Flint Town

This is an excellent Netflix docuseries. I found it on Monday and finished it today. While it focuses on the problems in the Flint PD, it does a great job of showing both the police and residents points of view. (I'm sure it may be more interesting to me than most since this is 40 min north of me and was saturated in the news and everyone down here in Detroit trying to get as much water up there as possible.) It's very well done and it humanizes everyone involved in trying to keep that city barely above water. I did not feel I wasted one second watching this. Thank you, Netflix! Nobody else was getting to the heart of this.

Superb documentary reflecting not only the human element of the police officers in Flint but the community they serve.

From some one who lives in England where officers are unarmed and police through concent it was fascinating to see extremely brace law enforcement through austerity.

Great soundtrack and cinematography gives this documentary a real edge.

Big respect to the Flint PD bravest!

..... a decimated and demoralized Flint Michigan Police force struggling to cope with violent crime after the city's downward spiral into an epidemic of record-high murder rates.

The opening shows scenes of Flint as it was during the boom years and which began to crumble in the late 70's following the closing of the Chevrolet and Buick factories, two of GM's biggest plants.

At one time, Flint had the highest per capita income of blue collar workers in America. I know, because I lived and worked there for a while during its boom years. Businesses flourished and the nightlife scene, a sure indicator of disposable income, was New Year's Eve virtually every night.

The factory closings led to massive unemployment which in turn bred the violent and virtually uncontrollable crime rate. Neither City Hall nor the State Government succeeded in finding secondary industries to replace GM's closed plants. The drug industry boomed.

Due to the economic crash, the Police force shrunk from a high of over five hundred officers down to one hundred or so due to City Hall mismanagement, graft, incompetence and the misappropriation of the city finances.

The documentary reveals the problems and frustrations of the skeleton police force through the eyes of its Chief and various police officers who patrol streets of boarded up, condemned houses in poverty stricken, drug infested neighborhoods whose poorly educated residents seem condemned to never escape their toxic environment.

It's well done and worth watching.

I binged watched this over 2 days and was simply in awe of the visuals, characters and insane world shown in this documentary series. It's hard to believe the most prosperous city in the US has turned into this! The film makers had incredible access that shows us what's really going on behind the scenes for these brave officers and they tell the story in a very fair way. Everyone needs to watch this.

Rated from a documentary standpoint:

Plot: 10/10 Production: 9.5/10 Storyline: 10/10 Characters: 9/10 Setting: 10/10 Realism: 7.5/10

This is by far the best production I have ever seen. Hands down.

Unbiased, professional, and extremely appealing from a production standpoint (speaking of which, where do they find these people?). It does not immediately investigate the "water crisis" like one would likely expect. Instead, it communicates the real problem at hand, the hostility between a community and its cities officials.

This series does not stop there. It constantly holds your attention, refusing to be anything like similar series' where the same content is repeated episode after episode. The second a certain topic in "Flint Town" begins to sour a completely new position is introduced and examined - exactly how the media should be. This isn't about taking sides. This is about hearing every single voice in the community and determining what the best solution is to improve the level of comfort and safety felt in the community.

In satisfying this mission they complete another objective without any intention, leading viewers to the realization that maybe the government isn't 'really' out to get them - maybe it's really their fellow citizens.

Overall I must give this series a solid 10/10. Phenomenal from nearly all perspectives.