opinion
tphsfalconer.com
the falconer
A7
STAFF EDITORIAL: ON CITIZEN WATCHDOGS WITH CAMERAS Thomas Demint recorded the arrest of two of his friends and their mother on May 22, 2014 and was subsequently arrested for filming the incident, charged with obstruction and resisting arrest, just like the many others who have been arrested after merely filming police actions. With the prevalence of smartphone technology, people can film almost anywhere at any time. Couple that with numerous recent incidents involving police brutality, abuses of power and killing of black men, and you have a growing trend of citizens recording on-duty police officers. Filming that does not interfere with the duties of police officers does not warrant the arrest of the filmer. The filming of arrests is no different from rubbernecking drivers slowing down to see accidents, with the obvious exception that filming arrests is meant to keep cops honest. In fact, under the First Amendment, civilians have the right to film on-duty police officers and ongoing arrests as long as they are not interfering with the officers’ jobs. In the cases of those who were arrested for recording police activity, they were charged with obstruction of justice or resisting arrest, but eventually had their charges dropped in court — most courts ruled that
on-duty officers should not expect privacy in public places. In August, Gov. Jerry Brown signed the “Right to Record Act” into law, making clear a civilian’s right to record the police in California, provided that they do not interfere with the officer’s duties. Other states should follow suit. Since arrests and acts of police brutality are often made in public view, there is nothing wrong with recording the acts for the public to see. Citizens have a right to know whether law enforcement officers are conducting themselves properly. The video of Eric Garner’s fatal confrontation with the police literally brought police brutality to the public eye, with widespread attention online and in the media. Walter Scott’s murder by being shot in the back 5 times by an officer as Scott ran away also raised public outrage and activism. A video record can raise awareness and be a deterrent to both civilians committing crimes and excessive uses of force by the police. They can also be used as evidence in court cases. If the police know the public has the right to film them, this awareness can keep them in check and hold them accountable for their actions. Admittedly, skewed perspectives
may be created by showing only one angle of a situation or editing a video. However, editing videos would only harm the interests of the people recording them; if they mean to record cases of police brutality, they will only be hurting themselves by altering footage. When the truth about the edited videos emerges, the whole point of having a video record of an arrest is lost, as is the credibility of the person who did the filming. In the first place, the police should not be worried about being filmed if they are not doing anything wrong and vice versa: If no one is being hurt or there is no brutality, there is no need to film. The police have the duty to protect civilians, and if they are not doing so, civilians have the right to document that. The people should have the right to record only under certain circumstances, like when there is an obviously excessive use of
force, but within limits, as it would be infeasible to record all police actions. The freedom to record should have restrictions only to allow
police to effectively perform their duties. People should be able to take matters into their own hands and help hold the police responsible for their actions. Recording the police does not infringe upon any rights. Along with the body cameras being adopted by many departments, civilians’ video records are the best hope of change.
ART BY MICHELLE HAO/FALCON ARTIST
I STAND WITH AHMED Ahmed Mohamed, a 14-year-old boy from Irving, Texas, was arrested on Sept. 16 for building a clock. He brought it to school that day, it beeped in class, and his teacher thought it was a bomb. Irving has an award-winning STEM program; the teachers should be able to tell the difference between a bomb and a clock. Still, Mohamed was sent to the principal’s office, where he was greeted by five policemen instead of the applause he sought and deserved. Irving has been a hotbed of anti-Muslim activity for years — in 2012, the school board sent out an email that told Christians to “stand up against the pro-Islamic teaching in ... public schools” — and Mohamed was the unfortunate recipient of that fear and anger. Blind prejudice cannot and should not be accepted. We cannot live in a society where white boys who build bombs receive counseling and rehabilitation, while Muslim boys who build clocks are arrested. We cannot live in a society where racism and religious discrimination rule over our moral sensibilities. We are not the terrorists who bombed the World Trade Center, so it is time to stop acting like them. No child, no student, no person should ever be punished for creativity or innovation or curiosity — progress is colorblind, and we should be, too. -Maya Rao, Falconer Opinion Editor ART BY CAROLYN CHU/FALCON ARTIST
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