The Guardian: what happens to Americans who film police violence?

[Luminous Animal]

But the surge in vigilante recording is being met with aggressive resistance from police. Judges uphold the right of American people to film law enforcement officers under the first amendment of the US constitution, and lawmakers in several states have proposed new laws specifically protecting such recording. But officers increasingly complain that filming interferes with their duties, and insist that short clips don’t tell the full story of controversial encounters. An increasing number are taking direct action to prevent recordings – snatching or smashing phones or demanding the handover of footage, sometimes even after it has been livestreamed directly online.

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For many who capture horrific acts of violence, returning to a normal life becomes impossible. They complain of harassment by police, of threats against their life and of recurring trauma as a result of the death and brutality they have witnessed.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/aug/15/filming-police-violence-walter-scott-michael-brown-shooting

[Warren Stupidity]

1. They have become a separate power within this country.

Quis custodiet ipsos custodies?

We need to answer this question. As the world of majority report becomes reality, as the police become the brutal arm of a new technology enabled panopticon* state, this is perhaps one of the most important question our society needs to address.


* The Panopticon is a type of institutional building designed by the English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the late 18th century. The concept of the design is to allow a single watchman to observe (-opticon) all (pan-) inmates of an institution without the inmates being able to tell whether or not they are being watched. Although it is physically impossible for the single watchman to observe all cells at once, the fact that the inmates cannot know when they are being watched means that all inmates must act as though they are watched at all times, effectively controlling their own behaviour constantly. The name is also a reference to Panoptes from Greek mythology; he was a giant with a hundred eyes and thus was known to be a very effective watchman.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panopticon

[bvar22]

2. The moral of the story:

Try to be inconspicuous while filming cops breaking the law, but get good, clear shots.
Upload your strip to a public site like YouTube immediately.
Then, if they attack you, give them your tape or memory card with a smile and an apology, and walk away.

[libdem4life]

3. Yes, and leave your ID locked away at home.