Turning the cameras back on the cops

Baltimore Sun: Policing police on city streets

Baltimore residents are under constant surveillance, as the Baltimore City Police Department’s ubiquitous cameras perpetually monitor hundreds of locales across the city. But residents of one West Baltimore neighborhood are turning the tables by pointing their cameras back at the cops. Frustrated by overly aggressive behavior by police officers day after day, the men decided to carry cameras with them to document police brutality and harassment, thereby shoring up their credibility with videotaped evidence.

This video was recorded by Freddie Curry, one of those residents, last month. In the video, police knock a handcuffed man to the ground and drag him across the concrete by his feet. This video was the first to make it to the local television news.

Disgraced former police chief and current talk radio personality responded with indignation to news that residents were using cameras to defend themselves from police, who they perceive as threat to their community. Norris called on Baltimore police to respond by “taking the day off,” responding to reports of violent crimes and robberies, but sitting back and relaxing instead of pursuing their usual Sisyphean task of attempting to thwart street corner drug dealers.

Of course, one would expect such a reaction from Norris, but maybe he’s missing the point: what does it say about the police, when citizens are more concerned about the cops than the corner boys?

At this point, the counter-surveillance effort is limited to a loose group of men carrying cameras in one West Baltimore neighborhood. But with any luck, the attention their efforts are garnering could be the springboard to more organized efforts like Copwatch, the police monitoring effort that started in Berkeley, California, and has since spread to many other U.S. cities. If ever a city needed a Copwatch, it’s Baltimore.