In the early 1990s, video emerged out of Los Angeles showing a mob of police officers beating a black man, Rodney King, who was clearly subdued by their power. That was a wake-up call to the nation—particularly white people—that “officer-friendly Mayberry” has never existed for black people. The shocking footage caused LA prosecutors to bring charges against the officers. Although, they were acquitted, as practitioners of police brutality usually are, the video exposed the public to a despicable act that would otherwise have been hushed and challenged absolute police power in a way that would not have been possible if the camera had not been rolling.
Since that incident, filming police officer interactions with citizens has become a way for average citizens to bring at least some modicum of accountability. Groups such as Cop Watch began to form all across America, training citizens to video police so that officers would not simply get away with committing assaults and other crimes against people. There are almost countless cases of these videos. Here are a few examples of cameras that have caught police using violence that would otherwise have been hidden away or covered up by the police:
Please note, these videos capture graphic displays of police violence.
* This video shows officers shooting a dog they had on a catch pole. Animal cruelty such as this has been linked to other forms of violence.
* This video shows a cop lying about an arrest that caused an immigrant to have problems getting US citizenship
* This video shows a cop threatening a driver with arrest for “some fucking reason I can come up with” if the driver gave the cop “any lip.”
* Police officer is caught on tape punching a handcuffed burglary suspect.
* This video shows a police officer shoot a man in the back for no reason, after he stopped his motorcycle.
* In this video, two Seattle police officers stomp on a Hispanic man they have detained, but was innocent.
* This video shows a NYPD officer body slamming a bicyclist, knocking the bicyclist off his bike and into the street as he was riding in a monthly critical mass ride that police have grown hostile to since 2004.
* In this video, Maryland police officers brutally beat a man who ran dancing down the street.
* This video shows an Oakland police officer shooting a detained suspect in the back of the head in front of an entire train of people.
* This video shows cops beating a young Hispanic man for no reason. Ironically, the young man was studying to become a cop.
* This video shows a suburban Chicago cop hitting a motorist 15 times with his metal baton and firing a stun gun at the man’s passenger, all of it completely unprovoked.
* In this video, NYPD officers taser a naked man on a building, which caused him to fall to his death.
Most of these videos are from citizen cameras of one type or another. Without them, the police would have gotten away with covering up their violence by charging suspects with assault, falsifying their reports, and lying on witness stands. Thus, these videos are a way that citizens can help to at least try to hold police accountable in some way, even if the (in)justice system doesn’t always follow-through.
Perhaps it is no surprise then that this kind of citizen power, modest as it might be, would eventually be challenged by the powers-that-be. Currently, many states are considering laws that would charge citizens who videotape on-duty police officers with violating wiretapping laws—an infraction that can carry up to 20 years in prison. Already, cop-watchers in Maryland, Illinois and Massachusetts can be charged with this felony as these states are actively arresting and prosecuting those who capture police brutality on tape.
For instance, Baltimore resident Anthony Graber was jailed for over 26 hours after he posted the video from his helmet camera of a police officer drawing his weapon on him for nothing more than speeding on a motorcycle. In Massachusetts, cyclist Eli Damon had a helmet camera activated when he was stopped by a police officer for riding in the road. He posted the video to YouTube and has subsequently been charged with violating wiretapping laws. Also in Massachusetts, the police charged two Cop Block bloggers this month with felony wiretapping charges for videotaping police while the police were on duty.
Yet while these states are actively and aggressively prosecuting citizens for videotaping police on public streets doing public duty, police themselves can videotape citizens without their consent anytime they please. Often these dashboard cameras mysteriously malfunction and do not work during the time when a suspect alleges police brutality. But police feel free to videotape people and will not be charged with felony anti-wiretapping laws. Nor are they held accountable for arresting people for videotaping, despite the fact that the arrests invariably have led to the cases being thrown out. The Boston Globe, for instance, published an article in January about the lack of police accountability and their harassment of videographers. Thus even if a person is not actually jailed for 20 years, the time, money and damage done by simply being charged is enormous.
This is yet another example of the absolute power police exercise in their daily interactions with people. They prefer to operate in low-visibility conditions in which their interactions are unknown and unaccountable. They act as sovereigns, like kings of old who can do what they want. The myth that they operate under the rule of law is chipped away with this type of behavior in which police prefer to act in secret, and anybody who exposes their lies and conduct can face lengthy prison sentences and court battles.
