WINNER! Best Documentary Feature Award at the Tribeca Film Festival.

The son of a SWAT team member in Detroit, Craig Atkinson thought he knew what he was getting into when he started a new documentary project on American policing. But after three years of filming, what he discovered was an unprecedented lurch toward militarization for local police forces since 9/11. Do Not Resist puts viewers in the center of the action — from inside a police training seminar that teaches the importance of "righteous violence" to the floor of a congressional hearing on the proliferation of military equipment in small-town police departments.

With his award-winning debut documentary Atkinson gives viewers a boots-on-the-ground look at American policing, bringing in perspectives from criminal justice reformers, policymakers and law enforcement leaders in this comprehensive look at a chilling new trend.

Since 9/11 the federal government has given police departments more than $40 billion in military-grade equipment. Most grants include no stipulations on how that equipment should be deployed or any reporting requirements. Throughout 2014 and 2015, Atkinson and his crew watched as departments throughout the county adapted the technologies under the pretense of fighting domestic terrorism. However, as Do Not Resist reveals, this military surplus equipment and surveillance technology is often used on a day-to-day basis to serve search warrants.

The debate is as much an internal one among law enforcement leaders as it is a discussion between policymakers and the public.