If the pen is mightier than the sword, then the camera is mightier than the gun. This is particularly true when it comes to citizens recording their encounters with police. Time just ran a story involving Anthony Graber, a Maryland Air National Guard staff sergeant, facing 16 years in prison. His crime? He videotaped his March encounter with a state trooper who pulled him over for speeding on motorcycle. Then Graber put the video--which could put the officer in a bad light, up on You Tube :
Some states are trying to make it a crime to record police officers on grounds of wiretapping, which essentially makes it a crime to record someone’s conversation without their consent. After the Oscar Grant debacle and others like it, “cameras have become the most effective weapon that ordinary people have to protect against and to expose police abuse. And the police want it to stop." The logic of disallowing recordings of police is indefensible. When cops have cameras mounted on their cars, they're not consenting with the person being pulled over. If I drive and a speed camera snaps me for speeding, I don’t consent to that but it keeps me honest. The larger issue is that cameras keep everyone honest. No matter how advanced the technology, sunlight is always the best disinfectant.
The problem I have is that police that do their job the right way shouldn’t fear any citizen recording their activity. Unless anyone underestimate this issue, imagine your loved a victim of police abusing their authority and your ability to raise awareness or develop your case would be with or without a videotape of said incident.
I wish I had a camcorder a few years ago when I got off the wrong bus about 10 years ago in Santa MoniKKKA. That's another blog entry for another time.
05 August 2010
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1 comment:
Alieux, this is great. Thank you so much for reporting the world as it is!!!
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