🔗 Share this article The Perfect Neighbor Analysis: Unpacking a Infamous Incident Via the Perspective of a State Cop's Body-Cam The true crime genre has an innovative format, or perhaps even a completely fresh vocabulary and structure: police body cam footage. Countenances of those harmed, observers and possible perpetrators loom up to the cameras, at times in the harsh glare of headlights or flashlights as the police arrive, their faces and voices eloquent of caution or panic or anger or suspiciously contrived innocence. And we frequently incidentally glimpse the expressions of the officers themselves, one standing by blankly while the other asks the questions with what occasionally seems like remarkable hesitation – though perhaps this is because they know they are being recorded. An Emerging Pattern in Non-Fiction Cinema We have already had the streaming service true-crime documentary American Murder: Gabby Petito, about the slaying of an Instagram influencer by her partner, whose main point of interest was body cam footage and in which, as in this film, the police seemed surprisingly lenient with the suspect. There is also the acclaimed short film Incident by Bill Morrison, composed entirely of officer footage. Now comes Geeta Gandbhir’s documentary about the tragic incident of Ajike Owens in Ocala, Florida, a woman of colour whose four young kids reportedly bothered and antagonized her white neighbour, Susan Lorincz. In 2023, after an escalating series of neighborhood conflicts in which the police were repeatedly called, the accused fatally shot Owens through her closed front door, when the victim went to Lorincz’s house to address her about throwing objects at her children. The Investigation and Legal Context The investigating authorities found proof that the suspect had done online research into Florida’s “stand your ground” laws, which allow residents and others to shoot if there is a significant presumption of danger. The movie constructs its narrative with the officer recordings captured during the repeated police visits to the location before the shooting, and then at the horrific and chaotic incident site itself – prefaced by 911 audio material of Lorincz contacting authorities in a dramatically trembling voice. There is also police cell footage of Lorincz which has a chilly, queasy fascination. Portrayal of the Accused The documentary does not really suggest anything too complicated about Lorincz, or any mitigating factors. She is clearly unstable, although the children are heard calling her a derogatory term, an hurtful taunt. The production is showcased as an example of how self-defense regulations lead to unnecessary and heartbreaking bloodshed. But the fact of gun ownership and the constitutional right (that historic American constitutional privilege that a deceased pundit famously claimed made firearm fatalities a price worth paying) is not much emphasized. Police Interrogation and Firearm Norms It is possible to watch the officer questioning segments here and feel surprised at how minimal concern the police took in this point. When did she buy her gun? Did she receive any instruction on handling it? Had she ever had occasion to fire it before? Where did she store it in the house? Was it just on the couch, loaded and ready? The police aren’t shown asking any of these undoubtedly important questions (though they could have inquired in recordings that didn’t make the edit). Or is gun ownership so normal it would be like asking about microwaves or toasters? Arrest and Aftermath For what seemed to her neighbors a very long time, Lorincz was not even taken into custody and indicted, only detained and even provided accommodation away from home for the night (another parallel, by the way, with the Gabby Petito case). And when she was ultimately officially taken into custody in the holding cell, there is an remarkable scene in which Lorincz simply declines to rise, will not extend her arms for the handcuffs, not hostilely, but with the politely self-pitying air of someone whose mental health means that she just can’t do it. Did the gentle handling up until that point led her to think that this could be effective? Conclusion and Verdict It didn’t; and the jury’s verdict is saved for the closing credits. A deeply sobering picture of American crime and punishment.