We’re really proud of this one… A year in the making, we were commissioned to produce a recruitment video for the Portland Police Bureau who entrusted us with telling their story and helping shape the future of our city’s police force.

Portland Police Bureau Recruitment Video from Uncage the Soul Productions on Vimeo.

In producing this video, we understood that the national and local conversations about policing required sensitivity and honesty…that a recruitment video for Portland Police could not ignore the real challenges of race, diversity, and community relationship that all police departments face. Because a glossy and superficial propaganda video would quickly be dismantled, we felt that an unscripted and transparent look at policing was appropriate, from the voice of the police officers themselves. 

At the same time, this video needed forward thinking, and longevity. We were tasked with attracting the right kind of person to work with Portland Police, so it was important to consider traits that would be congruent with the city of Portland in the next 3-5 years. Policies, people, and conversations shift and evolve, so we needed to consider the message that would be relevant not just now, but years from now.

This was a complex project and we took the responsibility for helping define the future character of our police bureau very seriously. We spent months meeting dozens of officers throughout the Portland Police Bureau, visiting departments and precincts, and distilled down over 11 hours of unscripted interviews. The result is a recruitment video for the Portland Police that we feel best reflects the kind of police officer we want to have more of in our community.