IN THE LINE OF DUTY: A CONVERSATION WITH ERNIE AND JOE (ERNIE & JOE) AND REP. BRUCE FRANKS JR. (ST. LOUIS SUPERMAN) Conversations

Given the urgency around mass incarceration and police-involved shootings, it’s tragic that solutions to these crises seem evermore elusive. Two films in this year’s AFI DOCS lineup — ERNIE & JOE and ST. LOUIS SUPERMAN — offer powerful counter-narratives to this bleak picture by profiling extraordinary leaders with bold and innovative approaches to these issues. Ernie Stevens and Joe Smarro are part of the San Antonio Police Department’s Mental Health Unit, which seeks to find a better way to help people in crises without force. Bruce Franks, Jr., a Ferguson protester and now a Missouri State Representative, has freed up funding for intervention programs that reduce incarceration. In this frank and incisive conversation, Ernie, Joe and Bruce discuss their bridge-building, game-changing approaches, and show us what hope and change can look like.