CBS’s “East New York” broadcast is the latest policing process between networks, and so far it is attempting to paint a more nuanced picture of the relationship between the community and law enforcement on the city’s 74th campus.
The series follows new sub-inspector Regina Heywood (Amanda Warren) as she tries to implement drastic changes that would improve people’s distrust of the police, including changing her cops to focus less on petty crime and community policing. Including encouragement to initiate initiatives. This marks a change for police procedures, which typically depict police being unruly while chasing criminals – many of whom perpetuate harmful stereotypes about marginalized communities.
“What fascinated me [previous police procedurals] was eligible [and] Their thoughts about how they approach their jobs versus how it would traditionally be done,” showrunner Mike Flynn told TheWrap in a recent interview. “I wanted to see what it would look like on a show about policing in 2022.”
Below, Flynn details more about Heywood’s efforts to reform the 74th campus, as well as what he hopes to pursue the “East New York” procedural style.
It looks like Regina wants to implement a lot of changes within the campus, and we’ve already seen how she plans to make that happen. Can you talk more about how that goes over the course of the season?
I think it’s more about getting into the situation on this frontier and what elements to make sure the officers are more present in the community as a welcoming entity. Be, as opposed to looking like an occupying force. We see in the pilot that he has set up two apartments for the police on the 74th campus and we see a cop, who is Brandi Quinlan. We are also going to transfer another officer to raise awareness about the community. Plus I think it’s about her face telling people more. Regina is going to do one thing, she makes herself available to open our doors for these people, which usually in the past, the former sub inspector didn’t have an open door policy. It is also about taking a different approach to how they approach potential suspects – not necessarily seeing them as guilty before being proven innocent. Something seems to me that she wants to understand the person who committed the crime. Will they have to go down the path of being enforced in the penal system, or is there anything she can do to lead them to a better and higher path?
The community policing storyline is one that I found interesting, and I wonder how you developed it in the Writers’ Room – especially considering that, in our current flawed policing system, experts have found It doesn’t always work?
Many officers do not necessarily live in the communities in which they serve. More specifically, premises that have a high crime rate or low income ratio. So I think Regina Heywood notices that disconnect early on, and this is her first topic. How do you bridge that disconnect? One thing he noticed was his faith in him in that community. How we dealt with it in the writers’ room, I think, we set that precedent on the pilot. Once we get into it, the conversations we have had all the time, how does that character assimilate themselves or gain trust with other people in the community? They have to rethink how they approach handling situations at the top with a higher responsibility. We wanted our characters to be human first before becoming cops.
Why did Quinlan volunteer to live in the housing project?
I think he saw this as an opportunity to make a good impression on his commanding officer. She’s someone who believes in Regina’s ideals and her ideas and, because she’s a petty cop, she sees what it takes to be successful. I think he jumped at that opportunity looking at his past. She previously lived in a section eight housing, so she has an idea of what that life entails. I think by jumping on this responsibility, she is showing that she wants to believe that it can actually work.
She is already starting to form some relationships with community members, some more positive than others. How will they develop throughout the season?
His world was opened to these people who felt that they could not first come to the police for help. What she really wants to convey is that she is there to help them, not to have the power to enforce the law. I think she wants to bridge the gap between the community. I think understanding that these people are just like humans [as she is], She is taking it from a humanitarian level. He has a definite connection to the past that is coming full circle.
You expressed your desire to make the police feel human. What about other members of the community? How did you work to make sure they don’t perpetuate stereotypes about the crimes certain people do?
Our writers’ room is a diverse room. We have people from different backgrounds and different races, different cultures who favor not stereotyping characters, or having them be a note. I think the more we speak on these people living in the community – who they are, what their day is like, and how this plays into their economic situation – it speaks volumes about some of the events in which they find themselves. Huh. Often, people who are implicated in crimes are always seen as the first perpetrators, and do not see any other element. I think it’s something that we put these people on to see how the media portrays them.
We’ve also seen Heywood encourage his officers to spend less time focusing on petty crimes, which I think speaks to what you’re saying.
She’s trying to crack open how things were done and find new ways in how we approach these types of crimes, not necessarily focusing on someone selling cigarettes on the corner, Which happened to Eric Garner. Those conditions don’t need to escalate to that level.
Did you consult with actual police officers, especially from the areas you are writing about, to get an authentic look at their relationship with the community?
Yes, we have technical advisors who are retired police officers from the NYPD. We just wanted to get that perspective. We also want to give the show the right amount of authenticity, anywhere from language to uniformity. I think all these details are important to tell the right story.
Will we see ‘East New York’ battling any wrongdoing?
I wouldn’t say there are people making false allegations, but we will look into situations where it can be a possibility. This is something they will struggle with. Has this person committed this crime? Was it someone else? Why did they do it? This is an interesting issue.
“East New York” airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.