With those three suppositions in mind, it seems like a legal no-brainer that citizens have the right to film and record police officers performing their official duties in public places and to disseminate the resulting images to others as they see fit.
But as TechDirt recently reported, "people are still being arrested for recording police officers. Sometimes it's a bad (and outdated) wiretapping law that gets abused. Sometimes it's other, unrelated laws that are stretched to fit the circumstances, which means those recording officers are hit with charges ranging from interfering with police investigations to criminal mischief, depending on how the interaction goes."
For example, the Baltimore Sun reported in February 2014 on a man filming an arrest in Towson, Md., who allegedly was told by an officer to "shut your [expletive mouth] or you're going to jail." When the man replied he had a right of free speech, the officer retorted "You just lost it."
Exactly right. If they weren't bullies going into the job, they gravitated to it so they could become bullies er, to earn the respect denied them when they were younger.
I wish I could believe these demonstrations would have some impact, but I'm afraid it's gonna take a white kid being killed before any changes are made.
And one of these days somebody is going to be killed by those rubber bullets.
I still believe it has a lot to do with the tremendous number of former and current (reserves) military men who join the police force. They're trained for combat, and that's all they know, and the police don't train them any differently.
Exactly. And that's what's made the police so extraordinarily dangerous. But the changes in Ferguson yesterday were tremendous. Changing the police force to more black officers, for example. There have been only peaceful protests ever since. But I'm not holding out hope. The one person in charge of the investigation of the death is saying the mayor and governor were out of line pulling out the all-white police force and replacing them--even though it was obviously the best decision made. Unfortunately, that doesn't bode well for the investigation, and I fear what will happen once that man concludes the investigation and announces his results.
~ ~ ~
With those three suppositions in mind, it seems like a legal no-brainer that citizens have the right to film and record police officers performing their official duties in public places and to disseminate the resulting images to others as they see fit.
But as TechDirt recently reported, "people are still being arrested for recording police officers. Sometimes it's a bad (and outdated) wiretapping law that gets abused. Sometimes it's other, unrelated laws that are stretched to fit the circumstances, which means those recording officers are hit with charges ranging from interfering with police investigations to criminal mischief, depending on how the interaction goes."
For example, the Baltimore Sun reported in February 2014 on a man filming an arrest in Towson, Md., who allegedly was told by an officer to "shut your [expletive mouth] or you're going to jail." When the man replied he had a right of free speech, the officer retorted "You just lost it."
-- Huff Post
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You should ask Yes Justice. I think he comes from a cop family.
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Either way they swing I know this - they are an environment that attracts the bully mentality.
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More rewards--via the power they are given
More risks--plenty of people thoroughly dislike cops, and that can put them in a constant fear mindset
I must imagine always thinking there's a target your back is not enjoyable. Even if you feel more powerful than those who have you in their sights.
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And one of these days somebody is going to be killed by those rubber bullets.
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