‘Power’ Documentary Trailer Traces the History of Policing in the U.S.

Netflix has shared a new trailer for the documentary Power, which traces the history of policing in the United States, from 18th century slave patrols and publicly funded police departments in the 19th century to police protests in the Sixties and 2020s.

A speaker in the Netflix trailer raises the question: Who is more powerful, the people or the police? The trailer highlights the racially charged history of policing, particularly how slaves, indigenous people, and working class people were the target of unregulated violence, and how the past informs police brutality within American cities.

“There’s a lot of people who feel that policing is out of control, but it’s also the case that there’s horrific crime and it also is out of control,” one speaker says in the new clip.

The documentary, directed by Oscar-nominated Yance Ford, brings essays, interviews, and an archival collage together to document present-day policing protocols and questions the biggest problems within law enforcement. Ford and Ian Olds penned the project, with Dan Cogan, Jon Bardin, and Liz Garbus serving as executive producers.

“Police dictate who ‘fits the description,'” reads a statement about the film. “They define the threats and decide how to respond. They demand obedience and carry the constant threat of violence. Thousands of these interactions play out in our cities and towns every day, according to real and perceived ideas of criminality and threats to social order — as decided by the police.”

The documentary arrives in theaters May 10, followed by its release on Netflix May 17.