Common Sense Media Review
By Brian Costello
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Devastating docu on police brutality has graphic violence.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Use of Force: The Policing of Black America
What's the Story?
USE OF FORCE: THE POLICING OF BLACK AMERICA examines the epidemic of police killings and brutality toward people and communities of color. Narrated by Chuck D., this documentary explores the mass protests that emerged in cities all over America after the killings of George Floyd, Philando Castile, Breonna Taylor, and so many other people of color, and place these horrific murders in the broader context of how the roots of policing in America developed out of slavery and institutional racism going back centuries. Through interviews and video footage, a clear pattern emerges of questionable killings and questionable verdicts when these killings are brought to trial. While exploring the problem, through interviews with police chiefs, officers, public officials, and community leaders, the documentary shows what steps are being taken to correct course, improve policing in communities of color, and improve the training of police officers to ensure that situations are deescalated.
Is It Any Good?
For families looking to initiate or continue having necessary and difficult conversations about race and race relations, this searing documentary is essential viewing. Watching Use of Force: The Policing of Black America can be at times a difficult experience, as dashcam and camera phone footage shows instances of the murders of African Americans in real time. George Floyd, Philando Castile, Laquan Macdonald -- to see these killings and so many others placed within historical context reveals the depth of the problem. For viewers willing to address, confront, and reckon with where we've been, where we are, and where we hope to be going, this documentary and its content simply cannot be ignored or denied.
It's not all doom and gloom, as the documentary shows elected officials, community leaders, activists, police chiefs, and police officers working toward real and practical solutions. The documentary also makes the effort to understand the challenges police departments and police officers face with the demands of the job and a firmly entrenched culture and history of racist and prejudicial behavior that goes back decades, if not centuries. Use of Force: The Policing of Black America is likely to provoke controversy, particularly from those not interested in addressing issues of policing in communities of color. For individuals and families interested in digging deeper and asking themselves, their communities, and country the difficult questions required to begin change for the better, this documentary continues the conversation so many just started having in 2020.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about documentaries like Use of Force: The Policing of Black America. How is information presented? How does it address problems and potential solutions?
The documentary relies heavily on police dashcam and camera phone footage of unarmed African Americans getting shot and killed by police officers, as well as footage of police brutality, and contrasted with footage of White Americans being treated much differently by police officers. Why do you think that this footage was presented like this? What would be lost if this footage wasn't in the documentary?
How does the documentary try to set context and explain what police officers contend with, the issues within police departments that have played a role in the deaths and violence against communities of color, and how elected officials, community leaders, police chiefs, and police officers are trying to confront these issues and bring about positive change?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : January 14, 2022
- Cast : Chuck D.
- Director : Cary Grant Jr.
- Studio : Peacock
- Genre : Documentary
- Topics : Activism , History
- Character Strengths : Communication , Teamwork
- Run time : 110 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : September 29, 2025
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