Crime + Punishment

Synopsis

The standard definition of a “whistleblower” as a person who publically or privately raises a concern about illegal or unscrupulous workplace practices fails to conjure the ethical conundrums and professional consequences of such a brave act. Stephen Maing’s Crime + Punishment shines a light on a small group of African American and Latino police officers in New York City (the “NYPD12”) who put their careers and lives on the line while blowing the proverbial whistle on the racial injustices that have become so tragically endemic to their profession. In doing so, this gripping film — much like the courageous men and women who gradually uncover systemic levels of abuse directed at ethnic minorities — exposes how precincts not only protect and serve but also, in adopting ostensibly outlawed policing quotas (the subject of a recent class-action lawsuit), criminalize the most vulnerable members of society. With unprecedented access to private documents and incriminating audio recordings, Maing synthesizes material from over a thousand hours of footage (including candid interviews with Sandy Gonzales, Edwin Raymond, Felicia Whitely, and other active duty members of the NYPD12), providing irrefutable evidence that minority communities have been targeted by law enforcement at an inordinate rate simply to meet a certain number of arrests and summonses each month.