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'Do Not Resist' Screens At Jacob Burns Followed By Q-n-A

PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – The Jacob Burns Film Center is exploring the growing militarization of police.

"Do Not Resist," a documentary on the militarization of law enforcement, will be screened at the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

"Do Not Resist," a documentary on the militarization of law enforcement, will be screened at the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Photo Credit: Jacob Burns Film Center

"Do Not Resist", a new documentary, is being screened Wednesday at 7 p.m.  For nonmembers, admission is $15; for members, $10.

To buy tickets, visit the theater’s website at www.burnsfilmcenter.org.

The program is part of the center’s ongoing Community Matters: Local Issues, Discussion, Action film series that is being sponsored by the Westchester Community Foundation.

The discussion will feature filmmaker Craig Atkinson; Cathleen Price, cooperating senior attorney at the Equal Justice Initiative; and Laura Rossi, the foundation’s executive director.

Atkinson explored the tactics, training and equipment acquisition that have propelled the rapid militarization of local police departments since the Sept. 11 attacks.

The documentary takes viewers from the streets of Ferguson, Mo., to a ride-along with a South Carolina SWAT team, to  access to police conventions, equipment expos and the officers themselves.

Atkinson, the son of a former SWAT team member, said even he was rattled by what he found while making the film.

“As we begin to share the film, the overwhelming response from audiences has been shock and disbelief. I can say that we were just as shocked while filming the material. Going in, we had no idea what we were going to find,” Atkinson said.

The filmmaker added that he hoped both “community members and officers working hard to challenge the culture of policing within their departments” would use the documentary to “illustrate the dire need for change.”

Atkinson’s recent work includes cinematography for “Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You” and the award-winning documentary "Detropia."

Price is a graduate of Harvard Law School and a former law clerk of Justice Fred Banks on the Mississippi Supreme Court. She is a 1999 National Association for Public Interest Law Equal Justice Fellow.

The theater is at 364 Manville Road, Pleasantville. It can be reached by calling 914-773-7663.

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