Legality of Witnessing an Arrest/Legal Issue?

[neubilder]

Keep a safe distance and get it all on video. Then post it on youtube.

 

[neubilder]

If the cop is truly harassing someone it would be nice if you could somnehow hand your contact info to the subject so they could call you as a witness when the cop tries to lie about what took place.

 

[neubilder]

Your actual, legal rights don't matter. If the cop doesn't like what you're doing, he/she will charge you with "obstruct peace officer" and you will be arrested, charged, locked in a holding cell and processed. If they're really pissed at you, they might assault you and charge you with "assault peace officer" or "resist arrest". The arrest/processing can take the better part of a day if they so choose. Then you'll have several court appearances for which you will need to hire a lawyer and take time off work. Ultimately, the crown will offer to withdraw the charges in exchange for your undertaking to "keep the peace". You'll be out of pocket a couple of grand and the police officer will make a few hundred dollars extra for his/her court time. If you are determined to proceed to a trial, it will be your word against the police officer's, and the police habitually perjure themselves on the stand and falsify their notes and are only called on it in the rarest of circumstances.

This is the "freedom" we brag about to the rest of the world.

True, and totally infuriating, but the cellphone camera is the new leveler.

 

[toraerach]

There's that one Peel region judge who, in the last year, has issued judgments finding that the police perjure themselves and otherwise violate people's civil rights because the police are responding to a perceived slight by the "offender". As the judge puts it: "There's no such crime as 'contempt of cop'". There are -- maybe -- a handful of other judges in this province who are brave enough to speak out. The rest are unabashed barrel suckers or are afraid of repercussions.

A minor point, but the cases you're talking about happened in Halton, not Peel.

 

[voxpopulicosmicum]

A minor point, but the cases you're talking about happened in Halton, not Peel.

Correction noted. But really, those people all look the same to me.

 

[neubilder]

Except, of course, I have every right to disrespect the police. And I do.

I not only endorse the videotaping of police, I actively encourage it. There is a general move afoot in North America, pushed by pro-police interests to place serious limits on the videotaping of police.

Even in Ontario, police organizations have lobbied for changes to the law which would require "subject consent" -- which would require bystanders to seek permission of the people being photographed (including peace officers) to record the event.

Such agendas are an affront to holding the state accountable to the people. The police represent the state, and retain a state monopoly on the use of violence. For this reason, police should be afforded no privacy in the course of carrying out their duties, and their actions and interactions with any person subject to unlimited public scrutiny.

The police are not our masters. They are our servants. Your camera phone is a powerful weapon. Use it. Use services like UStream and Livestream, which transmit video in real-time to the internet where it is recorded on and transmitted outside of the control of police. This way, evidence cannot be destroyed merely be confiscating your phone. And if they do manage to use your phone to access and delete videos from these services, via your phone, there will be logs at the UStream or Livestream servers that can be subpoenaed to prove the police destroyed evidence.

I couldn't agree more with this well-stated perspective.