Pure Copaganda: New Trailer for GRPD TV series and local news coverage about All Access PD Grand Rapids

A new All Access PD Grand Rapids trailer has been released, a trailer about a TV series focusing on the Grand Rapids Police Department.

The TV series will stream on MAX, beginning April 8th, which will include eight episodes. Not surprising, all four local daily news outlets reported on the new trailer and the TV series. What follows is some analysis about the collective coverage from MLive, WOODTV8, WZZM13 and WXMI 17.

WXMI 17 actually had two separate stories about the show and the trailer for All Access PD Grand Rapids. In the trailer, which features Police Chief Eric Winstrom, it is important note that his comments really frame what this TV series is all about, despite whatever claims the GRPD or the TV producer might make about the “behind the scenes” feel of the 8 episode series. Early in the trailer, Chief Winstrom says, “When I moved here 2 years ago, from Chicago, trust in this police department was at an all time low. I knew that I had to break down the walls.”

The first WXMI 17 story includes the full trailer, along with a title and brief description of all eight episodes. The second channel 17 story featured the show’s producer who said he met Winstrom while he was in the Chicago Police Department, where the produced was immediately impressed with the future GRPD Chief.

The second WXMI 17 story is referred to as Behind the Curtain, with the channel 17 reporter talking about how many cameras were allowed to follow the GRPD and that there was no censorship by the GRPD of what the TV crew was filming. And the public is just supposed to believe this assessment from the channel 17 reporter?

WOODTV8 did a zoom with the TV series producer, Gary Sherman. Sherman is quoted as saying: “Chief Winstrom, when he got here, realized that there was not a great relationship between the police department and the city and the people of Grand Rapids, and he felt that transparency would be the best way to bond a relationship between the police department and the people of Grand Rapids,” Sherman said. “And he said to me, ‘If I gave you total transparency, do you think you should get a show on the air?’ And I said, ‘Total transparency, all-access, is exactly what every network is looking for and never offered. And the fact that you’re offering it, I think I could probably sell a show.’ And that’s exactly what happened.” 

The notion that the GRPD practices total transparency is a cruel joke. There have been numerous FOIA requests from activist groups since Chief Winstrom has been in Grand Rapids, with the most recent being one related organizing around the GRPD’s murder of Patrick Lyoya. I wrote about these FOIA documents last September,  along with Additional Incident Reports_Redacted and Combined additional documents_Redacted. 

In the trailer of the All Access PD Grand Rapids TV series, Winstrom says when he came to Grand Rapids community trust was at an all time low. Actually, the GRPD murder of Lyoya happened a month after Winstrom arrived, which was when community trust was at an all time low, not when he first arrived.

The MLive article acknowledged the GRPD murder of Patrick Lyoya, which happed right after Winstrom arrived, but said nothing more about it. In fact, most of the MLive coverage focused on what TV producer Gary Sherman had to say about Winstrom. The MLive story also included a brief description of all 8 episodes.

The WZZM 13 story at least included a brief bit about one of the murders the GRPD was investigating and provided some airtime to father of the boy that was killed.  However, the channel 13 story also cites TV Show producer Gary Sherman, who says, “This police department is amazing, and it’s an amazing community.” 

The All Access PD Grand Rapids TV series should be seen for exactly for what it is, pure Copaganda. Regardless of what the TV show producer has to say about the GRPD, Black, Brown, immigrant and activists communities know better about how the GRPD really operates. These communities know that there is no real transparency or accountability since Winstrom arrived. The news coverage of the upcoming TV series provides no critique of the GRPD, nor do they include critical community perspectives.

Beginning in April, GRIID will watch each of the 8 shows about the GRPD, provide a critique of the series and juxtapose concrete examples and data on how the GRPD operates and functions in the service of power.