Documentary: The Interrupters

On Sunday night 'The Interrupters' documentary aired on BBC 4 as a part of the channels Storyville series. Filmed by Steve James over the course of a year The Interrupters documents three individuals all of which were gang members themselves whom now look to stop gang violence that is dominating the streets of Chicago. Ceasefire is an amazing organisation and the documentary is well worth a watch as it explores the criminal past of each of the Ceasefire members featured and how they're now mediating between gangs and stopping violence.

Anybody with a particular interest in American current affairs will be more than duly aware of the violence taking place in Chicago over recent years. In 2010 it had recorded a particularly high murder rate with calls from politicians to bring in the National Guard to police it's streets.

Ameena Matthews, daughter of Jeff Fort is one of the Violence Interrupter's whom features heavily. Not to domean the documentary or belittle the subject matter that it covers but I wanted to share some grabs from the documentary when mentioning Jeff Fort. Fort was not only one of America's most notorious gangsters but most flamboyant as well.

WATCH HERE - BBC4 CONTINUES TO PROVE WHY ITS THE BEST CHANNEL ON TV.