Flint, Mich is known in the United States as one of the most dangerous cities, but the people of Flint still remember a time when the Vehicle City was the place to be.  “Flint Town,” catches everything from arrests, houses falling apart, homicides and an inside look at the police officers’ personal lives.

The once home to General Motors, middle-class families and safer neighborhoods has now become a city of poverty, high crime, a line drawn between the community and the Flint Police Department, and not to mention, the health crisis happening because of the water.  

Netflix’s original documentary series, “Flint Town” shows rare footage of the brutal reality the people of Flint deal with daily. for instance, one painfully honest scene shows a mother crying for her son who was just shot, lying on the ground in front of her, without a pulse.

The Flint police are overwhelmed and understaffed going from call to call making very few arrests. The first dispatch shown is with Officer Bridgette Balasko for a robbery/assault. She shows up 27 hours after the first call was made. The FPD has only nine cars out patrolling the city at a time and officer numbers have gone down from 300 to 98 officers.

The documentary series begins in November 2015 with James Tolbert as the chief of FPD. Poisonous lead was found in the water supply and Flint went under a state of emergency. History was made that year when the city elected the first female mayor, Doctor. Karen Williams Weaver.

One of the first big decisions Weaver made was hiring a new police chief for the Flint Police Department.

“I had been looking at things since I’d gotten in, so it wasn’t a decision that was made quickly or hastily. It was one that I’d thought about for some time now,” Weaver commented in a news interview with FOX66.

Tim Johnson became the new Chief of police for the FPD in February 2016.

“For a police department of this size, the most challenging part is working with nothing,” Johnson said. “Working with nothing and making something happen.”

We get a closer look inside the police academy where we meet Cadet Dion Reed and Cadet Maria Reed. Maria Reed is Dion Reeds mother, they both applied for the academy at the same time.

The FPD started a new program for citizens to work alongside officers as volunteers. With new mayor elected, a new chief of police, new ways for the community to get involved helping the FPD. There is believed to be a light at the end of the tunnel for the city of Flint.

We also see some very familiar faces as this documentary series was filmed during the 2016 Presidential election. Secretary Hilary Clinton, Senator Bernie Sanders and President Donald Trump all make appearances when they come to the city of Flint as part of their campaign tours.  

“Flint Town,” is loaded with unexpected details and shocking information for those not familiar with the city’s current condition. A look inside a town that can’t catch a break that will have you glued to the screen until the end of the final scene.

Overall, “Flint Town,” not only shows their audience what the people of Flint have gone through but what they are still dealing with today. It also teaches their audience about a city trying to get back up on its feet.