Raided

“Raided” is a two-part documentary film project by Simon Davis-Cohen, produced for The Appeal and Now This. It has been viewed over 250,000 times across various social media accounts. Using the largest gang no-knock raid in New York City’s history as a starting point, the two-part series mixes personal stories with analysis to examine the consequences of a new era of “precision policing” in the United States.

In contrast to Stop and Frisk, which targeted large swaths of New Yorkers, precision policing prides itself on singling out the alleged worst of the worst: gang members. 

Part One explores precision policing’s use of coercive conspiracy prosecutions, the repurposing of old and low-level offenses, and racially disproportionate surveillance. Combining personal stories, archival footage and interviews with experts, Part One shows that harmful policing practices that disproportionally target people of color have not been eradicated in New York City. They have evolved.

Part Two takes the viewer inside the raid, through exclusive surveillance footage from the no-knock raid. We see Paula Clarke and her daughters terrorized by law enforcement officers. Paula’s footage is eventually used to help launch a City Council hearing. The story evolves and expands. We meet Michelle Williams, whose best friend Geovanni Martin was killed in the raid. (Michelle and her classmates saw their friend Ramarley Graham murdered in his home by police in 2012.) Experts weigh in. Two major Freedom of Information Act responses are revealed, shedding light on the role of private technology companies, and the expansion of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) into domestic policing.