Are copwatches good or is it putting cops' lives in danger?

[GettyRoad]

Copwatch auditors like Mr. Brandon Banks and Long Island Audit have gotten praise for trying to hold law enforcement accountable for their actions and to make sure rights are protected, but this video of the auditor going near this Stratford, New Jersey patrolman nearly cost the cop his life, he vents in the video.

Are copwatches good or does it put cops' lives in danger, especially in traffic stops?

 

[Leeea]

This is stupid.

It is stupid because it is 5 feet away, and becomes another problem for the officer to deal with.

It is stupid because it is filming civilians who are not public servants.

It is stupid because the same thing could be done 30 feet away just as good with a decent microphone setup.

It is stupid because its not about watching the cops, it is about making drama.

 

[brycejones]

It’s another one of those threads

 

[alien42]

Do these cops like Italian food?

 

[GettyRoad]

This is stupid.

It is stupid because it is 5 feet away, and becomes another problem for the officer to deal with.

It is stupid because it is filming civilians who are not public servants.

It is stupid because the same thing could be done 30 feet away just as good with a decent microphone setup.

It is stupid because its not about watching the cops, it is about making drama.

You might have a point, it put the officer's life at risk and word on the street is that cop is one of the most well-respected in that town, even with the Black and Latino residents, so it puts his life at risk.

 

[Zorba]

The concept is good, the people that do it on YouTube are mostly assholes.

I really like the concept of first amendment auditors, because a lot of legitimate photographers dealt with a lot of BS after 9/11 and our corporate training still teaches us to report anyone with a camera on public property. But damn near everyone actually doing it is actually trying to provoke an incident not just normalize photography in public.

 

[brycejones]

Odds that the OP drives an old police cruiser?

 

[Zorba]

You might have a point, it put the officer's life at risk and word on the street is that cop is one of the most well-respected in that town, even with the Black and Latino residents, so it puts his life at risk.

The video is 14 seconds long, where exactly did it almost cost the cop his life?

 

[GettyRoad]

The video is 14 seconds long, where exactly did it almost cost the cop his life?

Go back to the video where the cop says "can you step back there, man"? The cop doesn't want the auditor near him and the driver, because it could put all 4 of them in danger, you don't know if the driver has a loaded weapon and could hurt someone...

 

[Zorba]

Go back to the video where the cop says "can you step back there, man"? The cop doesn't want the auditor near him and the driver, because it could put all 4 of them in danger, you don't know if the driver has a loaded weapon and could hurt someone...

I agree he was too close, but I think claiming it put the cop's life at risk is being pretty dramatic. Saying it made the cop nervous, fine, but it didn't make anything bad happening to the cop more likely.

 

[GettyRoad]

I agree he was too close, but I think claiming it put the cop's life at risk is being pretty dramatic. Saying it made the cop nervous, fine, but it didn't make anything bad happening to the cop more likely.

Which is good, the cop was stern but not trigger-happy enough to pull out his weapon and use force...activists need to learn to strike a balance.....

 

[Muse]

Cops' lives are always in danger but that's a damn bad excuse to kill people they are afraid of.

 

[mikeymikec]

Cops' lives are always in danger but that's a damn bad excuse to kill people they are afraid of.

Reactions like this 'copwatch' are within reasonable expectations given that for many innocent people an encounter with the police is a potentially deadly one.

"Oh no, this makes the cops' lives harder, these people should express their concern for public safety differently" is not an argument that holds a lot of water for me.

I never thought I'd use a Hot Fuzz quote in a serious discussion, but:

"Police work is as much about preventing crime as it is about fighting crime. Most importantly, it is about procedural correctness in the execution of unquestionable moral authority."

Which also means policing their own with even greater zeal than ordinary crime.

 

[fskimospy]

Which is good, the cop was stern but not trigger-happy enough to pull out his weapon and use force...activists need to learn to strike a balance.....

What.

 

[brycejones]

What.

I guess citizens should just count their lucky stars the police don't start blasting away on sight? The OP is such an odd duck.

 

[soundforbjt]

Police make up their own laws daily to keep their citation book as empty as possible. They violate people’s rights daily with usually no consequences for their actions. If they get charged for something they do wrong the city pays not the cop. IF by some chance they do get fired, they just jump right to another department in another city. I don’t agree with all of the auditors/ cop watchers methods but some are pretty good and do good. One actually got a corrupt chief fired. If no one but the cops film the interaction, it never happened because cops “investigate “ themselves and body cam footage mysteriously disappears.

As to the OP’s question, I don’t believe there has been any instances where a cop watcher has caused an actual injury to an officer by their filming.

Edit: it puts their jobs in danger not their lives. That’s why they hate it.

 

[soundforbjt]

Cops' lives are always in danger but that's a damn bad excuse to kill people they are afraid of.

Actually cops don’t even make the top 10 most dangerous jobs. Most deaths are caused by car accidents not gunshots. Because they usually don’t wear their seatbelts.

 

[HomerJS]

I like the idea in theory of copwatch. I would like these groups to be officially registered with the local government. An agency where police don't have access. I'm also ok with said group having rules as to how to operate. With technology today 20 feet should be close enough.

 

[fskimospy]

I like the idea in theory of copwatch. I would like these groups to be officially registered with the local government. An agency where police don't have access. I'm also ok with said group having rules as to how to operate. With technology today 20 feet should be close enough.

I mean there are already rules in place - you can't interfere with the cop doing their job. The main issue is that cops try and abuse that rule to the maximum extent possible to prevent accountability.

I don't think anyone should have to register with the government to monitor government employees doing public work in a public place.

 

[K1052]

How many videos have we all seen when the police, while doing something questionable, roll up on whoever is recording even if they are not remotely close to what's happening?

Nah you should not have to be registered to record the cops and as long as you are not actively interfering physically left alone. If there is a legal distance to record at and the video shows the cops intentionally closing that distance to put you in violation you should get a nice check from the city.

 

[HomerJS]

How many videos have we all seen when the police, while doing something questionable, roll up on whoever is recording even if they are not remotely close to what's happening?

Nah you should not have to be registered to record the cops and as long as you are not actively interfering physically left alone. If there is a legal distance to record at and the video shows the cops intentionally closing that distance to put you in violation you should get a nice check from the city.

I'm not saying random recording but there is an organized group in a town. It would be better long term if rules of the road are discussed with groups and local officials.

I feel the same way about neighborhood watch groups. If there were established rules Trayvon Martin wouldn't have happened.

 

[Perknose]

The concept is good, the people that do it on YouTube are mostly assholes.

I really like the concept of first amendment auditors, But damn near everyone actually doing it is actually trying to provoke an incident not just normalize photography in public.

^^^ This

I mean there are already rules in place - you can't interfere with the cop doing their job. The main issue is that cops try and abuse that rule to the maximum extent possible to prevent accountability.

I don't think anyone should have to register with the government to monitor government employees doing public work in a public place.

^^^ And this.

I guess citizens should just count their lucky stars the police don't start blasting away on sight? The OP is such an odd duck.

But mostly, THIS!

 

[Brainonska511]

Regarding the idea that this behavior puts cops at risk, per Betteridge's Law of Headlines, the answer to the thread title is "no".

Actually cops don’t even make the top 10 most dangerous jobs. Most deaths are caused by car accidents not gunshots. Because they usually don’t wear their seatbelts.

Funny enough, you could probably make cops jobs safer by getting them out of their vehicles and making the places we live more walk/bike friendly, and it could potentially have a side effect (though, this thought is exceedingly optimistic) of helping to remove the ingrained cop mentality that they go into some sort of warzone every day.

 

[Zorba]

Actually cops don’t even make the top 10 most dangerous jobs. Most deaths are caused by car accidents not gunshots. Because they usually don’t wear their seatbelts.

And they speed like crazy.

 

[Zorba]

^^^ This

^^^ And this.

But mostly, THIS!

Sorry, I meant the people on the popular YouTube channels tend to provoke more then I think it appropriate. It's fine to film it's fine to stand your ground and it, it's not fine to start personally insulting people, etc. (I agree it's legal and should be legal to be an ass, I just don't think it helps the cause)

The one channel I used to like and watch a lot got blocked after he posted videos from inside the capitol on Jan 6th and now he's in prison for child molestation. Most of the others just annoy me.