Juvenile Liaison

Description: Broomfield follows the intimidating figure of Police Sgt. Ray who heads up the Juvenile Liaison Section in Blackburn, Lancashire, over a number of weeks and we get to see at first hand the counter productive tactics implemented by the government in an attempt to tackle the problems of juvenile behaviour. Sgt. Rays answer to unruly kids, many of whom are at primary school, is to bully and victimise them so that by the end of the interrogation process they feel dehumanised and worse than before. It is clear to see that such a failed social policy advocated by the government of the time refuses to come to terms with the roots and origins of such juvenile behaviour by never wanting to probe the reasons behind the emergence of such a deprived underclass of children. Unlike documentary film makers today who are far too dependent on superficial modes of address, Broomfield and Churchill never really resort to any kind of preaching or politicising, rather using their subjects as tools for wider didactic purposes. The reason why Juvenile Liaison was banned is largely to do with the disturbing moment when Sgt. Ray decides to take an 8 year old school boy, Glen, to a prison cell so that he can get him to confess about stealing. Broomfield and Churchill shoot the confrontation in the cell using a long shot that positions Glen and Sgt. Ray in between the doorway, underlining their estrangement from one another but also suggesting how such a nightmarish scenario is likely to have the opposite effect on society. It is a cruel indictment of the systematic failings of the government to support and care for those who are products of a deeply divided and unequal British society.