Independent Lens

(dramatic music) (hammer thumping) -

Krasner

I rejected a long time ago that the only purpose of the criminal justice system is to punish. (crowd chanting) -

Reporter

Voters in Philadelphia have chosen a progressive as their new district attorney. -

Reporter

The most stunning upset. -

Reporter

Sending political shock waves across the country. I am a career civil rights lawyer, the only attorney in the history of this city to overturn 800 convictions by corrupt police officers. -

Reporter

Krasner's a hero to some and a bum to others.

Man

He's never been pro law enforcement. If things aren't working from the inside, we need to bring someone from the outside. -

Interviewer

What do you think he's trying to accomplish? Anarchy. (tense music) At this point, there are more people of color in prison or on parole than in slavery at the end of the Civil War. -

Man

Larry is bringing in criminologists, activists. Everything we do is steady fire, heavy resistance. This will be controversial. Policies, they focus on rehabilitation and second chances as opposed to punishment. (siren blares briefly) We're in Philadelphia and there's murders and robberies. Community services maybe not appropriate. This DA's office has been too close and too cozy with the fraternal order of police. How corrupt do you think this city is? Anybody who's dealt with this office knows there are secrets. We need to find out where the secrets are. (drawer clanks) You gotta be kidding me. -

Man

What is it? -

Man

Files about police officers. (dramatic music) There has not been prosecution of police misconduct by this DA's office for 30 years. -

Reporter

Right now, Philly police officers think the scales are suddenly weighed down in favor of criminals. If you're too corrupt to testify in court, you're too corrupt to patrol the streets (clicks tongue). -

Interviewer

Who was DA when there were dozens of people shot over the weekend? I was. We're tired. And we want our neighborhood back! You try and make the right decisions. I'll live with the rest. There's a meaningless, endless cycle, a cycle of trauma, a cycle of pain. Some of the effects can be irreversible. There's no mass incarceration. That's utterly ridiculous. Not one cop is going to tell you that he's on our team. Well, I suggest you don't shoot unarmed people in the back. The DA's office is not a place a social experiment should be conducted. You don't have to destroy the system to get the results you want.