Ferguson, Missouri, the day after an unarmed African-American teenager was fatally shot by a white police officer. A call asking for a bigger police presence to help assuage any potential unrest results in the appearance of an MRAP, a veritable armored car, given to the city free of charge as part of a government initiative designed to funnel used military vehicles to local police departments. The controversy concerning the militarization of police sparked by the shooting acts as springboard for this even-handed inquiry as to the current condition of American law enforcement. Today’s Hummers are tomorrow’s MRAPs. Small towns with murder rates that have forever numbered at zero can now sleep safer at night. (A protester’s sign reads: “More Mayberry, Less Fallujah.”) Doubling down as director and cinematographer, Craig Atkinson proves worthy at both assignments. One rub: for a moment or two during the scant 72-minute running time, one half-expected to hear Inner Circle break into the theme from Cops. (2016) — Scott Marks
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