Following police officers in Kansas City, Missouri, this film captures how state power unfolds on the streets. It observes officers handling domestic disputes, patrolling predominantly Black neighborhoods, and making arrests where coercion is often visible. Rather than presenting law enforcement heroically, Wiseman exposes the racial and hierarchical structures embedded in everyday policing, exploring how legal authority is maintained through force, routine, and the silent compliance of citizens.

 In 1968, as the civil rights movement entered its waning phase, Frederick Wiseman turned his camera to the front lines of law enforcement, embedding with police officers in Kansas City. Law and Order follows them through their daily rounds: responding to domestic violence calls, harassing Black sex workers, trading banter in patrol cars, and handling administrative duties at the station. With his characteristic subtlety, Wiseman exposes moments of startling brutality while also documenting the mundane mechanics of policing—from law enforcement and order maintenance to the provision of routine public services. The vignettes he assembles reveal the complex web of factors that shape police behavior: training, community expectations, socioeconomic status, the ever-present threat of violence, and the officer’s own discretionary power. 

Through an unflinching edit of arrests, interrogations, and idle chatter, Wiseman maintains the stance of an impartial observer, yet expands the small, daily frictions between citizens and police into a broader critique of American authority and class. Shot in stark monochrome, with tight framing on furrowed brows and trembling lips, the film captures the grief, distrust, and tension etched into the faces of all involved. It stands as one of Wiseman’s definitive works on the nature of power—and how it functions on the ground in a supposedly free society.

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• ProducerFrederick WISEMAN
• Cinematography Bill BRAYNE
• Edit Frederick WISEMAN
• Sound Frederick WISEMAN

Zipporah Films​​