Sound of the Police examines the fraught relationship between African Americans and the police, often rife with tension, fear, suspicion and hostility on all sides. Framed by some of the most recent conflicts between Black Americans and police officers, which garnered national media attention, the film traces the country’s complex racial history that set the path for policing in Black communities and fuels the ongoing conflict between African American communities and law enforcement.

From the origins of the first police forces in the South during slavery to the mob violence that erupted against African Americans in the North after the great migration to the more recent high-profile cases forever etched in America’s collective conscience, Sound of the Police tells the story of a troubled, complex and volatile relationship and exactly how the country got here. The documentary also looks at contemporary efforts to confront and resolve that conflict.

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Sound of the Police is produced by Firelight Films for ABC News Studios.