5 ms·

I'm pretty surprised the police department thought they could ever win this. The best interests of the public seem pretty clear cut here.

kjuhjk 16y ago
Well if they have nothing to hide they have nothing to fear ...
- 1337p337 16y ago
  Or if they have nothing to hide, we have nothing to fear.
chaosmachine 16y ago
They didn't have anything to lose. And if they somehow managed to win, all the better for them. Just bringing the case is intimidating enough. Even if it's legal, the fact that you might have to go to court to defend yourself will deter some people from filming them.
- 1337p337 16y ago
  It is a personal hobby of mine to record cops in the off-chance anything happens. Usually it's stuff like driving on the median to get around a traffic jam (ugh) or parking in front of fire hydrants. With the proliferation of camera phones, I think the world would be a better place if everyone pulled out cameras and started shooting as a matter of principal. I don't sympathize much with Rodney King, but the LAPD is more civilized (at least in public) since then.
  - drunkpotato 16y ago
    > I don't sympathize much with Rodney King Why not? He was beaten far beyond what was necessary to restrain and arrest him. I sympathize with him for what happened to him. It was a brutal assault.
    - philwelch 16y ago
      He was drunk driving at over 100 miles per hour, didn't pull over for the cops, then he resisted arrest. No one deserves to be beaten up by the police unnecessarily, but he's not innocent in this. If a criminally violent asshole beats up a criminally reckless asshole, I don't have sympathy for either one. The police were in the wrong, and Rodney King was also in the wrong. There's no sympathy to be had in the entire incident, not from me.
      - rgrieselhuber 16y ago
        Whether or not he was innocent has nothing to do with whether he deserves sympathy for being beaten within an inch of his life. There is no excuse for that kind of behavior from police.
        deleted 16y ago
        [deleted]
        philwelch 16y ago
        You can be against police brutality without sympathizing with drunk driving morons like Rodney King just like you can be against the death penalty without sympathizing with murderous madmen like Charles Manson, or against political censorship without sympathizing with the Ku Klux Klan. That's the essence of civil liberties--you don't have to be an object of sympathy or respect in order to have rights. You can be a common criminal, a mass murderer, or even a racist and you still have your rights, as well as plenty of people (you and me included) standing up for your rights even if on a personal level we wouldn't give you the time of day.
        deleted 16y ago
        [deleted]
        deleted 16y ago
        [deleted]
        16y ago
  - guns 16y ago
    Make sure you're prepared to lose your camera and get roughed up a bit if you decide to do this (which is admirable). In my experience, cops have no patience for people who assert their rights as citizens. Many police cars nowadays are fitted with front-facing video cameras. One sage piece of advice from a friend of mine is to: * be extremely polite and cordial; "How may I help you officer?" * respond requests to be searched with, "Sir, I don't consent to any searches" * When you step out of a vehicle, assume the position: legs apart, hands behind your head. * Politely ask, "Am I free to go officer, or am I under arrest?" (repeatedly if necessary) The point of this is to ensure that nothing you do can be possibly interpreted as an act of aggression by the officer, while asserting your rights. The police camera will show you in a pose of total submission, and any aggression on the part of the police officer will be unjustifiable. The cop will be annoyed, but he won't touch you, and if he does, you will be vindicated. Your camera footage, OTOH, isn't guaranteed to survive a run-in with the cops (this happened to a friend of mine), and any natural reaction you might have to your camera getting snatched from your hands can be used as an excuse to whip out the tazer. Remember HNers, the job of contemporary police is to arrest you, not to "serve and protect". This American Life had a great show on this recently: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/414/right-to-remain-silent http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/414/r...
    - awakeasleep 16y ago
      What you said is true, and that is my perspective on cop visits, too. But for those life or death situations, Justin.tv offers smartphone apps that record directly to the web.
    - loewenskind 16y ago
      I wouldn't personally rely on the police camera to not get edited or lost before an important trial.
      - steveklabnik 16y ago
        Your fears have been realized recently: http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Milford-cop-suspended-for-erasure-of-dashboard-677193.php http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Milford-cop-suspended-for...
  - steveklabnik 16y ago
    If this interests you, maybe you should see if there's a local Copwatch, or start one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copwatch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copwatch

kjuhjk 16y ago

Well if they have nothing to hide they have nothing to fear ...

1337p337 16y ago
Or if they have nothing to hide, we have nothing to fear.

chaosmachine 16y ago

They didn't have anything to lose. And if they somehow managed to win, all the better for them. Just bringing the case is intimidating enough. Even if it's legal, the fact that you might have to go to court to defend yourself will deter some people from filming them.

1337p337 16y ago
It is a personal hobby of mine to record cops in the off-chance anything happens. Usually it's stuff like driving on the median to get around a traffic jam (ugh) or parking in front of fire hydrants. With the proliferation of camera phones, I think the world would be a better place if everyone pulled out cameras and started shooting as a matter of principal. I don't sympathize much with Rodney King, but the LAPD is more civilized (at least in public) since then.
- drunkpotato 16y ago
  > I don't sympathize much with Rodney King Why not? He was beaten far beyond what was necessary to restrain and arrest him. I sympathize with him for what happened to him. It was a brutal assault.
  - philwelch 16y ago
    He was drunk driving at over 100 miles per hour, didn't pull over for the cops, then he resisted arrest. No one deserves to be beaten up by the police unnecessarily, but he's not innocent in this. If a criminally violent asshole beats up a criminally reckless asshole, I don't have sympathy for either one. The police were in the wrong, and Rodney King was also in the wrong. There's no sympathy to be had in the entire incident, not from me.
    - rgrieselhuber 16y ago
      Whether or not he was innocent has nothing to do with whether he deserves sympathy for being beaten within an inch of his life. There is no excuse for that kind of behavior from police.
      - deleted 16y ago
        [deleted]
      - philwelch 16y ago
        You can be against police brutality without sympathizing with drunk driving morons like Rodney King just like you can be against the death penalty without sympathizing with murderous madmen like Charles Manson, or against political censorship without sympathizing with the Ku Klux Klan. That's the essence of civil liberties--you don't have to be an object of sympathy or respect in order to have rights. You can be a common criminal, a mass murderer, or even a racist and you still have your rights, as well as plenty of people (you and me included) standing up for your rights even if on a personal level we wouldn't give you the time of day.
        deleted 16y ago
        [deleted]
        deleted 16y ago
        [deleted]
      - 16y ago
- guns 16y ago
  Make sure you're prepared to lose your camera and get roughed up a bit if you decide to do this (which is admirable). In my experience, cops have no patience for people who assert their rights as citizens. Many police cars nowadays are fitted with front-facing video cameras. One sage piece of advice from a friend of mine is to: * be extremely polite and cordial; "How may I help you officer?" * respond requests to be searched with, "Sir, I don't consent to any searches" * When you step out of a vehicle, assume the position: legs apart, hands behind your head. * Politely ask, "Am I free to go officer, or am I under arrest?" (repeatedly if necessary) The point of this is to ensure that nothing you do can be possibly interpreted as an act of aggression by the officer, while asserting your rights. The police camera will show you in a pose of total submission, and any aggression on the part of the police officer will be unjustifiable. The cop will be annoyed, but he won't touch you, and if he does, you will be vindicated. Your camera footage, OTOH, isn't guaranteed to survive a run-in with the cops (this happened to a friend of mine), and any natural reaction you might have to your camera getting snatched from your hands can be used as an excuse to whip out the tazer. Remember HNers, the job of contemporary police is to arrest you, not to "serve and protect". This American Life had a great show on this recently: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/414/right-to-remain-silent http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/414/r...
  - awakeasleep 16y ago
    What you said is true, and that is my perspective on cop visits, too. But for those life or death situations, Justin.tv offers smartphone apps that record directly to the web.
  - loewenskind 16y ago
    I wouldn't personally rely on the police camera to not get edited or lost before an important trial.
    - steveklabnik 16y ago
      Your fears have been realized recently: http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Milford-cop-suspended-for-erasure-of-dashboard-677193.php http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Milford-cop-suspended-for...
- steveklabnik 16y ago
  If this interests you, maybe you should see if there's a local Copwatch, or start one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copwatch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copwatch