What can we learn from the GRPD TV Series and why it matters

The eighth and final episode in the All Access PD: Grand Rapids TV series on HBO/Max  has now concluded. So what can we learn from this high-scripted TV show that featured the GRPD?

First, I want to provide a brief summary of each of the 8 episodes, followed by several points about why I think it is important for communities in Grand Rapids to look beyond simply the entertainment aspect of the All Access PD: Grand Rapids TV show. 

Episode #1 sure reminded me of the show COPS, where Black bodies are criminalized and that Black people in urban settings are represented as thugs. This first episode affirms that stereotype, thus perpetuating structural racism and justifying state carceral violence.

Episode #2 ends with the mother of the shooting victim coming in to the GRPD headquarters and talking to Winstrom on camera, praising them for all they have done on this case. The mother states, “You give off a vibe that you really care.” The mother then praises the female homicide investigator, with Winstrom and another cop smiling as the episode credits are rolling.

Episode #3 follows the case of a Black person charged with a shooting, which further normalizes the white supremacist belief that Black people are inherently deviant and violent. This HBO/MAX TV series with the GRPD is presenting Grand Rapids as a city with a bunch of violent Black people who prey on other Black people.

Episode #4 was essentially about drug dealers and drug users in the Heartside area of Grand Rapids. Every one of the dealers and users were Black people, so this episode continues to perpetuate racial stereotypes and present the GRPD as compassionate saviors of the unhoused. 

In Episode #5 Chief Winstrom gets the final word while the credits are rolling to say that the end result was justice. Simple as that. Winstrom gets to decide when justice happens, because it’s his show. However, after 5 episodes, the only thing that changed is that there were Latinos included as part of those committing crimes in Grand Rapids.

Episode #6 communicates that the only shooters and victims are BIPOC,, plus some of the video footage used communicates the message that there are Black gangs roaming the streets of Grand Rapids. This show will definitely contribute to fostering and maintaining stereotypes about Black people, since the audience will no doubt be predominantly white.

Episode #7 continued with representing Black people as suspects in gun violence, as drug traffickers, then added a new stereotype, by associating guns and drugs with rap music.

Episode #8 demonstrated how highly scripted this TV series  about the GRPD has been. This was the last episode in the series and the GRPD clearly wanted to craft a narrative that shows how much they care about the community and how dangerous their jobs are.

What can we learn from the All Access PD: Grand Rapids TV show?

Here are several things that I think we need to talk about in regards to what the GRPD TV show was really about and what it means for this community.

• The GRPD TV show demonstrates that you can craft messages which say – most of the crime that is happening in Grand Rapids is being committed by Black and Brown people without being worried about any pushback from the community.
• The highly-scripted TV series is also about what the community wasn’t shown, which is the over-policing in BIPOC and poor neighborhoods, how much the GRPD works to protect property and maintain order, especially in the downtown, since Grand Rapids doesn’t want to alienate tourists, which means they don’t want to take money away from those who own this city.
• The All Access PD: Grand Rapids series was essentially both a recruiting plan for the GRPD and a Public Relations tool to boost their image locally and across the country. The GRPD TV show is also being used to leverage unconditional funding for the GRPD, since the Grand Rapids City Commission once again unanimously approved all of the money they have been requesting, along with how the Mayor and City Manager continued to praise the GRPD even after the Kent County Prosecutor decided to not re-charge the cop that killed Patrick Lyoya. 
• The GRPD TV series attempted to present the cops as human being trying to do good and to continue to build back some form of community trust. There is no evidence in the TV show that the city is deeply divided over the GRPD and that their actions continue to alienate people throughout Grand Rapids, which was intentional.

Lastly, it should be stated that the All Access PD: Grand Rapids TV series is ultimately about controlling the narrative about policing. Ever since the 2020 uprising in Grand Rapids, there has been an all out war to control the narrative about the GRPD, because more than anything those in power do not want to succumb to the will of popular social movements, and they will not allow any conversation about defunding/abolishing the Grand Rapids Police Department. Grand Rapids is in a narrative war about the GRPD, and this was ultimately why Grand Rapids politicians and members of the Capitalist class have endorsed it.