When you hear the charge “assaulting a police officer,” you might assume that an officer has been hurt or injured while serving the community. But in Washington, D.C., it also can be used as a tactic against citizens.
“Cop watchers” are a loose band of activists found in dozens of cities across the U.S. who consider it their job to police the police by filming their activities. But some officers are starting to push back, saying cop-watching groups interfere with their jobs and endanger the public.
As tensions between police and communities such as Ferguson, Missouri, and Baltimore have intensified, activists across the U.S. have taken to the streets to film law enforcement activity, a practice they call “cop watching.” Now, advocates on both sides of the debate are asking lawmakers for more protection.
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Taser, known for its stun guns used by law enforcement around the world, is banking its future on recording and documenting what police do in the field, with body cameras and a digital evidence storage service.
On March 3, 1991, a black man was pulled over in Los Angeles – and what happened next showed the entire nation what police brutality looks like. George Holliday, who filmed a critical 81 seconds in which police officers hit Rodney King more than 50 times with fists and batons, shares his feelings about that evening 24 years ago, as well as his thoughts on capturing police misbehavior on video today.
Senate Bill 1293 would authorize spending $2 million on three one-year pilot projects of predictive policing software in urban and rural areas to generate predictions for various types of crime.
The inspector general concluded that there was no evidence that the agency’s 10 unarmed Predator B drones had improved border security or aided in apprehensions or drug interdictions.
Police agencies in the southeastern Virginia have created an unusual and secretive database containing details about telephone customers and the communications they exchange – without warrants.
L.A. County law enforcement officials are expanding a biometrics system to gather iris scans, palm prints and other information in the field and in jails. But they’re not telling the public.
