Filming the police.

The ubiquity of phones that film video is a wonderful boon for keeping public servants accountable.

A couple things I'd like to note: I think that, if you film a police interaction and it goes WELL, you should go ahead and post it. If everybody has POSITIVE examples to look at, I think it will help people learn what TO do, instead of just seeing what NOT to do. Why not show people what GOOD policing looks like? Give officers a model to follow, not just images of how things go wrong. Give the public images of what good policing looks like, so that we can see the DIFFERENCE when things go wrong. I worry that if bad policing is all we see, that becomes what everybody expects. That becomes normalized. That becomes how police learn to do policing; that becomes what citizens expect from their police.

Posting examples of bad policing is vitally important to keeping people honest; posting examples of good policing helps show what "honest" looks like, so we can tell the difference.

An example of this: in the full 7:19 video of the Texas pool party, at 30 seconds, you see a police officer talking to a group of teenagers who are talking about what happened, telling him who was and was not involved in problems, and listening, thanking them for their input, and talking calmly. Then ANOTHER police officer comes charging through, in front of the calm officer yelling "I TOLD YOU TO GET YOUR ASSES ON THE GROUND!!"

Looking at the contrast between some police officers yelling and screaming, running full tilt and DIVING ON THE GROUND AND DOING SHOULDER ROLLS, and just generally being bizarrely over-the-top, and other police officers talking calmly to people, getting information, and generally acting professionally -- that just highlights the difference between competent and incompetent cops.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R46-XTqXkzE

ON THE MEDIA had a story about why and how to film police interactions with the public. And they put up a little clip sheet to help remind you of what to do. It's an image, so I typed it out, too, to make it easier for you to use:

Breaking News Consumer's Handbook

Bearing Witness Edition

1. Hold your phone horizontally. It captures more of the action.
   
2. Keep your phone charged. So obvious. So easily overlooked.
   
3. Keep your distance. It not only protects you from charges of obstruction, it makes better videos.
   
4. Keep your mouth shut. Your mouth is closest to the phone's mic. If you comment (or yell)
   your voice will drown out the sound of the action.
   
5. Keep cool. Be respectful to police. Don't lose your temper, even if they do.
   
6. Know your rights. It is legal to film police, at least on public property. You don't need their permission, nor must you comply with requests to cease.
   
7. Get details. When the action's over, glean the who/what/where/when to provide context when you post the video. Talk to the officers, too.
   
8. Edit, but don't manipulate. If a video's short, it's more likely to go viral.
   
9. There's an app for this. The ACLU's Mobile Justice (or Stop and Frisk) apps can keep your video safe even if your phone is confiscated.
   
10. Go to the media. It's the best way to encourge virality.
    
11. But first, be considerate. Consider who is on screen and whether the family should see it first.
    

ON [THE MEDIA]

An important, and difficult, thing to keep in mind generally

There is an important distinction between "this is how I do it," and "this is how it is done." And it's very hard to remember that.

This thought brought to you by a conversation in which someone is mentioning definitions of "traditional marriage" that include traits that are all-but-unique to Christian-influenced Northern Europe.