(2020). The four-hour documentary investigates the billionaire New York financier who is alleged to have used his connections to the rich and famous to shield his predatory behavior with young girls. Revealing how Epstein set up a pseudo sexual Ponzi scheme to bring in underaged girls, the doc delves into the aftermath the survivors are experiencing with no justice to be served.
(2020). A powerfully affecting story of crime, cover-up and a desperate hunt for justice: Award-winning reporter Sarah Ferguson presents a ground-breaking documentary series on the criminal priests and brothers of the Catholic Church, their crimes laid bare for the first time in their own words.
(2010). Given exclusive access to one of America's most secret law enforcement agencies, this film follows the agents of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) as they track down, arrest and extradite American pedophile sex tourists.
(2017). In this 22 episode series, a range of legal and forensic experts share their knowledge and expertise. Experts including Frank Vincent, David Wells, Barbara Etter, Stephen Cordner, David Denton, Sam Norton, Karl Kent and Anne Smith.
The series also includes 10 case study scenarios demonstrating common mistakes and providing an opportunity to determine best ways to present.
(2019). A documentary film that explores the racial disparity and corporate exploitation of African-American and Latino prisoners within the United States Justice System.
(2015). This drama-doc series takes you back in time to the most shocking and surprising murder cases in history. Nicholas Day, guides us into into the world of the killer as we see how police ingenuity and early forensics helped bring them to justice.
(2023). Mass killings, described by the FBI as four or more unlawful killings in a single event, devastate communities and create fear across countries. But if we’re going to begin to understand what makes someone randomly kill large numbers of people, it’s important to distinguish between the evidence and the mythology. This film examines three major myths: that random mass killings are a relatively recent phenomenon; that all mass killers are insane; and that mass killing is a form of "suicide by cop".
(2013). What makes a person walk into a theater or a church or a classroom full of students and open fire? What combination of circumstances compels a human being to commit the most inhuman of crimes? Can science in any way help us understand these horrific events and provide any clues as to how to prevent them in the future? NOVA correspondent Miles O’Brien separates fact from fiction, investigating new theories that the most destructive rampage killers are driven most of all, not by the urge to kill, but the wish to die.
(2019). An interview / profile of Sandy and Lonnie Phillips, whose daughter Jessica Ghawi was murdered in a mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado in 2012. They both quit their jobs and now travel around the country to the sites of mass shootings, devoting their lives to helping survivors and families affected.
(2019). An interview with Texas Ranger James Holland who coaxed serial killer Samuel Little to confess to ninety-three murders. Undetected for nearly half a century, Little was a drifter from Ohio who the FBI are now calling the most prolific serial killer in U.S. history.
(2004). Focuses on Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer, via videotaped interviews.
(2019) Documentary which casts new light on the Jack the Ripper case. In 1888 the most infamous serial killer of all time, Jack the Ripper, began his reign of terror in the East End of London. Between August and November, five horrifically violent murders took place in Whitechapel. There was a huge manhunt, but the Ripper was never caught. Since then there has been endless speculation about who the Ripper was, what motivated his crimes, and how the killer escaped justice.
(2013). The story of the serial killer—believed to be Albert DeSalvo—who strangled women with their own nylons and kept Boston in fear in the early 1960s.
(2004). Discusses Gary Ridgway, the notorious Green River Killer with use of videotaped interviews with Ridgway.
(2012). What drives a seemingly mundane man to commit a series of acts so heinous that it captured the attention of a horrified nation? In the summer of 1991 Jeffrey Dahmer was arrested in Milwaukee and sentenced to 957 years in prison for killing 17 people and dismembering their bodies. This documentary explores this Midwestern city by meeting those surrounding Dahmer during and after his hidden spree, working to disassemble the facade of an ordinary man leading an ordinary existence.
(2000). The sensational case that rocked the nation in the early 1980’s with rumors of Ku Klux Klan serial murders of at least 28 black children, adolescents and adults. The inability of the authorities to stop the murders and solve the cases over a two-year period and the controversial trial of Wayne Williams were the biggest media event in America at the time; this documentary contains the first ever on-camera interview with Wayne Williams, whom authorities dubbed the Atlanta Child Killer and an interview with an FBI agent who admits they mishandled key evidence.
(2017). Examines the impact of the order to re-evaluate thousands of juvenile murder cases and follows two of the first convicts to be released.
(2006). Explores whether children who commit serious crimes should be tried as juveniles or adults. The program shows what can happen to young offenders who reach the "end of the line" in the juvenile court system and how these children can be rehabilitated to prevent future criminal behavior.
(2008). Looks at the restorative justice' program implemented in at Brislington Enterprise College in Bristol.
(2013). Children Who Kill. Three teenage murderers at different stages of their life sentences tell their own stories as inmates at Glenthorne Youth Treatment Centre, which houses England's most difficult and dangerous children.
(2008). An overview of the basis of law in American Criminal Justice.
(2020). More than a century ago French sociologist, Emile Durkheim, suggested that crime and social order are not necessarily opposites. This film looks at the introduction of Zero Tolerance Policing in New York, the imprisonment of Dr Jack Kevorkian for assisting terminally-ill patients to die and the tragic murder in the UK of Jamie Bulger, to illustrate Durkheim’s three key functions of crime. It concludes by looking at how the legacy of these ideas has been so influential in the development of criminology.
(2006). Guest Charles Sevilla, Attorney-at-Law, discusses mental health and the criminal justice system in context of the 1984 Insanity Defense Reform Act, 18 U.S.C. 17, the prison system's involvement, legal tests for criminal responsibility (M'Naughten rule 8 Eng. Rep. 718 (1843), and the difference between people who are insane, and those who are simply criminals. California law regarding diminished capacity is also discussed.
(2023). In the early 20th century, researchers made a thrilling new claim: they could tell whether someone was lying by using a machine. Popularly known as the “lie detector,” the device was extolled as an infallible crime-fighting tool. Instead, the lie detector became an apparatus of fear and intimidation. The Lie Detector is a tale of good intentions, twisted morals and unintended consequences.
(2022). An unsolved 1960s murder reveals an untold story of the civil rights movement and Black resistance. With Retro Report, the film draws on rarely seen footage filmed more than 50 years ago in Natchez, MS, and follows one family's search for justice.
(2020). In 2020 the murder rate in the US rose by nearly 30%—the country’s largest-ever recorded annual increase. It has not fallen significantly since. What is it about America that led to this jump, and what can be done to reduce the violence?
(1990). Discusses government & private studies regarding the predictability of criminal behavior, especially the repeat offender.
(2010). Looks at the association of modern psychological theory with criminality and incarceration in the U.S., including prison problems, psychological explanations for criminality, and criminal justice reform.
(2020). Due to popular television shows and films, criminal profiling has captured the public imagination. But what’s the reality behind the hype? What is criminal profiling? What do profilers do? Does profiling work? This film addresses these questions through interviews with contemporary UK profilers and psychologists, a look at some famous case studies, and an examination of different approaches to criminal offender profiling.
(2001). This 6 part series explores the world of forensic and clinical psychology. By examining the processes undertaken by police, criminal specialists and psychologists, the in an attempt to understand the workings of the criminal mind. Each episode focuses on an area related to criminality, including hostage taking and false confessions. The genetic research that attempts to predict future criminals from birth is also examined.
(2024). Investigating deaths after police used tactics like prone restraint and other “less lethal” force. With The Associated Press, drawing on police records, autopsy reports and body cam footage, the most expansive tally of such deaths nationwide.
(2023). The use of police body cameras has become much more widespread in recent years with the hope that they will curb police violence and improve accountability. But a new investigation by ProPublica and The New York Times Magazine found it can often take months or years before the video is released, if at all. William Brangham discussed more with Eric Umansky of ProPublica.
(2022). Investigating the Minneapolis police in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd. With Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters from the Star Tribune--from the killing and protests to the trial of Derek Chauvin to the struggle for accountability.
2016 Documentary that explores the current state of the US prison system, focusing on the experiences of two wrongly convicted men, Reggie Cole and Bruce Lisker.
In the United States, there are more than 2 million people behind bars. That’s more than anywhere else in the world. 90% of prisoners serve time in one of the 1,700 State penitentiaries.
This 2019 film documents life at Anamosa State Penitentiary, where three quarters of the prisoners have been convicted of violent crimes and serve an average of 27 years.
A 2017 film that examines the explosion of the female inmate population across the country, as more and more women are coming to prison for longer sentences.
A 9 episode series that examines each piece of forensic evidence, each witness, each possible lead, and each turn in the road that ultimately leads detectives to the killer involved in each cold case.
(2002). How can victim service providers better understand the basics of communicating with victims who have suffered the trauma of crime victimization?
(2020). Follows Hampshire Police's Chief Constable Olivia Pinkney and her officers, as they tackle offending in two areas of serious crime - domestic violence and historic sex offences.
(2005). Follows the nation’s top police departments during the critical first 48 hours of murder investigations.
(2016). Brandon is a Forensic DNA Examiner with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Working out of Arlington, VA, Brandon is tasked with examining the DNA evidence from cases ranging from counter-terrorism to murders and missing persons. After selecting the relevant evidence for testing, Brandon then decides which evidence will be used in trial cases.
(2012). With few established scientific standards, no central oversight, and poor regulation of examiners, forensics in the U.S. is in a state of crisis. Investigate how modern forensics can send innocent men and women to prison—and even to death row. And examine today's shaky state of crime science as well as cutting-edge solutions that could help investigators put the real criminals behind bars.
(2005). An interview with Frank Bender, a forensic sculptor who helps lawmen (and on one occasion the TV program “America’s Most Wanted”) solve crimes by rebuilding the faces of the dead and missing. Includes an interview with Ronald Jones, an artist and critic who sought to enlist Bender’s help in a project called “Monster,” whereby pictures of children murdered in the Holocaust would be aged to show what they might have looked like today.
(1996). Spend a week in the hectic offices of the L.A. County Coroner-and get an up-close look at the secrets that the dead reveal. The L.A. Coroner's office handles 30 to 50 bodies a day, examining the evidence of everything from Alzheimer's disease to drive-by shootings, drug overdoses to fatal tumbles down the stairs. Meet the men and women who perform this vital and thankless job, and hear how they cope with the emotional stress of their time spent in the constant company of death.
(2016). Discusses the Science of Forensics. Part of the series, Show me Science.
(2021). A report on facial recognition software designed to apprehend criminals who have been caught on camera committing crimes. The computer algorithms used to identify criminals are not flawless, particularly with minorities and women, and requires strict rules and protocols to prevent improper arrests.
(2002). A report on digital fingerprint enhancement, a technique which allows investigators to get a person’s prints from any surface. Proponents of the technique claim that it enables police to solve previously uncrackable cases. Critics charge that it involves tampering with evidence. Includes an interview with Erik Berg, Tacoma Police Department, who developed the technique.
(2022). Geographical offender profiling is now being used by police forces around the world to help focus investigations into a connected series of crimes where there are no obvious suspects. This film introduces students to the principles and key concepts of geographical profiling - least effort principle, distance decay, crime pattern theory and opportunity spaces - and their application to criminal investigations.
(2003).The remarkable portrait of four women living on the bad side of luck, struggling with drug addiction, arrested for dealing and prostitution and serving prison time with one common bond: they are pregnant. Amy, Monique, Joann and Ann Marie -- they all have given birth behind bars. For these women who are on intimate terms with sexual abuse, poverty and addiction, the Taconic Correctional Facility in New York State offers a rare gleam of hope.
(2017). Investigative documentary exploring the case of Clinton Young, who was charged in 2001 at age 19 with the murder of two men. Despite strong evidence of irregularities at his trial, conflicting statements and the suspicion that key witnesses were co-erced, Young was given the death penalty. Through personal interviews with his family and witnesses, simulations with ballistic experts and frank discussions with Young himself, Jessica Villerius delves deep into the case. Additional death row documentaries and debates can be found on the Death Row channel.
(1984). Should a lawyer defend a guilty person? This and other questions are debated by Bronx district attorney Mario Merola, former New York mayor Edward Koch, CBS News anchor Dan Rather, and others in this segment from an Emmy Award series.
(2014). With extraordinary access, award-winning producer and director Dan Edge takes you to the epicenter of the raging debate about prison reform. "Solitary Nation" offers an up-close, graphic look at a solitary confinement unit in Maine’s maximum-security prison with firsthand accounts from prisoners and staff whose lives are forever altered by this troubled system.
