The Dad Changing How Police Shootings Are Investigated

In Kenosha, Wisconsin in 2004, Michael Bell Jr. was pulled over in front of his home for an alleged traffic violation. A dashcam video captures an initial confrontation with an officer - and eventually, he was shot and killed in his driveway, just feet from where his mother and sister were watching.

Michael Bell Sr., a former military officer, had been a part of investigations before and thought a thorough one would be conducted by an independent team. However, this was not the case. Not only did the Kenosha Police Department investigate themselves, but eyewitnesses weren't interviewed and toxicology results weren't back before the police department's internal investigation found the shooting was justified just two days later.

Since then, Michael Bell has been fighting for justice - starting the grassroots campaign "plea for change," conducting a private investigation with a former Kenosha police officer, filing a civil suit, and using the proceeds to buy billboards asking if police officers should investigate themselves.

After the killing of Derek Williams in 2011, a reform bill guaranteeing outside investigations of deaths at the hands of police was passed and signed into law in April 2014, just months before Michael Brown was killed by police in Ferguson and six years before the Jacob Blake shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin spurred Black Lives Matter protests there.

In this documentary, Kmele Foster of Freethink interviews Michael Bell and explores this story. It's an undertold chapter in the criminal justice reform efforts that center specifically on increasing police accountability in the wake of police shootings.

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DIRECTOR
Robert Chapman-Smith

HOST
Kmele Foster

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
Chandler Tuttle
Kmele Foster
Brandon Stewart

PRODUCER
Laura Howd

CINEMATOGRAPHER
Dustin Oakley

EDITOR
Lucas Abel

ADDITIONAL EDITING
Robert Chapman-Smith

MOTION GRAPHICS
Ryan Cashman

SOUND DESIGN & MIX
Defacto Sound

COLOR
Natacha Ikoli / Blue Table Post