Police Brutality: Arm Yourself (With A Video Camera)

"[W]e can now all do something to curb the overzealous and violent actions of the police."

It is clear that police often go beyond their charges to “serve and protect” the citizens of the jurisdictions in which they are employed. A widely seen home made video clip of an assault of EMT ambulance drivers in Oklahoma by state troopers, as the medics are attempting to carry out their duties, is just one more horrifying example of a growing pool of police brutality video evidence up on the web.

We could speculate about why we are seeing this now? For example, because more people carry cell phones with video capability? Or, on the heels of a conservative political era, the police still feel they can use excessive force without worrying about the consequences? If some in the U.S. military just about have carte blanch to torture, rape and kill people in overseas prisons, why not adopt the same in our increasingly militarized police forces over here? Who knows, maybe the police have always been this brutal? The point is that we can now all do something to curb the overzealous and violent actions of the police.

Here are some examples of recent violent and deadly scenarios involving American police caught on video and uploaded to the Internet. Notice how the people taking these images kept the camera rolling without a break. Mr. Davis, in the most recent example, even shot the ID numbers on the trooper vehicle. These people with the video cameras all kept their cool while facing terrible situations involving police. Because they were able to keep it together, and get the film, these out of control police may now be held accountable for what they did. Watch:

Last week, Mr. Davis http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KluItc365hU used his cell-phone video camera to record Oklahoma State Troopers' assault of the EMTs who were trying to take Davis' mother to the hospital. An irrational trooper used a pain compliance choke hold on one of the EMTs.

Local videographer tapes RPD (Rochester Police Department) officer assaulting non-violent protester with chemical agent http://blip.tv/file/1998875/ At minute 3:29 of tape, officer sprays woman point blank in the face as she is moving from high up in a tree to a ladder. Both the policeman and the woman could have plunged off the ladder as a result.

Karina Vargas used a cell phone video to film BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) policeman shooting Oscar Grant in cold blood http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKy-WSZMklc Mr. Grant was on the ground, face down and not resisting, when the BART policeman shot him in the back. Mr. Grant died from his injuries.