THE DC TEN

LOGLINE

In our nation’s capital, where women’s fundamental rights are under attack, a group of 10 women refuse to remain silent about the abuse they suffered while employed by the Metropolitan Police Department.

This is the story of whistleblowers, risking it all to take on one of the most powerful law enforcement agencies in order to change the system from the inside.

SYNOPSIS

Years after the height of the #Metoo movement and in the aftermath of the George Floyd shooting, ten current and former black women police officers in Washington, DC file an unprecedented class action lawsuit against the MPD.

Alleging rampant racism, sexism, and silencing that has been happening for decades, they risk everything to stand against one of the largest and most powerful police departments in the nation, right in the nation’s capital.

A classic story of David and Goliath, THE DC TEN will be a documentary that asks – what does it take to change a decades-old police institution from the inside?

CREATIVE APPROACH

Led by Chanel Dickerson, we’ll build to this climax by profiling the brave women involved and show what led to this moment. In the vein of investigative films like Crime + Punishment, we’ll use intimate vignettes of the women to both offer brief glimpses into their lives and also paint a picture of the toxic work environment at the MPD and their enraging struggles as black women officers there.

We’ll get exclusive footage of The DC Ten leading up to the press conference, sharing tears, and stories of their shared experiences. During the press conference we’ll see them announcing the lawsuit, and finally for the first time, make their claims publicly.

Ultimately we want our story to be one of hope – we want to galvanize and inspire people toward change not only for these women, but for the hundreds of women like them nationwide.

THE STORY

When 17-year old Chanel Dickerson started her first day as a cadet with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), she was excited. She had become a police officer because of an interaction she had with a black officer in her community at just nine years old.

So when she had an opportunity to become a cadet with the MPD, she jumped at the chance.

Nearly three decades later, she was living out her dream. As assistant chief, she was the highest ranking black woman at the MPD, one of the largest police departments in the country and the primary agency in the nation’s capitol. Chanel made her mark overhauling cases of missing black girls and she set up a weekly sunrise run with her fellow black women officers.

In Spring of 2021 she got a call from a lawyer who was representing the growing group of black women who wanted to sue the MPD.

As she listened to the stories of the women on the lawsuit, she recalled some of her own experiences: being sexually harassed as a cadet, being routinely passed up for promotions, and what she considered the worst of all – being pressured to get an abortion.

AFTER MONTHS OF INDECISION

CHANEL FINALLY DECIDED TO SIGN THE LAWSUIT

But it was a fight riddled with risk. It was likely that the lawsuit would not only risk their jobs, but would also would make it nearly impossible to get a job as a police officer anywhere in the country. By exposing the ugly vsexual and racial discrimination that still persisted in a department like the MPD, Chanel and her co-plaintiffs were keenly aware that they were facing an uphill battle in getting the public on their side. Despite these challenges, what the women did have was their solidarity. And they knew that they represented hundreds of other black women with experiences just like theirs (both at the MPD and nationwide).

PLAINTIFFS

CHANEL DICKERSON – CURRENT ASSISTANT CHIEF (24 YEARS WITH MPD)

As Assistant Chief of Police, Chanel Dickerson is one of the most senior Black woman officers to have ever served in the MPD. Her allegations against the MPD are comprised of multiple instances of sexual harassment, being pressured to have an abortion, consistently being passed up for promotions, being excluded from essential meetings. She plans to retire from the MPD on June 4, 2022.

SINOBIA BRINKLEY – FORMER OFFICER (33 YEARS WITH MPD)

While a police officer with the MPD, Sinobia Brinkley was assigned to the elite Special Operations Department as a crisis negotiator for two decades before being asked to become a Senior Police Officer.

The class action suit started after she filed an individual suit (SINOBIA N. BRINKLEY V. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA) for a pattern of discrimination and retaliation she was facing from the MPD.

After she filed her individual suit, lawyer Pam Keith, noted that what was happening to Sinobia was also happening to many other black women at the MPD, and that it was part of a longstanding pattern of abuse.

TIARA BROWN – FORMER OFFICER (5 ½ YEARS WITH MPD

A mentee of Chief Chanel Dickerson who also happens to be a champion boxer, Tiara retired from the Department after the protests that erupted when George Floyd was murdered by police in 2020. She joined the lawsuit because she had faced numerous situations in which she was relentlessly bullied after raising concerns after racist and sexist behavior in the department.

KAREN CARR – CURRENT OFFICER (23 YEARS WITH MPD)

Officer Karen Carr is currently assigned to MPD’s Special Events Department. She joined the lawsuit because during her 23 years with the MPD she has regularly suffered from unequal treatment, as compared to her fellow white and male oficers. Further, the concerns she raised about the departments racist and sexist discrimination were consistently dismissed or ignored, and she faced retaliation as a result of even raising them. As an officer still employed with the MPD, she constantly lives in fear and stress as a result of the discrimination, unfair treatment, and retaliation that runs rampant in the department.

REGINA GRIER – FORMER OFFICER (33 YEARS WITH MPD)

During her time with the MPD, Former Officer Regenna Grier has developed extensive experience training police officers. After she arrested and testified against an officer who was operating a police cruiser while drunk, her colleagues retaliated by refusing to provide her with backup. She continued to face an environment of isolation and disrespect and was even told to “watch your back”, by a fellow officer. Management did nothing.

TAMIKA HAMPTON – CURRENT OFFICER (19 YEARS WITH MPD)

Tamika Hampton is a patrol officer assigned to the third district. She had previously been assigned to the seventh district (where she grew up and still lives), where she was passionate about helping to bridge the gap between her community and the MPD. She again faced sexual harasment when a fellow officer tried to kiss her. After she refused his advances, he retaliated against her despite the fact that fact that she was too scared to even report him because he was a top leader in the police union.

LAUSHAUN LOCKERMAN – CURRENT OFFICER (19 YEARS WITH MPD)

Officer Lashaun Lockerman is a patrol officer with the MPD currently assigned to the second district. She joined the lawsuit because she faced a pattern of disparate and discriminatory treatment and excessive and unfair punishment at the MPD, all of which she feels is designed to push her out of the department (as it did with other black woman officers).

KIA MITCHELL – FORMER OFFICER (36 YEARS WITH MPD)

During her time with the MPD, she was an expert negotiator on the Special Operations Department Emergency Response Team and was also a longtime partner with fellow plaintiff Sinobia Brinkley.

Among the instances of sexism and racism she faced, one of the more notable incidents occurred when a male officer pulled out his penis and peed in a bottle while in a patrol car with her.

When her mother had a stroke that rendered her nonverbal, Former Officer Mitchell was retaliated against for missing work, despite receiving approval for leave.

As a result of these and numerous similar incidents at the MPD, she resigned just days after the lawsuit was filed.

TABATHA KNIGHT – CURRENT OFFICER (32 YEARS WITH MPD)

While Tabatha Knight was still in training, she faced her first instance of sexual harassment at the MPD. She was ignored by higher ups, and cointuned to be harassed, attacked, and bullied throughout her time at the MPD. While being pregant with twins, she requested a ride from a fellow officer to avoid walking up a steep hill that was part of her routine duty. Her superior denied her request and after facing , Tabatha went into early labor and lost both of her twins, a tragedy she believes was caused by what she faced at the MPD.

LESLIE CLARK – CURRENT OFFICER (29 YEARS WITH MPD)

Leslie Clark is currently part of MPD’s Special Operations Department.

In June 2012 after a fellow white officer wanted to kill thenFirst Lady Michelle Obama, she was she was treated with hostility and isolation by other white officers and was met consistently when it was leaked by Internal Affairs that she was the one who reported it.

DIRECTOR BIOS

SAMANTHA KNOWLES GEETA GANDBHIR

Director/Producer Geeta Gandbhir has been nominated for six Emmy Awards and has won four. As editor, her films have been nominated twice for the Academy Award, winning once, and have also won four Peabody Awards. She recently co-directed the six-part series

“Why We Hate” for Jigsaw Productions and Amblin Entertainment, for Discovery.

Samantha (Sam) Knowles is a Brooklyn-based filmmaker. Most recently she won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Directing in a Documentary Series for co-directing the HBO docuseries “Black and Missing”, which brings attention to black missing persons cases that are routinely neglected by the police and the media. The series also won an Indie Spirit Award for Best New Documentary Series.