The increasing militarization of U.S. police forces, especially SWAT teams, leading to frequent confrontations escalating to lethal force, is given a timely, thought-provoking examination in this hard-hitting documentary. Peace Officer focuses on the story of William “Dub” Lawrence, a former sheriff who established and trained his rural state’s first SWAT team, only to see that same unit kill his son-in-law in a controversial standoff thirty years later. In that confrontation a small army of heavily-armed forces (including a helicopter) were unable to arrest one agitated civilian—outside his own home with a gun pointed only at himself—without killing him. Dub was shocked at the outcome, which the police denied they mishandled. Driven by his dedication to justice and an obsessed sense of mission, Dub used his own highly-trained investigative skills to uncover the truth in this and other disturbing officer-involved shootings while tackling larger questions about the changing face of peace officers nationwide.
