November 24, 2006
Police: Amateur videos often incomplete, unfair
A thoughtful piece by the AP on how a tiny part of an event - shot on film - can't tell the whole story and cites the resent examples of police brutality (UCLA student tasered by police) taped by citizens armed with cameraphones - but do serve to keep the police on it's toes.
"Amateur videos of police using force on suspects have sparked varying degrees of outrage from California to Philadelphia and Europe after onlookers captured incidents on cheap cameras or video cell phones and posted footage on the Internet.
Some law enforcement officials worry about the effect, arguing that footage notable leaves out what happened before the tapping. They also fear widespread exposure of such video clips might give officers pause in the future, even when force is justified, and that could put people in danger.
... Civil rights attorney Connie Rice acknowledges the images may "polarize and politicize police investigations," but she said they also force the LAPD to look inward. "Without them, there is no pressure at all for police to examine use of force, and they are not policing themselves," said Rice, who was appointed by the Police Commission to examine the LAPD's response to allegations of officer abuse. "
Image from truthdig.
The Permanent Link to this page is: http://www.textually.org/picturephoning/archives/2006/11/014173.htm