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Mayor's Office

Flint Mayor, Police Chief Issue Joint Statement on New Flint Town Docu-series

Flint, MI – Mayor Karen Weaver and Chief Timothy Johnson issued the following statement in response to the release of Flint Town, a documentary series airing on Netflix that provides a unique look inside the Flint Police Department, the City of Flint and the perspectives its residents:

“While I haven’t seen all eight episodes yet, I hope the series shows the dedicated and hard working men and women we have in the Flint Police Department,” said Mayor Weaver. “I hope viewers will see that despite all the challenges and obstacles they face, Flint police officers go out and do what they can to serve and protect our community, and that is something we should be proud of.”

“It is no secret that we are understaffed and operating with very limited resources,” added Chief Johnson.  “However, I know firsthand that Flint police officers do what we have to do to effectively police this city and keep the residents safe, using tactics that are necessary and within the guidelines of the law.

The camera crew was brought on as part of an agreement that was made under the previous administration and the former police chief,” explained Chief Johnson. “When I came onboard, the crew had already been working with the Flint Police Department for over a year or so. I went ahead and let the filming proceed because I felt it was important to show how the community felt when the man-made water disaster occurred, how the residents were impacted and how the Flint Police Department policed through this historic time, given the limited amount of resources we had to work with.”

“It is true, the documentary shows some raw, ugly, but real truths about where the City was at that time, during the height of the water crisis,” continued Weaver. “But, it is a very serious issue that impacted us all and the truth is not always pretty. Good or bad, this was our reality and we shouldn’t hide from it. Instead, we must learn from the mistakes from the past and prevent them from happening again.

Given all the challenges our city has faced in just the last few years, we cannot overlook the fact that under my administration and Chief Johnson’s leadership, crime has been reduced in Flint and the crime statistics continue to improve. This is proof that we are doing the best we can with the people and the resources we have, and it is making a difference.

We know this series does not tell the whole story. It does not focus on the amazing turn around and recovery that is starting to happen in the city. So we all must help get the word out about how resilient the people of Flint are, and that good things that are happening in Flint, we are getting the lead out, we are working to bring more good paying jobs back and positioning the City of Flint for a remarkable recovery.”