Caught in the act - Why citizens MUST retain the right to film police & government officials (Stosse

Originally posted by CodexSinaiticus
reply to post by ModernAcademia

 

Great video thanks for posting.

I guess his career (Stossel) has improved from his early "investigative journalism" days.

Take that laugh track away and that was an act of pure violence and rage. It actually wasn't funny at all.

Originally posted by skull_bones
Yep, Im aware.

I live in illinois.

Its actually illegal in three states right now, Illinois, Maryland, and Massachusetts.

I was just going by how the constitution defines expectation of privacy, which doesnt mean much these days.

Actually first it was used in 4 states. Then it was challenged and 3 of them reverted the policy of enforcing the law. They said because you cannot have expectation of privacy in public they had to. Illinnois is the only one that is trying to hold on to the law.

Citizens have no privacy , I live near where surveillance cameras are everywhere . The point is , if gov can keep such tabs on us why don't we as citizens have the same right? I'll tell you why ....because "their surveillance cameras" will tell a different story than ours. It's not my first rodeo and I know that police will make charges up , I've seen it first hand. Any law that says police are above the law or that governmnet and poilice should be the only ones with the record button , should be fought tooth and nail !!

reply to post by citizen3273676


totally agree,
i actually think they should get a harsher punishment.
like if they are in that line of work they should really know better, and be held to a higher standard.

i bet we'd all lose our jobs if there were cameras on us all the time.

let's all be accountable here.

if you're going to condemn the police, which i'm not speaking against (i'm glad these so called "cops" were caught in the act and brought down), than by God you had better be perfect.

Where does it start if not inside of YOU?

I think what we are going to start hearing more from some officers being filmed will be the following:

"You're anti police"
"You're interfering/obstructing justice"

We need to film the police because they must be held accountable. There are way too many corrupt people in law enforcement and they are not trust worthy. There are too many who are mentally ill, placed in a power position who should not be there.

Here's an example of why we must film police: (I'm not going to embed this) www.youtube.com...

As many have said, if they don't want to be on film, find another job. My husband worked for many years in security and was filmed every day. Either by the cameras watching him, or average citizens. If you are doing right by the people, you have nothing to worry about.

Additional thoughts;

my husband and I were discussing this and he was telling me about the time he was working as a guard at a nice downtown parking lot and another building at a nearby port. The bar let out and a whole bunch of people headed for the lot to get their cars out. Problem, the entire place was locked down, and no one could get their cars out till morning. My husband had at least a dozen angry, drunk people threatening to beat him up, take him down, run him over.... etc. He had two guys approach him, bigger than he was. He could have pulled out his taser and lost it and tased them. Did he? NO. He didn't lose his cool. He spoke to the men and they all cooled off and he helped them call cabs to get home.

This is how we treat people. All the time we see how cops jump to conclusions, shoot, tase, etc and kill. It's out of control and ridiculous.

reply to post by redhawk724


Lose our jobs maybe , for what ? Taking too many smoke breaks ? Eating lunch at an inappropriate time ?
Carrying a gun and harmful weapons with a special appreciation above the law doesn't quite compare . Beating and abusing ppl isn't on the same level as the office guy screwing around on "plenty of fish ".
Given a lethal power you should be held to the utmost of standards .

reply to post by nyk537


I hope you understand how this world turns. Don't be surprised when you are victimized by cops soon.


On Topic; Yes, yes, more cameras! More! How can police want to enforce the law when they believe they can transgress the line whenever they feel like it? Your stance is really naive, as if police cops are more than you...very weird authoritarian position to take on ATS. There is a line of course, but we're way past that line now and some people, like yourself I assume, are still pointing at the line we crossed years ago.

You bet your behind that any public camera that records these instances won't be released. Cops need to be filmed by the people. Period.

reply to post by BirdOfillOmen


Yes but doesn't that contradict our privacy laws.. I wouldn't want my arrest or encounter with a cop to get broadcasted live, I would most likely lose my job, being disallowed to certain areas worldwide, loss of respect from certain people etc... I would like to have my privacy that can't go viral..

Good concept but still has flaws.

Originally posted by nyk537

Originally posted by citizen3273676
if cops werent doing anything wrong they wouldnt mind being filmed!

That's funny you say that. I've made that argument myself...not only about this but about other things.

Interesting though the same people who will make that statement will say its a friggin travesty to have police or government film "them"....even if they aren't doing anything wrong.

It should go both ways.

No it shouldn't. This comparison is absolutely bogus.
We're talking about civil servants here abusing their power which we finally have an answer to by recording their actions when it actually happens, not 24-hour privacy invasion of regular citizens.

The government (local, state, and federal) constantly uses the argument that if we aren't doing anything wrong, then we have nothing to fear from surveilance. Well then, I say authorities must be held to the same standard. Otherwise it's the definition of a double standard, and reflects a government that is more concerned with the behavior of its citizens, the people, than with conducting itself in its people's interests.

Originally posted by CaIypso
Even if it did become illegal i would still record police

Its ILLEGAL to film them now, but it's not UNLAWFUL

Ask them to show you the law, if its something like "The Blah Blah ACT 2005" then its not a real law and if you don't consent to it, you don't have to follow

Its up to the cops (theyre too dumb) to prove that
A) You have broke the laws of the sea while being physically "on land"
B) That you stand under the laws of the sea in the first place

The point is, most of what you see as "illegal" isn't really "unlawful"
The law society have tricked us all

Originally posted by redhawk724
i bet we'd all lose our jobs if there were cameras on us all the time.

let's all be accountable here.

if you're going to condemn the police, which i'm not speaking against (i'm glad these so called "cops" were caught in the act and brought down), than by God you had better be perfect.

Where does it start if not inside of YOU?

I might well lose my job, for not working hard and sneaking outside for cigarettes. With the police it's a different situation, we're talking about Officers breaking the law, not some work rules.

Situations are in no way comparable.

reply to post by Bixxi3


I agree, I think public live streaming the recordings is a bit too much.

But I think:

- Every single second on duty should be headcam recorded with audio. Timestamped.

- Missing footage (removing, tampering, covering) would instantly be a sackable offence.

- Police recording not to be used as excuse for hindering public from making their own recordings if they wish.

- In the case of a a complaint or a denial of a charge, missing footage should be seen as an indication of Police guilt and action taken against the Officer. No exceptions.

- Footage supplied for storage immediately. No delay.

- All footage stored for a certain time period by a third party. Not the Police. Available to members of the public involved upon request.

- No charge could be upheld and no arrest justified without footage.

Any more?

Here's a very relevant and recent video of how cameras catch corruption of judges too:



Now check out the response of the court:

1. No cameras or audio equipment may be used at any time in the court's lobby or anywhere in the public area of the court's leased premises;

So you catch a corrupt judge in the act on video and the response is not to punish the judge but to blanket ban all photo / video in the area? Btw. That order doesn't have exemption for their own security cameras so better go in there and do an citizens arrest on the building manager!

Source: PINAC

[add]



Also the same guys, same courthouse and another illegal detention of a photographer. He asks to see the law and their response is to detain him.

Source PINAC

reply to post by ModernAcademia


TSA doesnt want cameras filming them anymore. i like how they say it interferes with their ability to preform, yet when it comes to watching us, they say if we have nothing to hide we shouldnt be worried about searches. tyrannical double standars by corrupt people with too much power.

My first flag and Star to this thread. Seriously, cops need to fear being caught on camera. As a security guard I'm used to having cameras on me. I have to go hid in a dark corner between a wall and my car to have a smoke. And at some sites with no restrooms, it's hard to find anywhere to pee where a camera wouldn't see me. I'd be given a warning, fired, or be called to court (if caught peeing on the side of a building) and worse if I did attack someone on the job. But I'm fine being on camera cause I know I'm not attacking anyone and I'm doing my job. So why shouldn't that cross into a cops mind. If he'she is doing their job correctly, there is no reason to fear a camera.

S&F.

I'm reminded of what my father told me, repeatedly, growing up. "Never do anything that would cause you to be embarrassed if you got caught doing it."

reply to post by Sparky63



love the avatar Sparky! knuck knuck knuck!

True, video seems to be fast becomming little brother's new tool to replace the gun! Take that and smoke it in your pipe fascists!