What Do You Think?

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here are some more stories about the problem.

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Copied from:
http://www.abusivecops.com/?p=19

Sgt. Raul Ramirez El Paso, TX arrest ABC-7 Crew

April 22nd, 2009

Shame on Sgt. Raul Ramirez. Just because you are a police officer does not mean you can do whatever you want. There were many people on the side of the road and Mr. Ramirez went directly after the news crew because they had a camera. He was not telling everybody to leave and when he told them to go back to their truck, the reporters did start to move back. Mr. Ramirez escalated the situation when one of the reporters said “He can shoot if he wants to”. This angers the cop and then his agenda instantly changes to making sure that the reporter knows that he can be arrested. He was told to go back to the truck and he did. This does not warrant the police officer rushing Darren Hunt and grabbing his belt and threatening him. He asks him if he wants to get arrested and then all of a sudden seems to change his mind and then arrests the reporter. He then grabs the cameraman who is watching in amazement and arrests him as well. The name of the cameraman was Ric Dupont.

Sgt. Ramirez is on administrative duty and if the investigation finds that he was in the wrong, he could face disciplinary action, which would most likely be a long-term suspension.

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copied from:
http://www.documentingreality.com/forum/f181/reporters-texas-arrested-filming-traffic-accident-scene-18151/

Reporters In Texas, Arrested For Filming A Traffic Accident Scene

EL PASO, Texas -- An ABC-7 crew covering a crash on I-10 on Monday unwillingly became part of the story.

Motorists stuck in traffic witnessed veteran journalist Darren Hunt and photojournalist Ric Dupont being handcuffed and detained.

Just after 1:30 p.m., the two arrived to report on a flipped semi-truck on I-10 West near the Sunland Park exit. They parked on the left shoulder of the eastbound lanes of I-10 as witnesses ran toward victims to offer help.
A pregnant woman sat on the side of the freeway, sobbing, and, according to a witness, several men in military fatigues helped pull the driver of the semi-truck out of the cab.

As emergency crews tended to the driver, police Sgt. Raul Ramirez told the ABC-7 crew from across the barrier to leave. Several people and half a dozen cars were also stopped on the eastbound shoulder.

Darren continued to try to get information from the men in fatigues when the situation began to escalate. The sergeant jumped the barrier and told Darren to get in the truck (an ABC-7 news unit) and leave, then held Darren with his hands behind his back to the side of the truck belonging to a witness that was parked on the shoulder.

"I'm not doing anything," Darren said repeatedly.

Darren and Ric were handcuffed, read their Miranda rights and taken to the Westside Regional Command Center. They were released within a few minutes. The entire incident lasted about an hour.

The El Paso Police Department has launched an investigation.

"It's unfortunate that any time the member of the public or the news media feels that they've been treated unfairly by any member of our department, and so, that's a very serious type of allegation - something that we have to ensure that we investigate completely, and that's what we're doing here and conducting an investigation," said El Paso police spokesman Javier Sambrano said.

Two members of the El Paso Police Department reviewed the video at ABC-7 studios and took a copy for Police Chief Greg Allen. Their department of internal affairs is reviewing the incident.

Sgt. Ramirez has been placed on administrative duty pending the outcome of the investigation.

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the police did not take the camera away in this case, but it is a perfect example of why we need to be able to record the police.

go to the page to watch the video.

copied from:
http://gothamist.com/2008/07/29/cyclist_thrown_from_bike_by_cop_is.php

NYPD Investigates Cop Videotaped Throwing Cyclist Off Bike

The cyclist who was videotaped being body slammed off his bike in an apparently unprovoked attack by an NYPD officer during Friday night’s Critical Mass ride has been identified as Christopher Long, a 29-year-old resident of Bloomfield, New Jersey who works at the Union Square Greenmarket. His boss tells the Daily News that Long is an Army veteran and "mild-mannered environmental activist." Craig Radhuber, 54, was riding behind Long Friday night and describes incident: “All of a sudden the cop picked this kid out and bodychecked him. I couldn't believe what was going on. [The officer] body-slammed this kid off the bicycle so hard that he went from the lane to the curb.”

The officer seen in the video, rookie Patrick Pogan – a third-generation cop and the son of a retired New York City detective who worked on the Joint Terrorism Task Force – wrote in his police report that Long was observed “forcing multiple vehicles to stop abruptly or change their direction to avoid a collision.” Radhuber, the witness, tells the Times that “there was no traffic behind us – there was no traffic to weave in and out of. The police officer looked to see who he was going to pick off.”

According to Officer Pogan, Long rode his bike straight into him, knocking them both down and causing a “laceration” on his arm. This account would seem to contradict the incendiary video, shot by a tourist. Long was arrested for attempted assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, and, apparently Officer Pogan wrote in his report that Long told him: “You are pawns in the game. I’m going to have your job.”

Bill DiPaola, a director of Time’s Up, told the Times he arrived just after Long went down. “He got up and was dazed. They put their knees on top of his head and were smashing him into a phone booth.” Long, who was not wearing a helmet, was bruised but not hospitalized, and spent 26 hours in jail. After the video surfaced yesterday, Pogan was stripped of his gun and badge pending an investigation. But his father defended him to the Daily News, saying, “You gotta do what you gotta do to make an arrest.” And in discussing the video with the News, an unidentified NYPD source says, "The video is bad - what can you say?" (Watch it after the jump.)

It's been almost four years since Critical Mass bicyclists and the NYPD clashed during the 2004 Republican National Convention (cops arrested over 200 people). Since then, the city and bicyclists have argued over whether the "unorganized" rides can take place--culminating in a judge's 2006 decision that prohibits the city from barring the ride and the NYPD creating "parade rules" for groups of 50 or more. Last year, a cop explained how they gear up for Critical Mass and in May, the Reverend Al Sharpton rode with Critical Mass, reminding bicyclists that people of "all ages and all backgrounds and all races" need to stand together, or else the plice will try to "play one community against each other [and] they get through the middle."

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copied from:
http://www.dvorak.org/blog/2010/07/17/videotape-a-maryland-cop-go-to-jail-new-law-proposed-to-end-problem/

Videotape a Maryland Cop. Go to Jail. New Law Proposed to End Problem.Published on July 17th, 2010


A U.S. Congressman has introduced a resolution that would protect citizens who videotape cops in public from getting arrested on state wiretapping charges.

Edolphus Towns, a Democrat from New York, introduced the resolution on Thursday, the same day USA Today wrote a scathing editorial denouncing these types of arrests.
Edolphus “Ed” Towns

These types of arrests have become an epidemic throughout the country as more people are carrying some type of video-recording device on them at all times


But the case that has gained the most national attention has been the arrest of Anthony Graber, a National Guardsman who is facing 16 years in prison because he uploaded a video of a Maryland State Trooper pulling a gun on him during a traffic stop.

Ten days later, Uhler discovered that Graber posted the video online. Two videos. A longer one without audio and a shorter one with audio.

That prompted Uhler to issue an arrest warrant against Graber, citing that “Graber did not inform Tfc. Uhler that he was recording him by video or audio, thus violating criminal law 10-402(b).”

He also tacked on the charges of “reckless driving” and “negligent driving” to the arrest warrant.

And then six cops raided his parent’s home where Graber is living early one morning.