That goes without saying, but it stands to reason that we should expect more from law enforcement officers. They have great power. The public trust is almost non-existent in some communities where there is an attitude of occupation, rather than the idea of community service from the police. You don't have to be Eazy E to see this. There has generally been a drift towards authoritarianism in law enforcement all over the world and it is up to people everywhere to call for responsible protection. I'll get off my soapbox now..
Did no one catch the witness named "Street Doctor"? I actually drove through Newark yesterday to visit some friends in a neighboring town. Newark after dark is a very dangerous area. Its not really safe to walk in most of downtown. Its like a night and day difference between Newark and 15 miles away in NYC.
A lot of bad non-cop people say this too. However, non-cop's don't usually get away with actually doing it.
I have seen way to many media types thinking they have a right to go and do what ever they want because "Hey, we're the media". The fact is, if the Cop tells them to stop filming, stop filming!
But, he should be able to film if he wants to. The cop didn't even give him a reason why he asked him to stop filming.
Hi, I'm Christopher, and I'm not an American, so I don't really care. The fact is, Cops have a tough job, and who is to say that Cop didn't have a valid reason for the camera to be shut down. All I know is, I'm not an idiot, so when a Cop comes up to me and asks for say I.D. or tells me to stop doing something, instead of flying into some constitutionally driven rage in regards to my rights....I tend to say "Not a problem officer" and don't get my ar$e thrown into the back of a police car for being a jerk.
It's one thing to argue that not all cops are bad. It's another to argue that this specific cop is in the right or that the cameraman was wrong. That's just idiotic.
The problem is that most of the time bad behaviour like this goes unpunished....behind the Blue wall of steel. They protect their own. If they prosecuted more moronic power abusing cops....the rest would fall in line. DD
but cops shouldn't have the authority to tell people to stop doing whatever they are doing regardless of the legality of the activity. and they don't. they most certainly do not have that kind of unrestrained power. only by abusing their position of authority can police pull the kind of crap they pulled here. the cop was just being a belligerent bully, not acting with any legal authority, but because he had a badge and a uniform, he acted as if he did. maybe you're okay with bending over whenever the police ask, and it may only be a minor inconvenience to you, but cops have to justify their actions with either probable cause or some kind of reasonable suspicion. when they interfere with someone's liberty without having either, as was the case here, they deserve to be reprimanded. also, you probably have never dealt with a truly belligerent cop. they don't care if you're complying with their requests, they just want to pick a fight and use their badge to rebut anything you say and make themselves feel big. they don't stop when you show them your id like you ask, they see you submitting to their authority and decide you're fair game for some good old fashioned harassment. seems like this is exactly what happened here, because the council woman said she saw the officer grab the cameraman before he even had the chance to put the camera down. there may be plenty of good cops out there, but the bad cops stand out, moreso than in other professions, because unlike "normal" bad people, bad cops carry guns and can arrest you, without any actual lawful basis. and sure, you might get cleared later on, but only after a fat waste of time and money.
as an aside, i think bad cops act the way they do because its the only time they can feel powerful. which pisses me off because even if they're doing something completely unlawful, you can't defend yourself because then you'll be resisting arrest. so regardless of what happens when you actually defend yourself against the charges in court, you are effectively powerless at the moment of arrest. that is far too much power to let rest in the hands of bad cops, and just say 'well there are bad people everywhere, of course there will be bad cops.'
Im from Australia. Ive always found there are people that are very quick to hate cops and think they are all power hungry idiots......and then there are people that have never been in trouble with the law. Cops are there to keep the peace. Do you honestly think they all go out of their way to target people just for the hell of it....they have better things to do! The fact is, if you are not doing something you shouldnt be doing, Police wont bother you. And as I said before, who is to say the police in that video didnt have a very good reason for there to be no footage taken. The cop says stop filming.....FFS....stop filming!
This is what we've feared. The election of Barack Hussein Obama has made every black person believe that they can do whatever they want. We asked for change, and we got it. jk.
While I agree with your assessment in general, there are many exceptions to that here in the USA. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/u_xABS6Brho&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/u_xABS6Brho&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
