4 ms·

There are very few details in this forum post, just some nonspecific mentions of an individual recording a police checkpoint of some kind. What type of checkpoi

There are very few details in this forum post, just some nonspecific mentions of an individual recording a police checkpoint of some kind. What type of checkpoint? Why did this person feel it necessary to record the police? Why did a confrontation start? What were the circumstances of the escalation? In general, if you interfere with the police (even if you disagree with whatever it is they're doing) you can expect some trouble. I will be the first to acknowledge that sometimes the police (especially small town cops) can get a little too full of their own authority and take it too far. On the other hand, their job is to keep the community safe, and save for the very worst cops (which are in the minority), they take the job seriously. There is (and should be) a pretty high bar to harassing or interfering with the police.

nugget 9y ago
Increasingly, if you're a police officer who interferes with a citizen who understands their Constitutionally-protected rights to film you (even if you disagree with those rights), you can expect some trouble. Video recording of encounters with authority is the single-best hope we have to resolve the political turmoil caused by the perception (not necessarily the reality) of widespread abuse. As Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis said: "sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants".[1] [1] http://3197d6d14b5f19f2f440-5e13d29c4c016cf96cbbfd197c579b45.r81.cf1.rackcdn.com/collection/papers/1910/1913_12_20_What_Publicity_Ca.pdf http://3197d6d14b5f19f2f440-5e13d29c4c016cf96cbbfd197c579b45...
DanBC 9y ago
It's interesting that you say that "filming the police" is either harassment or interfering with them. The post gives very little information about what actually happened, so I'm interested in why you made that leap. > On the other hand, their job is to keep the community safe, and save for the very worst cops (which are in the minority), they take the job seriously. There is (and should be) a pretty high bar to harassing or interfering with the police. US police shoot and kill very many more citizens that other police forces. Why is that? It's not just because citizens are armed: unarmed US citizens are also far more likely to be killed than EU citizens.
adamnemecek 9y ago
> save for the very worst cops (which are in the minority) This is debatable at best.
- throwaway999b 9y ago
  Try talking to some. You'll be surprised that most are actually pretty good people trying to make a difference in a very difficult job. They see nothing but the worst of humanity day in and day out.
  - adamnemecek 9y ago
    I did. I definitely wouldn't use the word "good". More like improperly trained, unprofessional, aggressive, ignorant and trigger happy.
  - jdietrich 9y ago
    There are no good people, only good systems. The German people didn't turn into monsters in 1938 and become decent people at the end of 1945, they were just participants in a broken system. The Rwandans didn't suddenly become the worst people in the world for a few months in 1994. Perfectly decent people are capable of utterly abhorrent things if their environment is sufficiently toxic. US police officers aren't bad people, they're just poorly trained and held to very low standards of accountability. They do bad things because they're operating in a system that incentivises them to do bad things.
    - adamnemecek 9y ago
      > "There are no good people, only good systems." Nice quote. Can you recommend some reading on this topic?
      - jdietrich 9y ago
        The Lucifer Effect by Philip Zimbardo is a satisfactory primer. https://www.amazon.com/Lucifer-Effect-Understanding-Good-People/dp/0812974441/ https://www.amazon.com/Lucifer-Effect-Understanding-Good-Peo...
NoGravitas 9y ago
It's amazing how quickly posts like this bring out the bootlickers. Are you employed by a law enforcement agency, or a PR firm working for one?
- sctb 9y ago
  Hacker News is not for personal attacks. Please don't violate the guidelines by calling names like this. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

nugget 9y ago

Increasingly, if you're a police officer who interferes with a citizen who understands their Constitutionally-protected rights to film you (even if you disagree with those rights), you can expect some trouble. Video recording of encounters with authority is the single-best hope we have to resolve the political turmoil caused by the perception (not necessarily the reality) of widespread abuse. As Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis said: "sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants".[1] [1] http://3197d6d14b5f19f2f440-5e13d29c4c016cf96cbbfd197c579b45.r81.cf1.rackcdn.com/collection/papers/1910/1913_12_20_What_Publicity_Ca.pdf http://3197d6d14b5f19f2f440-5e13d29c4c016cf96cbbfd197c579b45...

DanBC 9y ago

It's interesting that you say that "filming the police" is either harassment or interfering with them. The post gives very little information about what actually happened, so I'm interested in why you made that leap. > On the other hand, their job is to keep the community safe, and save for the very worst cops (which are in the minority), they take the job seriously. There is (and should be) a pretty high bar to harassing or interfering with the police. US police shoot and kill very many more citizens that other police forces. Why is that? It's not just because citizens are armed: unarmed US citizens are also far more likely to be killed than EU citizens.

adamnemecek 9y ago

> save for the very worst cops (which are in the minority) This is debatable at best.

throwaway999b 9y ago
Try talking to some. You'll be surprised that most are actually pretty good people trying to make a difference in a very difficult job. They see nothing but the worst of humanity day in and day out.
- adamnemecek 9y ago
  I did. I definitely wouldn't use the word "good". More like improperly trained, unprofessional, aggressive, ignorant and trigger happy.
- jdietrich 9y ago
  There are no good people, only good systems. The German people didn't turn into monsters in 1938 and become decent people at the end of 1945, they were just participants in a broken system. The Rwandans didn't suddenly become the worst people in the world for a few months in 1994. Perfectly decent people are capable of utterly abhorrent things if their environment is sufficiently toxic. US police officers aren't bad people, they're just poorly trained and held to very low standards of accountability. They do bad things because they're operating in a system that incentivises them to do bad things.
  - adamnemecek 9y ago
    > "There are no good people, only good systems." Nice quote. Can you recommend some reading on this topic?
    - jdietrich 9y ago
      The Lucifer Effect by Philip Zimbardo is a satisfactory primer. https://www.amazon.com/Lucifer-Effect-Understanding-Good-People/dp/0812974441/ https://www.amazon.com/Lucifer-Effect-Understanding-Good-Peo...

NoGravitas 9y ago

It's amazing how quickly posts like this bring out the bootlickers. Are you employed by a law enforcement agency, or a PR firm working for one?

sctb 9y ago
Hacker News is not for personal attacks. Please don't violate the guidelines by calling names like this. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html