PBS taps La Sierra’s faculty for documentaries

On Aug. 7, PBS Frontline, in partnership with Pulitzer Prize-winning nonprofit media company ProPublica aired the first of a new documentary series titled “Documenting Hate.” The series included interviews with Lowell Smith, a former terrorism liaison officer for the Orange County Probation Department and an assistant professor in La Sierra’s criminal justice department. 

April Summitt, dean of La Sierra’s College of Arts & Sciences and a researcher of environmental  and water history was interviewed on campus earlier this year for a segment of “10 Modern Marvels That Changed America.” The episode aired July 24 and showcased engineering feats such as the Erie Canal, Hoover Dam and the aqueduct which draws from the Colorado River to supply 25 percent of Southern California’s water. 

An article about the faculty members’ participation in the PBS documentaries appears in the fall edition of La Sierra University magazine. Links to the documentaries online are available here:  

• “Documenting Hate”: - https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/documentinghate-charlottesville/
• “10 Modern Marvels That Changed America”(requires subscription): - https://www.pbs.org/video/10modern-marvels-that-changed-america-8veorc/

“Documenting Hate”

Smith spent more than 15 years of his 26-year career as a probation officer supervising individuals associated with white supremacist gangs and extremists. While he is currently retired from the Orange County probation department, he teaches and collaborates with friends who are long-time researchers and former and current investigators, and continues monitoring hate group activity. 

During the first Frontline "Documenting Hate" installment titled “Documenting Hate: Charlottesville,” Smith provided his extensive knowledge of these organizations and their recent growth. During the Frontline interview with producer and correspondent, A.C. Thompson, Smith displayed a sampling of paraphernalia used by white supremacists including a Ku Klux Klan imperial grand dragon robe and symbols that date back to Hitler’s Nazi secret police. Items in the extensive collection were previously confiscated by Orange County law enforcement. Smith is allowed by a court order to use them for educational purposes in classes and presentations.

The Frontline segment centered around the Charlottesville, Va. Unite the Right rally in August 2017 which resulted in multiple injuries and the death of one individual whose assailant was convicted on Dec. 7 of first degree murder and several other charges, according to media coverage. The Frontline program cited earlier violent protests in California as indicative of a buildup and an emboldening of hate groups. News coverage in October noted the arrests in Southern California of several suspected white supremacists for alleged intentional violence at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottsville and at California political rallies. The suspects and their group's activities had been among the subjects of the Frontline investigative documentary earlier in the year.

Smith divides white supremacists into three main categories: criminals such as the Aryan Brotherhood and Nazi Low Riders who are involved in drug trafficking, fraud and other crimes; religious-based groups such as the Ku Klux Klan; and ideological/political groups, which sometimes co-mingle with religious groups, such as the National Socialist Movement, Neo-Nazis, Aryan Nation and Alt-Right.

The main goal of these groups, he said, is racial segregation rather than dominance.

Society can confront the expansion of hate groups first of all by recognizing that white supremacy and racism exist, Smith says. “We can’t put blinders on. It cannot be tolerated. But at the same time, we have to do it smartly. We can’t attack these types of people in a way that they can use it for recruitment purposes. We need to hold our elected representatives responsible for dealing with these issues.”

Smith is a Southern California native whose background includes serving as a narcotics investigator with the U.S. Coast Guard. He received bachelor and master’s degrees from California Baptist University, and is working on a doctoral degree with an emphasis in criminal justice. 

“10 Modern Marvels That Changed America”

In season two, episode three of the series, a segment highlights the history and development of the Colorado River Aqueduct and touched on the over-use of the river water.

The show’s host Geoffrey Baer summarized the aqueduct’s history which began as the inspiration of Los Angeles water district superintendent William Mulholland. He was driven to find additional water sources as the city’s population skyrocketed and eyed the mighty Colorado River.

“Everybody was after the Colorado at that point,” Summitt says in the PBS interview. “Mulholland knew that if he didn’t hurry up and get the water and start using it, [he] would probably lose it.”

Despite significant setbacks and obstacles, the aqueduct project finally moved forward. The construction process involved a six-year dig through granite to create a 13-mile tunnel around Mt. San Jacinto. The first drops of water were delivered to Pasadena on June 17, 1941. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California now delivers water to 19 million people. 

However, this bounty comes at a price, Baer tells audiences.

“It is nine percent lower than it used to be just a few years ago,” said Summitt in the interview, adding that the Colorado River could eventually go completely dry.

The PBS appearances are the latest media interviews for both Summitt and Smith. Hosts and reporters for C-Span Book TV, NPR and a Slate magazine podcast have interviewed Summitt in past years over her various books that examine water history. Smith, who serves as a media consultant on issues of public safety, was featured on the television series “Gangland” and has appeared on Fox 11 Los Angeles.