Have you heard about Cop Watchers?

Question

I saw this lil news clip about an organization video taping Cops and trying to catch them abusing their authority on people. I thought it was interesting. Do you think This is a good thing? I think it is however I find a few things not right with the situation. I think it is good because we can make sure our cops are actually doing their job the right way. In the video 2 cops hold down one gang member and they are beating on him. The guy on the ground clearly can't fight back. They was sockin him in the face to try and make him get hand cuffed. I don't think that was needed. There are other ways to hand cuff him HOWEVER the dude might have had it commin to him to get ruffed up. I think it was a bit much cuz they seemed to be putting more effort in rearranging his grill than putting the cuff on. What is your take on it?

http://potw.news.yahoo.com/s/potw/40/somebodys-watching-you

We as citizens can all do the same thing like they did. I just say be careful about who you release the tapes to. If you give your evidence to the wrong people they could end up going after you and make you out as the bad guy. I have recently started driving with my camera incase somthing pops off. My way of doing stuff like this is to video tape things you see as bad, post it on the net and give the local news a call. The goal is to get the community to see this. If they feel the same way you do then the police department doesn't have a leg tostand on. The people have the true power to make change but don't go turning good cops in if they are really doing there job. We must know what their limits are and if they overstep that then we must correct that like you would correct a child if they were to get out of line.

Ok susan you can keep all thoes freakiny Cop stories of yours to yourself. It is obvious that you are for that kind of violence. Like I stated before their are other ways of getting people to comply. They did not have him in the best position to cuff him for one. I don't know about the "I can't breath" part. sounded like he was getting enough air but hey we can't really tell. If you want to cop watch then do it right. Not like your in high school.

Well I see some people responding here have a one track mind and haven't paid close attention to what it is here this is all about. Now I know that clip is missing a whole lot of events. I would like to have seen what caused all of this but have you though of why they just showed that part of the clip and nothing else? To make youthink a certain way like "he's a gang member so he deserved it". Now like I said he probably deserved to get smacked in the face a few times but I also was that they weren't doing to much to get him in cuffs. Natural reaction is to struggle and try to protect your face. If the cop was having trouble then the other guy should have been holding the hands too (i'll have to review. I don't remember seeing the other guy trying to hold the g members hands down). Really not the best clip to use but the media is slick when it comes to shaping people's opinions. This is a classic case. If you don't know what I'm talking about then you just need a bit more learning.

Answer 1

i like to know how to go about turning in a howl town of police officers and officials. i know of a town that really need to be investigated. police are into drugs and selling.

and yes i think it's a good idea to video tape them, we Americans have to make sure they are going by the book when arresting people.

Answer 2

Good officers don't fear Cop Watch. The organization brings to the forefront the bad apples. Good cops want to be rid of the bad cops since the public tends to be more readily influenced by 1 bad incident than by 100 good incidents. Watch the tape.
The guy heading the LA group (Austin) makes the statement a couple of times that this type of incident happens everyday in LA. Is he stating bad guys resist officers everyday? Is he stating officers are forced to use force to gain compliance? Is he stating officers use too much force?
In the video I see a few things. Yes, the officer strikes the subject. Prior to the blows, did the suspect comply with bringing his hands down? I see the suspect resisting. Look at his muscles flex as he pushes back against the officers. Watch the suspects hands. At 1 point, he reaches near the officer's sidearm. The officer responds by striking the guy in the face.
Were the officers' actions excessive under the circumstances? The total circumstances were.... Did the Cop Watchers ever actually say why the suspect was being arrested?
As with so many videos, it is hard to decide who was right or if the officer did wrong. Even the famous Rodney King video needs to viewed in its entirety. At the beginning, King is first to attack. He charges the officers. He never complies with their orders until overcome. They overdid it but can you see any reason why they would be careful & want to make sure he was incapacitated before walking up to cuff him? Remember the 1st jury found the officers not guilty - they saw the entire video & heard the officers' explanations why they did what they did.
A couple years ago a video hit the news of an officer banging a handcuffed teen's head onto the rear deck of his patrol car. The officer was fired almost immediately. When he was found not guilty by a jury, he sued the department & retired with a settlement in excess of a million dollars. It seems if you watch the damning video closely, you can see the teen grabbing the officer's male parts. The department reacted to the public instead of looking at the total package.
I guess what I am saying is video is nice to have but don't rely on it, especially not at 1st glance. Yes, there are bad cops. Yes the bad cops give the majority a bad name. Yes the public tends to remember the bad much more than the good AND the bad gets exagerated. [Austin, "This sort of thing happens everyday in LA."] But remember good cops are happy to have the bad cops removed/fired/prosecuted too.

Answer 3

First of all, the gang member was struggling. It took two officers to hold the guy down. What do you expect the police to do? He needs to be arrested, the is not allowing the police to arrest him. The Officer punched him, assessed the situation, punched him again and repeated. The guy still wasn't letting them cuff him. Watching the video, it is clear the officer wasn't punching him just to punch or otherwise rough him up. I mean, there is jarring his head a bit or grabbing him by the wrist and trying to force him into some cuffs, breaking his wrist in the process (not completely uncommon with struggling suspects)

That is the problem I have with these groups. You can take a video of any situation and show the cops as evil. And the people filming the police always seem to be anarchists, ex-felons or crazy and there for seem to have an agenda that is more then simply watching cops.

Listen, if they were just honest people filming what I did and showed the video complete and uncut, I would have no problem with that. I have hit people in my career, I have pulled my gun and I have been in some knock out fights and I was completely justified in every situation. If video exists of that, I could care less. I have a mic and a video camera in my car anyways and it records most things I do.

However, the cop watch groups always seem shady.

Edited: XX when you go to the police academy and send weeks learning to handcuff, they go out and try to actually handcuff someone who is resisting (first thing they teach you is not to put cuffs on someone who is fighting, good way to hurt them and you) then you can talk to me about them not trying hard enough to cuff someone.

Answer 4

Ok, to play Devil's advocate here. I don't know of any other job that has as much scrunity as being a Police Officer. I do agree that even video cameras may not get ALL the events that took place once.

I saw BOTH videos, and the first shows a guy that although was on the ground, he was STILL resisiting. Yes, he's on his back, but if he was not struggling, he would not have gotten punched, and he would have had better luck in court. I remember the Rodney King Incident VERY CLEARLY, and video only got him being beat up, when he was already too injured to fight back, but I bet that took awhile. He is a man who knows how to use the system to his advantage, and in less than 4 years, he was back on Welfare, no one told me, I know my sources.

The guy who created Copwatch. NO COMMON SENSE. Did you see WHY he got convicted? Anyone with any clear & common sense, would know that it's a big no no posting how to make bombs on the internet, that is really really dense. So this guy came up with what may be a good idea, YES, it might be since I know there are bad apples out there, but will you videotape bad politicians? Bad teachers? Bad priests? will it be as easy to catch those in the act??? no, since their offices are indoors, not out in the streets keeping order.

The guy is a convicted felon, with a chip on his shoulder for not having common sense. If he thinks he'll get anything from it, he gives the same kind of response any common thug gives. Whatever rocks his boat. He got a little exposure, but he's still a thug who THINKS he's an Activist.... please. You need smarts to make a difference, not just a dense rebellious streak.

In conclusion, if you're not out there behaving like an a s s, they won't hassle you. Let it go and lead a productive, educated life.

Answer 5

I think the ACLU has teams of observers that often tape arrests to ensure that the officers are not using excessive force while arresting. And even though the idea is noble, it somewhat hampers an officer's ability to do his job; he will hesitate during a high risk situation and that hesitation might lead to somebody getting killed, either a bystander or an officer.

Is really a double edged sword; one one hand, we want to ensure that officers do not overstep their authority and do things by the book, but we don't want to hamper their efforts to keep the peace by being a constant presence over them to the point that the officer will hesitate, therefore risking his life.

Answer 6

"are other ways to hand cuff him HOWEVER "

Let me tell you a little something. A little guy, tensing up and locking his arms will fend of a big man, or two, trying to bend those arms for a long time. I know I've been the big guy a few times.

Those "blows" to the face are distraction strikes. They hurt. They are meant to cause the suspect to try and protect his face, giving the officer a chance to gain control of his arms. Its a not a beating, its a tactic. I personally don't use them because, one, they look bad on film and two, you can break your hand. I use nerve or pressure points to get that movement and defensive reaction from my suspects. Of course, sometimes they don't work either.

Answer 7

Oh great, more rubberneckers getting in the way.

That said, here's my take on the topic, using a quote from comedian Bobcat Goldthwaite:
"If you ever see me getting beat up by the police, PUT DOWN the video camera and come help me!"

If you ain't part of the problem and you ain't part of the solution, then you're just in the way.

Answer 8

I think that in soem cases the officers are doing what they need to but because of the camera angle..or you only catch the last half of the altercation it kina reminds me of that movie where the cop loses his job beause it looked like he was beating up a black guy...National Security?...I think it can be a tool for cop haters to take advantage of.....

Answer 9

if the guy is resisting, the cops are within their authority to use force necessariy to gain compliance (reguardless of what the guy is saying......he could be complaining about all kinds of things that other people can hear but only the cops can feel him moving under their hands)

i think people are far too ready to believe the worst about police. they are doing a very difficult and very necessary job. they deserve our praise and thanks rather than criticism when they do their job. what else happened in the situation that didn't make it on the video?

i have never heard of that organization but, i have a tendency to 'cop watch' every day.....they have great butts for the most part......lol

....but then i work in a court house so i have all kinds of opportunities to cop watch.......hahahaha

Answer 10

No, but there is a group of volunteers called Court Watchers. It follows high profiles court cases to be sure everyone is treated the same. It's a great group.