Reply #29: You raise an interesting question [View All]

[Nikki Stone1]

My years in LA and watching LAPD tactics makes me very wary of actually getting up in a cop's face and saying "I am recording this; cease and desist now!" While it might deflect the cop's energy from tasering someone, it might also cause the cop to arrest me on some trumped up charge and seize the cell phone or other taping equipment. Then, the suspect continues to be tasered, I get arrested, the evidence gets destroyed, and no one ever knows about the brutality their tax dollars are paying for. On the other hand, it might force the cop to lighten up on the taser since he is being watched and it might spare the victim.

Because it could go either way, and because there would be a real chance of losing valuable evidence, I might keep the taping quiet. The idea would be to have two people with cell phones videoing--one to challenge the cop and one to document.