Las Vegas has long been a city of many mysteries, of gambling, sins, even murder. Throughout seasons upon seasons of television shows set in the city have shown police brutality and corruption, this film shows that it may very well be closer to the truth than fiction. What Happened in Vegas explores cases where all signs point to police execution or over reach of power that lead to deaths and subsequent framing of the victim as bad, evil people.
Director Ramsey Denison decided to make this documentary after being himself arrested after witnessing and reporting police brutality/use of excessive force in what he describes as a police officer using handcuffs to torture the person they are arresting. After calling 911 and reporting this incident, he found himself arrested and roughed up. This put a fire under him and he decided to investigate other cases that may have been exaggerations by the cops of people’s crimes or overreach in their powers/framing. Through interviews with families of now dead people who came on the wrong end of police force, he builds a strong case that there may very well be some serious wrong doings in the Las Vegas police department or at least there were at one point. The film also interviews and follows a sheriff hopeful as he explains his way of thinking and how he believes the police force should work and follows him through his bid for the sheriff position again the leaving sheriff’s and big money’s choice. The film, through its investigation and interviews, implies and tries to show that the big money tries to keep the bad side of Las Vegas out of the media and is ready to throw its weight behind whoever will make the city look good, even if it is at the cost of lives, truth, and true justice. Of course, like most documentaries, it does come off as a movie with a bit of an agenda from the get-go, especially given that it all came to be because of director Denison’s arrest.
The film does still make a point about the cases it investigates and the impact of people being killed by cops on their loved ones and family. The fact is however, that the film almost only shows the one side of the coin, the side that says the people were killed in cold blood almost by bad cops. The evidence, or lack thereof in some cases, all points towards the cops being overly ready to kill the people here, but there is not a lot seen from the other side. The interviews are convincing, but once again, pretty much one sided for the entire run time of the film. The subject is nonetheless interesting and important to be brought to light as this is something that is happening, around the country and around the world; some bad cops are making the good ones look bad with them by not protecting and serving and flat out executing suspects for small crimes that should have maybe, in some cases, have gotten them arrested at worst, definitely not killed. The film does shed some light on the point of view of the victims’ families and people who do strongly believe there was miscarriage of justice in those cases. Each viewer can make up their own mind from the information and evidence shown.
The film is well shot and crafted with cinematography by Rhett Nielson that includes some truly great shots of Las Vegas, particularly the shots from above that may be drone shots, showing the strip, but also other parts of town. The film gives an interesting look beyond what most tourists see and it adds to the film’s narrative by setting it in the familiar in connection with the world famous strip, helping to link itself with what most people know of Las Vegas before going a bit deeper into the city itself and its inhabitants who are not just passing through.
What Happened in Vegas does start with a specific purpose, to show that police brutality and injustice does happen, and it ends with a big pile up of evidence and information that supports its views. As the film pretty much only has one side of the coin as mentioned earlier, it feels a bit stacked onto one side, but is it the right side to be on? Each viewer can watch it and decide for themselves here.