When you are filming police try not to talk to them.
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"Am I free to leave?" *will* mark you out as an "annoying do-gooder who doesn't like police"
But this could be an improvement on seeming like someone they could trick or trip up more easily.
Prepare to be ignored. Police will try to provoke you so they can arrest you or stop you from filming. Police will hit you unprovoked or try to knock your phone away.
Don't waste time "reasoning" with them. Just get the video so more people can see what they are doing.
Practice how you will film and what you will say. It will be a very stressful situation and it's tempting to just try to "be reasonable and talk" you aren't dealing with someone who is reasonable. They want you to stop filming. They may be very angry and emotional and lash out without warning.
This can be shocking if you watch too many TV cop dramas.
You are our eyes and ears. The things you film could vanish forever so don't get drawn in to a back and forth.
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Practice how you will film and what you will say. It will be a very stressful situation and it's tempting to just try to "be reasonable and talk" you aren't dealing with someone who is reasonable. They want you to stop filming. They may be very angry and emotional and lash out without warning.
This can be shocking if you watch too many TV cop dramas.
You are our eyes and ears. The things you film could vanish forever so don't get drawn in to a back and forth.
If you are in a public space and "a safe distance away" and "not getting in the way" you are following all of the laws when filming openly.
Shockingly even if you are clearly doing all of these things a police officer may react as if you aren't. Be ready for that reaction.
The more people do this the more video there will be so the truth gets out to the public. But, even if the video isn't important it sends a message about your community and expectations.
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If you are in a public space and "a safe distance away" and "not getting in the way" you are following all of the laws when filming openly.
Shockingly even if you are clearly doing all of these things a police officer may react as if you aren't. Be ready for that reaction.
The more people do this the more video there will be so the truth gets out to the public. But, even if the video isn't important it sends a message about your community and expectations.
The more videos there are from more angles, the harder it gets for anyone to fake a video as it would have to match up with the rest 100%.
Due to various ways of faking things, it's more important than ever to have multiple angles in order to preserve the truth.
It is really hard to fake something when there are multiple other genuine angles of the same event.
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If you are in a public space and "a safe distance away" and "not getting in the way" you are following all of the laws when filming openly.
Shockingly even if you are clearly doing all of these things a police officer may react as if you aren't. Be ready for that reaction.
The more people do this the more video there will be so the truth gets out to the public. But, even if the video isn't important it sends a message about your community and expectations.
"You are stressing the police out no wonder they overreact."
I've heard arguments along these lines far too often. It is true that having half a dozen people whip out there phone and start filming is stressful. But when that doesn't happen people are hurt and we never learn their names or what happened.
If you see someone filming police it's supportive and helpful to join them.
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"You are stressing the police out no wonder they overreact."
I've heard arguments along these lines far too often. It is true that having half a dozen people whip out there phone and start filming is stressful. But when that doesn't happen people are hurt and we never learn their names or what happened.
If you see someone filming police it's supportive and helpful to join them.
@futurebird if the police are stressed out by a bystander, they should find a new career
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If you are in a public space and "a safe distance away" and "not getting in the way" you are following all of the laws when filming openly.
Shockingly even if you are clearly doing all of these things a police officer may react as if you aren't. Be ready for that reaction.
The more people do this the more video there will be so the truth gets out to the public. But, even if the video isn't important it sends a message about your community and expectations.
@futurebird cops often don't know which law they're enforcing, nor do they care.
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"You are stressing the police out no wonder they overreact."
I've heard arguments along these lines far too often. It is true that having half a dozen people whip out there phone and start filming is stressful. But when that doesn't happen people are hurt and we never learn their names or what happened.
If you see someone filming police it's supportive and helpful to join them.
@futurebird making cops feel stress is good. fuck every last one of them.
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"You are stressing the police out no wonder they overreact."
I've heard arguments along these lines far too often. It is true that having half a dozen people whip out there phone and start filming is stressful. But when that doesn't happen people are hurt and we never learn their names or what happened.
If you see someone filming police it's supportive and helpful to join them.
@futurebird a former colleague of mine was filming when a cop came to him agressivily and he replied: "oh but it's to protect you, you know, just in case"
He was white, looking like "a good guy" so he used that to fool the police (it worked)It takes some nerve to do that, but hey, it's a method
And yes in France we have the exact same problems, except that so far we don't have ICE
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@futurebird cops often don't know which law they're enforcing, nor do they care.
A Flock of Beagles @burnitdown@beige.party (🇲)in Germany they can look up all the laws, rules and fees in an android app provided by the police union. oh, wait: you can do that. the app is a free download in play store.
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A Flock of Beagles @burnitdown@beige.party (🇲)
in Germany they can look up all the laws, rules and fees in an android app provided by the police union. oh, wait: you can do that. the app is a free download in play store.
@Life_is @futurebird that has nothing to do with the fact that cops often neither know nor care which law they are enforcing.
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@futurebird if the police are stressed out by a bystander, they should find a new career
Not to mention that the feds and cops with the hurt fee-fees are being VERY WELL PAID to do what they do. They have the strongest unions in the country. They get time and a half pay, ovetime pay, hazard pay. Excellent healthcare. Retirement plans at 55.
Meanwhile servers in my state, who put up with verbal, physical, and sexual abuse every day, make $2.33/hour plus tips, no benefits, no time off.
Suck it up, buttercups.
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Not to mention that the feds and cops with the hurt fee-fees are being VERY WELL PAID to do what they do. They have the strongest unions in the country. They get time and a half pay, ovetime pay, hazard pay. Excellent healthcare. Retirement plans at 55.
Meanwhile servers in my state, who put up with verbal, physical, and sexual abuse every day, make $2.33/hour plus tips, no benefits, no time off.
Suck it up, buttercups.
And how many ICE agents have fallen in the line of "duty"?
2025, must have been a lot, huh? What? NONE?
2024, one thug. Cancer. Wait, that's not...
2023. One thug. Cancer.
2020 - 2022, a bunch died. All COVID. How'd hat ivermectin work out, Agent Novax?
Oh wait, one thug took a bullet in 2021. Self-inflicted, accidental discharge.
Pizza delivery is FAR more dangerous than working for ICE.
ICE Fallen Officers
There are few more noble professions than service as a federal law enforcement officer.
(www.ice.gov)
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When you are filming police try not to talk to them. Avoid:
"Is it OK if I film?" (That isn't up to them.)
"Sorry officer." (You have done nothing wrong don't apologize.)Try things like.
"I am filming from a safe distance."If they start yelling at you focus on:
"Am I free to leave?"
Every time I've said this the officer has responded with "shut up" (ok??)
I'm happy to comply with *that* one and keep filming from a safe distance.@futurebird thank you for this, I feel that it’s still too easy for people (especially whites) to feel a need to be overly polite to the police and apologize for everything (granted people say sorry for no reason allready)
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"You are stressing the police out no wonder they overreact."
I've heard arguments along these lines far too often. It is true that having half a dozen people whip out there phone and start filming is stressful. But when that doesn't happen people are hurt and we never learn their names or what happened.
If you see someone filming police it's supportive and helpful to join them.
'If you film us killing people it might make us kill people.'
See, they've only ever killed people when someone happens to be filming. They are the Warner Brothers frog of not-murder.
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A Flock of Beagles @burnitdown@beige.party (🇲)
in Germany they can look up all the laws, rules and fees in an android app provided by the police union. oh, wait: you can do that. the app is a free download in play store.
wt... seriously????
US cops are not lawyers, there are millions of laws & knowing them is a real job
in the US, a prosecutor / DA/ SOME kind of lawyer decides if you should be charged & presents the case to a judge
current system is corrupt but i see no reason to believe letting cops charge people on the basis of something they read on an app from the play store would be less corrupt, it might even make corruption & frame up of innocents run faster
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"You are stressing the police out no wonder they overreact."
I've heard arguments along these lines far too often. It is true that having half a dozen people whip out there phone and start filming is stressful. But when that doesn't happen people are hurt and we never learn their names or what happened.
If you see someone filming police it's supportive and helpful to join them.
Police assaulting and killing people is the constant.
They didn’t just start because people were filming them.
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"You are stressing the police out no wonder they overreact."
I've heard arguments along these lines far too often. It is true that having half a dozen people whip out there phone and start filming is stressful. But when that doesn't happen people are hurt and we never learn their names or what happened.
If you see someone filming police it's supportive and helpful to join them.
@futurebird If you were righteous, you wouldn't worry about being filmed.
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When you are filming police try not to talk to them. Avoid:
"Is it OK if I film?" (That isn't up to them.)
"Sorry officer." (You have done nothing wrong don't apologize.)Try things like.
"I am filming from a safe distance."If they start yelling at you focus on:
"Am I free to leave?"
Every time I've said this the officer has responded with "shut up" (ok??)
I'm happy to comply with *that* one and keep filming from a safe distance.POINT OF INFORMATION: never talk to cops. especially as a citizen journalist.
set yourself at a safe distance and just film.
people who want to do this regularly, may want to set themselves up with a backpack on their chest to house their phone set up on a selfie stick.
if you are a cyclist, a GoPro on your helmet AND on your bike are good alternatives.
in #nyc in particular, it is best to have your hands free.
i should revive my old dos & donts list for indie journos.
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When you are filming police try not to talk to them. Avoid:
"Is it OK if I film?" (That isn't up to them.)
"Sorry officer." (You have done nothing wrong don't apologize.)Try things like.
"I am filming from a safe distance."If they start yelling at you focus on:
"Am I free to leave?"
Every time I've said this the officer has responded with "shut up" (ok??)
I'm happy to comply with *that* one and keep filming from a safe distance.@futurebird this is sound advice, and I thank you.
I was watching a soccer final last year where all the referees had shirts on that I apparently had a pocket on the inside for an iPhone with the back lens facing outward through their shirt. I'm not sure how they controlled the video recording, but it was effective. They were actually streaming so that people watching the game could see from their angles.
I've been thinking a lot about that lately because it would be an interesting way to film. Someone would really have to look directly at you and scan you to see that you had a lens on your chest or wherever.
My plan (since I don't carry my phone when I go to protests) is to have my GoPro affixed to my person somewhere. The drawback is, to get the footage, I have to take the SD card out and put it on my laptop at home.
I need to practice. I did that with my inflatable costume and the tech I had on me before I did the last big protest and it made a difference.
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POINT OF INFORMATION: never talk to cops. especially as a citizen journalist.
set yourself at a safe distance and just film.
people who want to do this regularly, may want to set themselves up with a backpack on their chest to house their phone set up on a selfie stick.
if you are a cyclist, a GoPro on your helmet AND on your bike are good alternatives.
in #nyc in particular, it is best to have your hands free.
i should revive my old dos & donts list for indie journos.
there are also cameras that sit inside LED bike lights (and just look like normal LED, although they might need gyro mount to avoid shaky footage is used /when/ cycling), and its also possible to buy discreet semi-covert bodycams (the middle aged dog walking women round my way often wear them, due to paranoia about angry men with angry dogs (to some extent justified, especially in remote areas)
