Nuanced look at Oakland PD
“If you do the wrong thing, we are going to look at that critically.”
Those words, from thenOakland Police Chief Sean Whent to a group of young officers, resound in Peter Nicks’ superb new documentary “The Force.” Whent is talking about temptations to a cop on the street, but it also applies to the police leadership’s own responsibilities. Faced with tough decisions in the most complicated of battles, is anyone strong enough to do what’s right?
Nicks, who made the excellent 2012 “The Waiting Room” documentary about Oakland’s Highland Hospital, is back with a parachute drop into the middle of the city’s police department — its struggles, controversies and continued slog toward reform.
The fly-on-the-wall style is a slow build that leads to an immersive experience, and then an ultimate payoff as the change-minded department detours into another scandal. “The Force” is like watching a drug addict take a few meaningful steps toward recovery, only to relapse again.
Nicks covers the period from 2014 to 2016, a time of momentum, positive news and then internal chaos. By the end, the department is making national news for the wrong reasons, going through the departure of three police chiefs in just eight days amid a growing scandal involving a teen who was sexually exploited by police officers.
The filmmaker puts in the time, shooting police academy classes, protests, community meetings and press conferences. He shows Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and police leaders who seem sincerely committed to change through hard work.
“This police department has a history that we have to own up to as our legacy,” Whent says, during better days for him and the force. “It would be a tremendous shame to go through all the reform tasks over a span of 12 years, and then go back to the way we were before.”
The worst happens, but not before Nicks shows the inside of protests, a tear gas training session and seemingly commonplace arrests. One long scene involving a woman hit by a car seems numbingly routine, until the woman’s son starts making threats, and the tension and danger of the job come into full view.
Nicks, an Oakland resident since the 1990s who went to film school at UC Berkeley, makes a commitment to substance over sensationalism. No doubt impressed by his fair treatment of Highland Hospital, the Oakland police seem to give him an enormous amount of access.
Nicks doesn’t deal in heroes and villains — the police and the community activists all get nuanced portrayals. But when mistakes are made, no one gets off the hook either.
The news is almost all bad in the final act of “The Force,” but there’s no hint of helplessness or defeat. The media is shown holding the Police Department’s feet to the fire, including short cameos by The Chronicle’s Evan Sernoffsky and East Bay Express editor Robert Gammon.
And despite the dedication by Nicks to keep his voice, body and presence out of this movie, there is a sense that the citizens of Oakland, including Nicks, are redoubling their efforts to find solutions. There are many forces on the path to civic reform, and some of them stand tall behind a camera.
“The Force” is reportedly the second in a trilogy of Oakland films, with the final chapter focusing on education. Every big city should be so lucky to have a dedicated civic storyteller.