Police Brutality in the Cell Phone/Internet Video Age

[Nat]

I ran across a photo of a little girl being maced by a cop in Brazil - couldn't tell if maybe it was photoshopped because it was so weird. Started googling - found news stories from Brazil saying it did happen and naming the cops.

Went to youtube and searched - ran across videos of police being what appears to be violent and unreasonable. I think of cameras as being one of our safeguards against the police - at least in court - but I think I've read lately that cops are increasingly aggressive toward the people with the camera.

It's really crazy what you find on youtube. It's hard to know what's real and what's not. Anybody can edit a video or photo now who has access to basic software - thanks to technology. Still - I don't see how editing could explain some of the stuff out there. I don't want to live in a world where this stuff happens.

I remember how powerful and terrible the images of the Rodney King beating were when they came out. But now a simple search on youtube shows some pretty disturbing stuff and nobody bats an eye. And juries side with the cops, even with video evidence - in the case of Rodney King and more recently with the guy who was shot by BART officers. I think in the BART shooting, a cop did try to take the camera away from one of the people who filmed it, but thankfully she was on the subway and she escaped the cop with her cellphone of truth.

[Nat]

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This one's from 96

[Nat]

This cop thought he got short-changed at a drive-thru

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[UofMfan]

National Day against Police brutality October 22, 2011, pictures

[AtLast]

There is certainly a lot more "proof" of police brutality and misconduct with the advent of cell phones and camcorders, yet these keep flooding the media. I know that in some states laws have been adopted that actually impede a citizen from any picture taking or filming while police are at a crime scene, etc. by designating how close someone can be to them while working a case, for example.

What I am just not understanding is why something has not been done in terms of what looks like a hell of a lot of misconduct by police. I'm not anti-cop and after knowing officers in person, have a lot of respect for those that actually do "serve & protect" and do not step over the line. In fact, they are some of the first to want "rogue" officers off the force and prosecuted. This is one of most stressful jobs anyone can do and there is high burn out rates that not addressed or enough resources given to prevent (and detect) loose cannons in law enforcement. These days, cities, towns and counties are cutting police budgets, not adding officers, let alone in-house programs to prevent these actions.

Yet..... look at this stuff! I have no idea what percentage of oficers these represent in terms of all officers across the US and my guess is that it is small. But, none of this should be happening at all.

This gets to me just on a human level in terms of the abuses, but also I can see this as part and parcel of not putting resources into police departments including preventive measures starting with on-going assessment of officer's mental and emotional states. Also, this is a profession in which there are high divorce rates and alcoholism. It doesn't take a mental giant to see that there needs to be a re-vamping of police officer development from the initial entrance requirements and emotional status throughout training and then while on the job in performance evaluation. The "blue wall" is real and something has to be done about tearing it down.

I know.. ranting and I am not in any way an expert in this area, but I see such gaps in how police offocers are recruited, trained and retained that could lead to these kinds of things. Then there is the whole racism component with police brutality.

Side note- there is some very good research just published about how tasers are far more dangerous than they have been toted as in terms of a manner of bringing a suspect down in terms of both neurological and cardiac damage.

[Bard]

I am a Law Enforcement Officer have been for 10 plus years and I am the daughter of a Cop as well. My dad did not want me to follow in his foot steps he said it is a job that you see the worst in people and that you can become hard and cynical. Some become a cop for power some for money it is a steady job and some do it because sometimes you can make a difference. I did it to make a difference I don't often get to. yes I know there are those in my profession who "shit" on their badge and they need to be held accountable and removed. but there are many more of us just doing the job and at a cost our family's know when they kiss us goodbye it could be the last time. some of the footage that is aired is edited to show from one point and may not tell the whole story.