Police Training Company Sues Netflix and Mini-Series Director
The police training and consulting firm John E. Reid and Associates filed a federal lawsuit against Netflix and director Ava DuVernay claiming defamation in one of the episodes of the four-part series "When They See Us."
The police training and consulting firm John E. Reid and Associates filed a federal lawsuit against Netflix and director Ava DuVernay claiming defamation in one of the episodes of the four-part series "When They See Us."
According to Fox News, the series tells the story of the so-called Central Park Five, a group of young men who were falsely charged with the rape and assault of a jogger in 1989.
The lawsuit centers on one line in a piece of dialog during which a character confronts an actor portraying NYPD detective by saying, "You squeezed statements out of them after 42 hours of questioning and coercing, without food, bathroom breaks, withholding parental supervision. The Reid technique has been universally rejected."
The suit alleges that the series has damaged the company’s reputation, and seeks actual and punitive damages. The suit also seeks an injunction barring Netflix from distributing the series in its current form.
John E. Reid and Associates developed the Reid Technique in the late 1940s, and it has continued to offer training materials and courses to law enforcement since then.
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