Public broadcasting. Major support is provided the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation, committed to buildg a more just, verdant and peaceful world. The Ford Foundation wi workin visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. Additional support iided by the abrams foundation, committed to excellence in journalism. The park foundation, dedicated to heightening Public Awareness of critical issues. And by the frontline journalism fund, with major support from jon and jo ann hagler. And Additional Support from Laura Debonis and scott nathan. Policing lice 2020 is supported by chasing the dream, a public Media Initiative from the wnet group in new yk that examines poverty, justice, and Economic Opportunity in america, with funding by the jpb foundation. Please. Please please, i cant breathe et get up,n the car i cant move itin the whole wailing just get up and get in the car mama. Getp and get in the car right mama. I cant ideo continues on computer jelani cobb the Minneapolis Police had responded to a call that a man had tried to use a fake 20 bill at a corner store. Oure stopping his breathing right now, bro, you think thats cool . Cobb they pulled him from his ca put a knee on his neck. Hes not even resisng arrest right now, bro. Minutes some eigh later, george floyd was dead. Is he breathing right now . Check his pulse i not gonna have this conversation. Ul check his cobb i watched the video at home in new york. George Floyd George Floyd c b i watched the unrest in people screaming . The outbursts of violence. people shouting . And the president senin federal officers. I am your president of law and order. Cobb all in the midst of a pandemic iwhich black people have died at more than twice the lack lives matter black lives matter cobb the ary tableau in the streets is a reckoning with the fact that, in this country, race is a shorthand for a set l ofe probabilities. Whats his name . George floyd whats his name . George floyd cobb the odds are different in black america. Of dying of covid. Of being poor. No justice npeace cobb of being incarcerated. Of being abused or even killed by the police. Donthoot hands up dont shoot hands up dont shoot people shouting cobb six years ago, when i was covering the last uproar over Police Brutality for the new yorker. People have been out here now for, you know, ten nights, 11 nights in a row. In fergus and baltimore. Ive talked withoung peoplere there seemed to have been, you know, really entrenched distrust for the police before. And at the dawn of the black lives matter movement. If youre simply relng on the mechanisms of kind of bureaucracy to function on yourn behalf, it going to happen. I teamed up with frontline to report onhat it would take for policing to ever be different. History of deep distrust between police and African Americans newark, new jersey a city that still bore the onars of a violent rebelli in 1967, after a white cop beatp a black cab driver. S race rocked new jerseys largest city, newark, for five consecutive days and. Nights at least 24 persons are kill. Cobb five decades later, the problems persisted. When i arrived, the city had just been singled out by the department of justice policing for routinelyry violating peoples civil rights. Racial profiling. Unconstitutional stops. Stop and frisk, excessive force. Cobb particularly black people. But newark was also becoming a laboratory for ways to improve policing. The Justice Department had begun to mandatehanges, and residents had recently elected a mayor who was a longtime advocate for Police Reform. He was also an old friend of mine ras baraka. Wed gone to college together. Wed been activists together. I wanted to know how he planned on changing things around here. R hi, mrs. Baka, how are you . So good toee you. His mother, amina, answered the doorn this visit in november of 2015. Ive been coming over here, andt g around and reading yalls books, and eating your food and all that. I had visited the baraka house many times over e years, first as a friend and classmate, and then later as a young historian to interview hiser faamiri baraka, who was a legendary poet and leader in the black power movement. Here comes the mayor, on time. Cobb that is amazing isnt it . Cobb mayor barak wed seen each other occasionally over the years. We can sit down and start talking. But decades had passed since college. You came in 86. Cobb it was the start of a series of conversations we had about transforming policing. laughter we began with a shared memory. Im pretty sure you remember this. In 1991, you, me, four other people, we were in cortlandt, new york, to have an activist retreat. We deced we were going to go hike up this mountain. And, um, six of us walking down this road, and theres a police car r each of us. They want us up against the cars, and that experience, in some ways, it was formative. Like, this is the function. Of the police. Cobb of the police. Yeah, yeah. I remember i didnt go back outside, either. That was. Its crazy. That was just a crazy situation. E but all of tinds of in know, growing up as a black boy in newark, you get thrown on the wall, yothe wt searched, you get put on theou. Those kinds of things i went through regularly. To come and disrupt and cause,is um, you knowhavoc, almost. And the real dichotomy othat is that we still thought that they should be doing their job in the community at the same if something happeou call the police. And, um. So its like youre stuck. Cobb weve talked about those formative experiences at, that we had as young people. And en you come home and become involved in politics. Nts there an idea that policing could be differe that this was something that there was a means of changing s . What the poliunction is in the community, how they relate to the community. All of those tngs i think can behanged. Its difficult and its, like, a heavy lift, but i would rather be involved in a process ofsi doing that thaing around being the victim of it. Cobb baraka had only been in power for a short time, but hey was alreking big steps to transform the relationship between the police and the community. No justice no peace no justice no peace cobb for years. Welcome to the newark Municipal Councils publicin me cobb . People in newark had been calling for civilian oversight of the police. Ps i been robbed by the coi done been assaulted by the cops. Ive been a victim of them more than once. Ive been a victim of retaliation after reportg police abuses. Cobb and in 2016. Motion to close the public hearing. Cobb . Baraka helped push the idea thrgh t city council. Unanimously, yes. cheers and applause cobb . Creating a uniquely powerful civilian view board with the power to subpoenaco and end discipline. But that vote was just a first step. T and at time, there was concern and opposion among the police rankandfile. I wanted to understand their harspective. To see firsthandpolicing looked like in a poor city, long plagued by violence. Details this morning in a double shooting in new jersey. A string of murders in newark. Ten of them in as many days. And Violent Crime in general. As risen to more than 3,000 incidents annual cobb . And to see for myself what the mayor and Justice Department were trying to change. We had a gun robbery at 12 30 hours. 49 fairview avenue. The victim, mr. Stokes,io prevly classified gshine, blood gang member. Fairview homes, we will ride by and monitor that location. Cobb i went out with the gang unit back then, one ofth e departments most problematidivisions. Ey were notorious for their aggressive tactics trying to get guns off t street. In newark, most of the victims and perpetrators were black and latino. Good to see you, man. Likewise. Likewise. Cobb so were most of the ready . Come on, slim ar alarm chirping all right, son. Cobb one night, i rode with ricardreillo, a former truck driver, and wilbertoui an air force vet. Both from newark. radio chatter whes he at, you see him . Isnt he out right there . Come here come here, man. Were out there hunting for guns, drugs, and intelligence about gang rivalries. You guys dont know anything onout the shootings going do here . Cobb they were conducting what they called field inquirs. See your hands. See your hands. Th got someing in your pants, man . N sir. So then why are you shaking like that . Cobb basically stopping and frisking. Tt cer, radio chatter so what im trying to understano is, ho the decision get made to say, okay, we need to stop that person, or we need d toa field inquiry with that person . You as an officer, you you start learning how to reads. People, their body languag want toperson doesn take his hands out of his pockets, starts pulling away from you. Obviously, if he starts running, you know. You know more or less, when you pass them and they give you that look, you know. Cobb pice are supposed tot have wcalled reasonable suspicion to stop someone, not just a hunch. Theres room for discretion. We just wanna make sure youre all right. Step off. Cobb but in its report on newark, the Justice Department had found that police were stopping people without legal justification roughly 75 of the me. Hes only ten years old, right . Hes my little brother, yo. Rel, little man. How old are you . 13. Walking. Ght, so what you. Keep walking. Thats what we have to deal with in the city of newark. 13yearolds talking back to police. Cobb do you think he wase justified to brried about his brother . Oh, absolutely. But he sees who we are. Po were ce. He shouldnt be afraid of lice. Spread your feet apart. B cs troubling as all this appeared to me. Right there, right there. people shouting got it, got. We got the weapon we got the weapon cuff him cobb . Almost every night that we were out with the gang unit, they got a ghe streets. Welcome to the fbi, pal. Au lter cobb at the end of one and reillo about what id beeniz seeing. Im just going to ask you straig out. Is it possible to make the communities that were talkinghi about safe respecting peoples Constitutional Rights . Absol absolutely. Without a doubt. We go out there every night. Cobb but the d. O. J. Doesnt feel like thats whathappened here. Thats an opinion. I mean, we go out there. Its notny disrespect to anybody out there. Its not about race, you know, or violating their rights. It has nothing to do with that. We have a job too. We live in this city. We care out this city. This is what we do. Obb i have to tell you something, though, right . U so, i grewp in queens, right . And on. My First Experience with the police was that i was thrown up against a mailbox just like this one. Baseball game, had my uniform on, was carrying a b and a glove. The guy said it was a crime that was kind of, like, im coming from a game. The next experience i had was a few years later. I was walking with a group of friends of mine, and a cop pulled a gun on us, and told us to get on the siwalk. You can point your weapon at somebody and give them commands to comply. Once you feel like the threats neutralized, like, you know, theyre complying with you, then you put your weapon away, and you know. Have a normal interaction. Yeah, have a normal interaction. C cobb butan you really have a normal interaction ifin someones d a gun atou . I dont, i dont. You got to look at it our way. I mean, they say there was five or six males, and one of them possibly has a weapo what would you do as a policeou officencounter a group of males, one supposedly has a weapon on him . How would you confnt the situation . Cobb im not sure. But thats why i asked the question about, can you do this can this, can this be done in a way that still respects peoples rights . I think thats the question than everybody is wdering about policing. Listen, we try to go out there and respect ever ghts. Exactly. Ut were notere saying, hey, were going to violate this persons rights. Thats not what were here for. Is to go home at the end of the night. Cobb no matter what their critics said or what the federal authorities found these cops seemed to have no doubts about the way that they did their b. radio chatter that was most clear to me in hop they handled oticular stop. radio chatter yo. Yo. Hey, hold on ol hold up, hd up, hold up, hold up, hold up stop, stop, stop, stop. You want to pull away from ge, man . Youre going to t hurt. Stop resisting. Sir, i did not. Cuff him for safety. All right, si cuff him for safety. I didnt do nothing just stop. Sir, youre not under arrt. This is for your safety and our safety, ok . All right, bring him up to hisf. Stand up, man. Why are you acting like a jerk, bro . We stopped you bleep . You cant pull away from a cop. Yes, you did, sir, because you pulled away from me. Bro, i said, dont touch me, please. Because yall pulling up, what the bleepdo . Nothing. Im walking home. You dont even know what the hells going. Im going home. D yeah, ahats why were stopping to talk to you. I am ing home. When you start pulling away, its on. I didnt pull away from nobody shh. Look, we aint going to do tha if you want to do that, we could do that. Do what . Listen. Do you understand the reason why youre cuffed . No. All right. Now, when we came and approached you automatically ed away from us. No, i said, dont touch me, and kept walking. Listen. Re list, yoaking us think you have a weapon, the way you ran away. Yall are worried about me . Okay . An. Listen, just relax. Ax rel. You got it. You got it . Find out who he is. My man, its not wise to pull away from us like that, you hear . Y notfault, man. All right . You know, the violence from police is crazy right now. And, and the way yall approached m all i was doing was walking home. If yall would have said, young man, what are you doing . What are you doing today . Going home. You see how fast that was . Do not stereotype, because thats what yall did to me. Av, sir. Yall be easy. C b theops were supposed to write a report about that stop. Dinner of champions here. Cobb but when i later tried to get copy, the department told me they had no record of it. Thats lunch. Bo a to shut idown. Cobb it spoke to larger problem in newark. I just need you to sign these files out. Cobb thank you. To accordin. O. J investigators, hundreds of allegations of illegal stops or cessive force largely involving black residents had never been properly investigated disciplin by the newark pd. Many had not even been documented. Whats going on . How you doing . Good, good, good, good. Cobb i talked to the mayor about what id been seeing. How you doing . Yeah, yeah. Im visiting the precincts, man, letting them see pele in here working, you know. Cobb we met up one day whils he wouring the cys police precincts. Weve been out with the gang un. Theyre going around and getting guns. Getting illegal guns requires you rolling up on folk. Yeah. Cobb how does that happen without being the same sorts of policing that people are protesting about . Intelligence. Who is actually somebody you should probablstop, and somebody whos just ms. Marthas hat to the back, right . Llth his i mean, inigence gets you that information, not just, like, random sps thats not how you police. I me, that right there is racism. Cobb but these are black and brown cops. Yeah, so what . Cobb diverse Police Officer. Police for its not the who did it that make it racism. To me, it is the fact that, overwhelmingly, it happens to one specific group of peoples what makes it racism. It becomes systemic, and most of e from units c like that. They believe that everybody must be a gang memb, im going to gr you, and, and its wrong, its unconstitutional. Cobb not long after we spoke, the gang unit was disbanded, and one of the officers we rode with, wilberto ruiz, was fired following multiple complaints against him. You need the right people ing this type of stuff. Cobb at the same time, the mayor was welcoming the d. O. J. s help to fix the system problems here. A lack of resources and expertise and the friction of local politics have long madeor it difficultities like newark to reform their own Police Departments. Thats why, more than 25 Years Department of justicee extraordinary powers to police local Police Departments. It happened in the wake of the infamous beating of rodney king by four white cops in a. Not guilty of the crime of f assault ce. W cobb when the officersere acquitted. You bleep piece of bleep pig i ho you burn in hell cobb . The citexploded. Congress decided to act. C the critrol and Law Enforcement act is adopted. Cobb . Adding a provision to the 1994 crimbill that gave the department of justice the power to investigate local Police Departments and for them to reform. Congress thought it was important for the Justice Department to have a way tore really a and engage systemic reform in Police Departments around theountry. Cobb vanita gupta ran the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department uer president obama. We are here today to announce a landmark Settlement Agreement between the Justice Department and the city of albuquerque. An exhaustive review of the eveland division of police. The challenges related to policing in the city of baltimore. T cob office used its power aggressively, opening 25 new investigations into Law Enforcement agencies for civil Rights Violations. All but a few ended up inen agts to carry out reforms. Many of those were court enforced Consent Decrees. How effective have these decrees been . So theyve been really effective. And look, theyre not. The net result of our work in a policeepartment does not result in a peect police depament. I dont think there is such a thing as a Perfect Police department. But we have seen in Police Departments over and over again small and big that even where theres deeply entrenched discriminatoryli ng, or problems with use of force, or lack of accountability, that those are changeable over time.