When William “Dub” Lawrence was the sheriff of a rural Utah county in the 1970s, he established the state’s first SWAT team. Decades later, that same unit kills his son-in-law after an intense and highly controversial standoff. Frustrated by a lack of justice, Lawrence, now retired from the force, embarks on an obsessive quest for closure, assembling a trove of documents, footage, and evidence related to his son-in-law’s case and other local incidents involving shootings of civilians by officers. Peace Officer centers around this charismatic, intelligent, and intensely mission-driven investigator, who bridges the political divide and poses timely questions about the increased militarization of police officers and the effects of the War on Drugs. Ultimately, the film is both suspenseful procedural and topical critique, making real the dangers of law enforcement overreach through the stories of victims of police misconduct. But the film also allows officers to weigh in, speaking to their need to protect themselves at all costs. The question is, just how much force is necessary?  EM