ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, August 10, 1996 TAG: 9608130029
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-24 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES
SOURCE: BOB THOMAS ASSOCIATED PRESS
`MEMPHIS PD' directors hope their candid documentary will help others to view police officers in a new light.
Why do police officers commit suicide? The question is explored in a documentary appearing on HBO, ``Memphis PD: War on the Streets.''
This is no mere cops show, with shaky handheld videocams following officers as they flush out dope dealers. The focus is on the police themselves, and how their lives are affected by the daily exposure to mindless violence and human tragedy.
``Memphis PD,'' has its first showing on HBO on Tuesday night at 10. The filmmakers are a pair of award-winning ex-Philadelphians, Vince DiPersio and William Guttentag.
``They're like Vietnam veterans in a way,'' Guttentag said of the mental toil of police work. ``They take home what they see; they don't leave it at the station house. It's in their dreams, it's in their lives.''
The film shows the stress on the job that is behind some disturbing statistics:
nTwice as many police officers commit suicide as are killed in the line of duty.
nLife expectancy of a male officer is 59 years vs. the average of 73 years for all males.
nThe divorce rate for officers is twice the national average.
``If you send young kids out there and have them witness the worst of humanity day in and day out, it's going to have a profound effect on their lives,'' observes Guttentag.
The Memphis Police Department appears to have given total cooperation to the project. How come?
DiPersio and Guttentag, who run Half-Court Pictures from a compound of bungalows in West Hollywood, were in close contact with Memphis police for several months before they started filming.
``We always go out on the road with our old films,'' explains DiPersio. ``We went down there and spread around a film we did called `Crack USA.' It was the first film that dealt with white kids on crack, and the police thought they were portrayed sensitively.
``Then we just hung out with them for a long time, not the usual ride-along. Most people, after a week of what they're seeing out there, bail out. When we came back for the second week, [the officers] treated us like brothers.''
The pair didn't take cameras along in the beginning. Before and during their lengthy shooting period, they won the officers' trust. The result is gripping action and extreme candor about the policeman's plight.
``You develop a sort of empathy and sympathy,'' adds Guttentag. ``Once you've been with them for say, a shooting or a child who has been raped or any of the other horrible things they see by the end of the day, you know why they don't want to call their wives or friends about it.
``Who do you talk to about the horrible things you see? Other cops.''
DiPersio told of the Memphis officers' ``choir practice'' (borrowed from the Joseph Wambaugh book ``The Choir Boys''), during which the officers ``decompress over a couple of beers at the local bar and try to leave what they saw on the street behind.
``The brass said, `You'll know you're inside when they invite you to choir practice.' It was about two weeks when the policemen said, `Would you like to have a beer?'''
Sometimes the officers crack up. ``Memphis PD'' traces the case of one who couldn't withstand the pressure and took his own life.
Although Guttentag, 38, and DiPersio, ``over 40,'' grew up in Philadelphia, they didn't meet until both were studying at the American Film Institute. Their honors include an Oscar for the documentary ``You Don't Have to Die,'' and Academy Award nominations for ``Blues Highway,'' ``Crack USA - County Under Siege'' and ``Death on the Job.''
What do they hope ``Memphis PD'' accomplishes?
``I'm hoping it will make people look at police officers in a different light,'' says DiPersio. ``I don't think we're going to change the way police departments are run or the way society is right now. At least we can get people to take a sympathetic look at these guys who roll up in their car.''
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ``Memphis PD: War on the Streets,'' a documentary byby CNBVince DiPersio (left) and William Guttentag, will air Tuesday at 10
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