or other platforms.
Following the screening of the powerful and timely film at Guild Hall, directors Brad Barber and Scott Christopherson joined the subject of the film Dub Lawrence, HamptonsFilm Co-Chair Alec Baldwin, and Artistic Director David Nugent for an in-depth Q&A.
Enjoy the film and the conversation, and join us next Friday for another Friday Flashback movie + conversation…
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