License To Operate

Gr 9 Up—This documentary highlights how a grassroots group called LTO (License To Operate) has trained ex-gang members to act as interventionists and use their experience to reduce gang violence in Los Angeles. Working within the existing system, LTO has been able to serve as a conduit of resources and information between the police and the communities. Portraying both the ways LTO responds when there is a gang-related murder as well as its proactive community-building efforts, the film stresses how stopping the cycle of retaliatory violence can make a difference. Particularly moving is a segment juxtaposing a former gang member and a police officer as they each visit the grave sites of their children, killed by gang violence. While there are places where students will want a bit more context and additional narrative voice-over would have been welcomed, this is a thoughtfully shot and structured piece that does an excellent job of communicating the value of this type of intervention. This will be empowering in urban communities and eye-opening in suburban ones and a worthwhile addition to conversations about police and race relations in the United States. There are a few obscenities, one in rap lyrics, the rest in impassioned speeches.