With the anniversary of George Floyd’s tragic death upon us, the National Press Club will host a screening and panel discussion featuring “Documenting Police Use of Force ” in collaboration with FRONTLINE, the Associated Press, and the Washington Association of Black Journalists. The June 3rd discussion program will include FRONTLINE’s Serginho Roosblad, Georgetown University’s Andrea M. Headley, and Frederick News-Post’s Ceoli Jacoby, and will be moderated by AP Global Vice President Ron Nixon.

“FRONTLINE and The Associated Press, in collaboration with the Howard Centers for Investigative Journalism, investigate deaths that occurred after police used tactics like prone restraint and other “less-lethal force.” 

The documentary and accompanying reporting draw on police records, autopsy reports and body cam footage, offering the most expansive tally of such deaths nationwide. There will also be a discussion about the use of the Lethal Restraint database that any reporter can use in their work.

FEATURED SPEAKERS:

Ron Nixon leads global investigations at The Associated Press. Nixon, in his role at the AP, has overseen investigations that have won major journalism awards: News and Documentary Emmy, IRE, Worth Bingham, Selden Ring and the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award. He also led an investigation that was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. In 2021, Nixon received the News Leader of the Year award from the News Leaders Association.

Nixon is also co-founder of the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting, a news trade organization increasing the ranks, retention and profile of reporters and editors of color. Nixon is a Marine Corps infantry veteran who saw combat in the 1990 Persian Gulf War and was part of the Marine Corps security forces battalion, the security and counterterrorism unit. He attended Alabama State University.

Andrea M. Headley is an Assistant Professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University. She is also an Affiliate Fellow at the Center for Innovations in Community Safety at Georgetown Law. She is a scholar of public management, racial equity, and criminal justice policy. At the heart of research lies the question how can we create a more effective and equitable criminal justice system.

Headley’s research focuses on policing to understand how organizational, managerial, and individual level factors affect service delivery and outcomes, with a keen focus on inequities and disparities. Specific examples of her past work include improving police-community relations in communities of color, assessing the effect of race during use of force encounters, evaluating body-worn cameras, understanding national police reform commissions, analyzing dispositional outcomes in citizen complaints, and exploring the gendered norms and cultures in policing. 

Ceoli Jacoby is the government reporter at the Frederick News-Post. She is based in the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area and a recent graduate of the University of Maryland with degrees in multiplatform journalism and government and politics, plus a concentration in international relations.

During her internships with Mid-Atlantic Media and Montgomery Community Media, she covered the National Capital Region. She has also worked for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism.

Serginho Roosblad is one of FRONTLINE’s Investigative Journalist Equity Initiative filmmakers. He’s an Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker who is part of the Associated Press’ Global Investigations team. At the AP, he has worked on a variety of investigative short documentaries, including on police use of force on children, Retired Lt. General Michael Flynn, and a contaminated former army base, which might have caused cancer in hundreds of veterans. As a lover of photography, Roosblad has also directed and produced a trio of award-winning films on prolific photographers in America. Prior to his work in documentary film, he spent much of his early career in journalism reporting on Africa, where he covered a wide range of topics such as drug addiction in Uganda, piracy in Somalia, and the musical heritage of Zanzibar. For his documentary, Roosblad will partner with the production company Trilogy Films.

This event is open to National Press Club members and invited guests of FRONTLINE, the AP, and the Washington Association of Black Journalists.