TheAgitator.com
NAACP Sets Up Site for Cell Videos of Police Misconduct
Saturday, July 18th, 2009The initiative includes a bold new online effort, the NAACP Rapid Report System (RRS), a quick, effective way for citizens to report instances of police misconduct, and to help public safety officials move beyond the “tough on crime” policies that have lost their effectiveness. The Rapid Report System will be available starting July 6, through the NAACP website (www.naacp.org).
The user-friendly online RRS form will allow residents to send instant texts, emails, or video reports of police abuse to the association via cell phone.
The good news is that the technology behind this is only going to get better. Services like Qik already offer live streaming and instant archiving of cell phone videos. The service requires a fairly high-end phone and service plan, but as phones and plans get cheaper, Qik and similar sites are bound to get more popular. If they’re smart, the makers of the terrific, inexpensive FlipVideo devices will partner with a cell service provider and come up with a cheap way to give their customers web access.
As we saw in Iran last month, the ability to instantly capture photos and video and store them off-site is an incredibly powerful tool. As more and more people acquire it, police officers will have to approach their jobs with the knowledge that everything they do while on duty can legally be captured and stored on a server they won’t be able to access. Confiscating phones and cameras won’t work anymore. The law enforcement community shouldn’t fight this technology, they should embrace it. It’s just as likely to protect the good cops from false reports of abuse as it is to expose the bad ones.
(Hat tip: Popehat)
this is a great idea! I’m sure cops won’t try to play the race card, with the NAACP behind it…
That is a great idea, and it’s useful for preserving evidence against all kinds of criminals.
The law enforcement community shouldn’t fight this technology, they should embrace it.
Man, that’s what I love about you Radley, your eternal optimism. :D
This will just result in a rush of laws making it a crime to video or photograph police on duty. This will be for “officer safety” of course.
So while you’ll be able to send that video of the police beating the hell out of grandma for not respecting his authoritah, you’ll go to jail for it and he’ll at most have two weeks paid leave waiting for the IA review to say he did nothing wrong and followed all procedures.
Sorry, just out of optimism atm.
That’s what I’m afraid of, also. But, this immediately elevates the legality of photographing cops to the status of a civil right, which will make outlawing it more difficult. With this move, the NAACP has instantly added racial minorities to the list of those who would oppose such legislation.
In any case, I’m glad they aren’t limiting the reports only to video as they made it sound when they aired a story about this on NPR a few days ago. The cops have gotten away too long on the basis that, if there’s no video, then it never happened. On the other hand, video will ultimately be the tool that forces cops (and prosecutors) into line (if indeed that’s even possible anymore).
Only criminal officers have anything to fear from being monitored, of course. I remember seeing a Judge Judy episode where the officer had recorded where the officer had recorded the person threatening him! And that jerk had the audacity to claim that the officer didn’t have the right to admit that into the record.
Preserving evidence is a great way to preserve freedom.
“It’s just as likely to protect the good cops from false reports of abuse as it is to expose the bad ones.”
Doubtful; I think the instances of cops doing bad things is probably a lot higher than reports of false abuse.
This site will be ignored until there are a couple of dozen videos at the site showing someone known as a “decorated veteran with an outstanding record” doing something. Then, the pressure will start and laws will get proposed and sooner or later, it will be illegal to take pictures of cops.
Truly “good cops” are extremely rare and not long lived. Most officers will do or say nearly anything to protect a fellow officer and keep him/her out of trouble – sometimes even for rape or murder. That makes most cops corrupt in my book. Those same cops will also do or say almost anything to make a truly “good cop” get booted from the force.
I’m not a tech guy but doesn’t short-range mobile phone jamming technology exist? Just a thought toward LE counter measures.
MacGregory, that’s discussed here.
“The law enforcement community shouldn’t fight this technology, they should embrace it. It’s just as likely to protect the good cops from false reports of abuse as it is to expose the bad ones.”
LOL! Oh, that’s a good one!
You know, the Law Enforcement Community doesn’t call it “Protecting the good cops from false reports of abuse” when they railroad a good cop when he blows the whistle on a bad one. They call it “Getting rid of the troublemaker”.
“The law enforcement community shouldn’t fight this technology, they should embrace it. It’s just as likely to protect the good cops from false reports of abuse as it is to expose the bad ones.”
Absolutely. We have seen this phenomenon occur with dash cameras, and we will see more of it now. I am aware of multiple cases where officers have been accused of using racial slurs, using excessive force or engaging in sexual misconduct and have been cleared by dashboard video. And as Agitator readers know, the camera also catches plenty of misconduct. Now everyone has this power, and can send their video to independent sources, so the balance of power is shifting gradually.
Hail little brother!!!
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@perlhaqr: To be fair to our host, he did say “should embrace” not “will embrace”. It’s true, they should embrace it.
I should also get off my ass and get some work done instead of reading blogs, but I know I’m not going to.
@Helmut: I dunno about yours, but the cops here just can just flip a switch and the dashcam goes off. I only know because I actually asked one when I was in his car. (Long story. I wasn’t in any kind of trouble.)
So if they want to beat the hell out of someone, they just turn the camera off. Sure it looks a little suspicious, but it returns it to “Criminal’s word versus cop.” and we all know how that always turns out.
Video recording using high quality cell cameras to automatic instantaneous upload servers like Qik is a great idea.
When will the laws be passed protecting out brave heroic law enforcement personnel from this horrid unannounced, spontaneous public surveillance as they go about their tasks of suppressing the populace? Pretty soon I’d wager.
It is already illegal to record phone conversations without both parties consenting in 13 States, and it is illegal as a third party (witness) to record in all States. I can see modifying the wiretap laws to bring control of what gets recorded and distributed under control.
Protecting the gendarmes is a top priority with the political class who count on them to bring in the loot of the productive and keep the angry horde under control so as to not lose their lives. We can’t have video from the local rif-raf not to mention the government’s own numerous surveillance cameras used to embarrass or besmirch the reputation of our fine brave young people who wear a shiny badge and carry a gun.
Only governments should have video cameras. This private ownership of cameras must stop. Cameras should only be used by those trained and permitted to use them so nobody gets hurt. A camera in the home is more than five times likelier to film someone who lives there than a stranger. Private cameras still account for more video released of violent police interactions than pubic cameras that are more readily controlled. Support the imposition of a cell phone camera ban now…it will make more room for refined GPS tracking equipment.
As a defense against the embarrasing Cell Phone Camera, look for an explosive growth of Cell Phone jammers acquired by the police.
The technology was perfected in Iraq to help jam cell-phone detonators used on Improvised Explosive Devices.
Measure.
Counter-Measure.
Thius reminds me of Amnesty Int’l's Witness program, in which peoples in dictatorial/totalitarian states are given vidcams free of charge to document gov’t abuses.
The technology continues to outpace the fascists and, hopefully, will continue to do so.
Crap! Only the first paragraph in #17 was supposed to be inside the blockquote.
Make sure the video catches the entire incident from the beginning, including whatever caused the cops to get interested in the situation – partial videos won’t show the whole picture