Two Years in the Making, ‘Police on Trial’ Premieres Tonight

George Floyd’s murder two years ago shocked the world. But reporters at the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, Minnesota, had been covering issues of race and policing in their area for years — and they knew that, in the words of reporter Libor Jany, Floyd’s death was part of “a long history of heavy-handed policing and police violence.”

Police on Trial, tonight’s new FRONTLINE documentary with the Star Tribune, was filmed over two years in Minneapolis, following Floyd’s murder. It was written, produced and directed by Mike Shum (American Voices: A Nation in Turmoil), produced by Marcia Robiou (Whose Vote Counts) and reported by Robiou along with a team of current and former Star Tribune journalists, including Andy Mannix, Liz Navratil, Liz Sawyer, Chao Xiong and Jany, who also narrates the documentary. Police on Trial was produced in association with the Center for Asian American Media and is supported by The WNET Group’s Exploring Hate initiative.

This special collaboration is part of FRONTLINE’s Local Journalism Initiative, which came out of an experience I had as a member of the Knight Commission on Trust, Media and Democracy. One of the commission’s main recommendations: “Increase support for quality journalism at all levels with a focus on rebuilding local journalism.” With support from the Knight Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, in 2019 FRONTLINE began our initiative, which supports multiple investigative projects in local newsrooms every year.

For the FRONTLINE team, this initiative — and the stellar, on-the ground investigative work of our partners — has been revelatory. Tonight’s documentary is an important new chapter in this work, offering a one-of-a-kind view of a pivotal moment involving race and policing in America, by the Star Tribune reporters and photojournalists who covered it day to day and were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for their work.

Police on Trial shows multiple prior use of force cases involving Derek Chauvin. Today, we and the Star Tribune have published a story and video excerpts of an interview with John Pope, who was 14 when, three years before Floyd’s murder, Chauvin pinned Pope beneath his knee. Read the story on the now-19-year-old’s federal civil rights lawsuit, filed today. 

We hope you’ll agree with us that tonight’s documentary shines a light on the immense value of locally rooted accountability journalism that is tough and fair, and that features the experiences of people directly impacted.

Police on Trial premieres Tuesday, May 31, at 10/9c on PBS stations (check local listings) and will also be available to stream at pbs.org/frontline, in the PBS Video App and on FRONTLINE’s YouTube channel.