Every Thursday at 9:00 p.m. EST on The Real News Network, journalists Stephen Janis and Taya Graham premier a new episode of the acclaimed “Police Accountability Report,” a show that investigates police corruption around the U.S., as well as the grassroots movement to hold police accountable.
This week, in lieu of a new episode of PAR, we did something a little special: I sat down with Janis and Graham to talk about their new full-length documentary, “The Friendliest Town,” which tells the story of Kelvin Sewell, the first African-American police chief of Pocomoke City, MD. When Sewell, a former Baltimore city homicide investigator and narcotics officer, instituted radical changes to Pocomoke City’s policing system, focusing on community policing over aggressive law enforcement, the results were stunning. Then, the local white establishment fought back...
In my interview with Janis and Graham, we talk about the process of putting their must-see documentary together, how it relates to their weekly reporting for PAR, and what the events in Pocomoke City tell us about the institutional barriers to changing America’s broken policing system.
On the other side of the country, the injustice of the prison-industrial complex continues to tear at the very soul of our society. Even before COVID-19, conditions in American prisons were nothing short of inhumane. Now, California is experiencing a full-blown public health disaster by keeping people incarcerated in overcrowded, unsanitary, and violent conditions. In the latest episode of “Rattling the Bars,” TRNN Executive Producer Eddie Conway speaks with Amber-Rose Howard, Executive Director of Californians United for a Responsible Budget, about how her organization is fighting for prison closures, divestment, and mass releases.
In other critical news, a stunning new report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute shows the U.S. now accounts for well over one third of all arms exports worldwide, nearly half of which were sold to nations in the Middle East. Then, in the most recent installment of “Battleground Baltimore,” Lisa Snowden-McCray and Brandon Soderberg bring you vital coverage of the latest developments in Charm City: Maryland Republicans call police reform legislation "far left," a teen is accused of murder, the fight against a Johns Hopkins University private police force continues, and more. (If you want to receive our latest Baltimore coverage right to your inbox, sign up for our Baltimore newsletter!)
On the other side of the country, the injustice of the prison-industrial complex continues to tear at the very soul of our society. Even before COVID-19, conditions in American prisons were nothing short of inhumane. Now, California is experiencing a full-blown public health disaster by keeping people incarcerated in overcrowded, unsanitary, and violent conditions. In the latest episode of “Rattling the Bars,” TRNN Executive Producer Eddie Conway speaks with Amber-Rose Howard, Executive Director of Californians United for a Responsible Budget, about how her organization is fighting for prison closures, divestment, and mass releases.
In other critical news, a stunning new report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute shows the U.S. now accounts for well over one third of all arms exports worldwide, nearly half of which were sold to nations in the Middle East. Then, in the most recent installment of “Battleground Baltimore,” Lisa Snowden-McCray and Brandon Soderberg bring you vital coverage of the latest developments in Charm City: Maryland Republicans call police reform legislation "far left," a teen is accused of murder, the fight against a Johns Hopkins University private police force continues, and more. (If you want to receive our latest Baltimore coverage right to your inbox, sign up for our Baltimore newsletter!)
