Citizens Given Video Cameras To Monitor Police

atommota writes "After years of complaints of police misconduct, the ACLU is giving free video cameras to some residents of high-crime neighborhoods in St. Louis, MO to help them monitor officers. The ACLU of Eastern Missouri launched the project Wednesday after television crews last year broadcast video of officers punching and kicking a suspect who led police on a car chase. 'The idea here is to level the playing field, so it's not just your word against the police's word,' said Brenda Jones, executive director of the ACLU chapter. The ACLU has worked closely with the police to make sure they are aware of this program. This is in stark contrast to the recent Pennsylvania arrest for felony wiretapping of a guy who was videotaping a police stop."

Comments

Re:What do you do it. . .

[ookabooka]

While I do appreciate the funny mod, I was also being somewhat serious, if a cop has the authority to shoo you away from a "scene" and make sure you aren't taping him/her doing something, they can still get away with doing "bad things". I guess you just have to tape them covertly? I can also see all sorts of legal issues arising from this. . .good thing the ACLU is backing it up.

"to help them monitor officers"

[TheBearBear]

As opposed to monitoring the criminals in their neighborhood? They're as much a plague on civil liberties as big brother.

Re:"to help them monitor officers"

[brunascle]

i think the point is that criminals are already being monitored, but no one's monitoring the cops.

Re:"to help them monitor officers"

[gbjbaanb]

if the criminals were being monitored, then they wouldn't be able to commit all the crimes and then the area wouldn't be described as 'high crime' areas now would they.

Besides, who are the ACLU giving these cameras to? Law-abiding citizens who live in these areas and are worried that the local scroats might have their civil liberties abused whilst they were committing vandalism, burglary and violent crimes against the person?

Make friends, not enemies.

[xplenumx]

In addition to reporting any misbehavior by the police, I hope that the ACLU has enough integrity to also publicly commend any officer that is recorded acting responsibility in a difficult situation. A little positive reinforcement can go a long ways.

Re:Make friends, not enemies.

[Hoi Polloi]

Agreed, too few people give positive feeback, they only like to complain.

I hope they also keep the cameras running to catch any criminals. They're the ones who terrorize neighborhoods and then scare possible witnesses into keeping silent.

Re:Make friends, not enemies.

[heresyoftruth]

In addition to reporting any misbehavior by the police, I hope that the ACLU has enough integrity to also publicly commend any officer that is recorded acting responsibility in a difficult situation. A little positive reinforcement can go a long ways.

I don't agree. I am a nurse. I have seen other nurses out there that steal narcotics, make dangerous medical decisions, etc. Those nurses suck, and make the rest of us look bad. I don't think I should be commended for doing my job right just because there are those out there that do it badly. I am not a cop, and couldn't speak for them, but if someone tried to commend me for doing the right thing, I would be a bit disgusted. That's like saying, "Thanks for giving your patients those pain meds, instead of stealing them." or the cop equivalent, "Thanks for making that arrest without beating that guy to death." People should not be commended for doing what they are required to do by the job, and what should be a socially accepted standard of moral ethics.

Re:Make friends, not enemies.

[rhakka]

Funny, I thought their job was to act responsibly in difficult situations?

I will, and have, thanked officers personally for doing good work, because I appreciate it. But it's pretty ridiculous to even insinuate that an organization with a serious focus should waste its time and resources thanking people for doing their jobs.

That would be the job of the police department itself, to recognize its own employees that do exemplary work, and reward them, not the ACLU's job, right? The ACLU's job is to make sure they do not abuse the additional power (and thus, additional responsibility) that has been accorded to them by the people they have power over.

Re:What do you do it. . .

[TubeSteak]

if a cop has the authority to shoo you away from a "scene" and make sure you aren't taping him/her doing something, they can still get away with doing "bad things".

My first thought was "well cops don't have the authority to shoo you away from a scene," then I realized I was wrong.

Cops have the authority to disperse a 'crowd' so that they can maintain order. Failure to disperse = failure to obey a lawful order = arrest/taser/mace

Re:What do you do it. . .

[eln]

Given that it is the ACLU, they may be hoping that some police department will sue so they can have a judgment in court stating that videotaping police in public is just as legal as videotaping anyone else in public.

Re:Who cares?

[Lockejaw]

You can't even claim "innocent until proven guilty", since they obviously saw the person engaged in the act.

Yeah, with police who never arrest anyone who's innocent, why do we even have courts?

Peter Gabriel setup something similar a while ago.

[HerculesMO]

http://witness.org/

It's tailored more to finding local stories that impact you and report on them as an amateur, but has also been lent in the same way the ACLU is working now.

I am a big fan of the police, but dirty cops make me sick to my stomach. If they have nothing to hide, they shouldn't worry about the cameras.