It’s an excellent documentary. Sure, there are missteps, and awkward statements made. But it’s the most well-produced and unvarnished portrayal of the law enforcement dynamic I’ve ever seen, particularly in terms of an underfunded and antagonistic environment.
From what I saw in the episodes I watched, it looks like the 4th Amendment got evicted from the City of Flint. I found myself agreeing with the citizens they had sound bites from who were unhappy with FPD and the CATT squad. I could "clean" up my town in a month or less if I was willing to trample all over the rights of the citizens here. I'm not. Maybe the part of the video that justified some of what they do got edited out? Somehow I doubt it.Originally Posted by TGS
I wonder how many of the 700+ felony charges the CATT Squad made by episode 5 will actually stick? I'll keep an eye out for 1983 lawsuits coming out of Flint when I check the 6th Circuit's opinions. It's about time for cases from 2015 to start hitting the Appeals Court.
Those FPD cops have a tough job, no doubt about it. My hat goes off to them. I just hope they remember their oaths.
Formerly known as xpd54.
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I really liked the show, right up until the CATT shenanigans started. I have seen this type of knee jerk reaction to problem solving firsthand. It doesn’t work and results in bad court decisions then officers in the unit getting bad reputations in the court and community. Picking favorites based on popularity and not even training them properly is a recipe for disaster.
ETA: How does your crime rate get reduced 40% in a year or less without any additional resources or personnel? I have a hard time believing the previous boss was doing that bad a job.
Last edited by KPD; 03-24-2018 at 03:02 PM.
I think the answer may have been in the episode where the officer working the phone said they were fifty deep in calls and would never be able to respond to most of them. No response = no report = no crime committed. Between a shortage of available cars and officers being moved to the CATT Squad they had to have been responding to fewer calls than before.
A few others and I had that conversation with one of the captains on our local PD. He gave the neighborhood crime stats at a meeting and claimed a large drop in property crimes. The problem is there were more people in the room who had called 911 to report property crimes than his stats showed occurring in the entire neighborhood. The department is so understaffed that most of those calls were never responded to. Eventually people give up and don't even bother calling at all, which makes the stats look even better.
I only watched the show because of this thread. Like the other poster, I stopped watching after the CATT team was introduced. Not so much because of possible 4th amendment issues, but because the looked like a bunch of jackasses.
I supervise a squad that has the exact same purpose but with a different acronym. Street level proactive investigation of gang members and violent offenders. One thing I stopped doing a long time ago is motherfucking people. Sure, there might be a time and place for it but you're not going to get people to trust you if you come out of your car talking shit to everyone on the block. You can proactively police in the hood and still be respectable to the citizens and turds that live there.
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