Have you guys seen this latest movement from the Berkley bunch? They've got these guys that go around video taping police officers trying to enforce the law. They call it Copwatch. This movement has spread as far as Arizona. Hippie Dippies out there, with dreadlocks and a video camera, distracting law enforcement officers from safely performing an already dangerous job.
Most of these bong heads are anti-police to begin with, so their motive is more to attack their enemy (police officers), rather than to hold the very few tainted to account.
I wonder if the hippie dippies would mind a movement where camera toting rednecks would follow them to their drug dealers houses, orgies, and opium dens.

 

> I wonder if the hippie dippies would mind a movement where camera toting
> rednecks would follow them to their drug dealers houses, orgies, and opium dens.

Forget rednecks, the city I use to live in people got so fed up with crime (police said they could do nothing if they did not directly witness it) and people trying to turn downtown into a red light district that people started going around with cameras. When ever someone picked up a lady of the night or visited a X-rated video store, VHS copies were sent to wives or employers.

 

That's funny. But what else should folks do when their steets are being highjacked by criminals. I wish they would focus more on the drug dealers though.

This movement I referred to above is real. They call it copwatch and even have a web site to report any departments that someone might think uses excessive force etc.
The Police Chief in Berkley California was on the news about it stating that it was putting peace officers in jeapardy as it was a huge distraction. They showed footage of a guy with dreadlocks and a video camera harrassing a cop in the middle of an arrest. The poor cop looked like he could hardly focus on his job. He also said that these guys were cutting portions out of the tapes so people wouldn't see the events leading up to physical actions a cop would have to take.
It seems the crooks are at war with law enforcement and are attempting to discredit their integrity.

 

There's a lot of things in this post that really get under my skin.

Let's start with the blatantly obvious. Why do you make the assumption that anyone who wants to keep an eye on the police (there ARE corrupt police officers, you know) must be a hippie, a pothead, a drug addict, or a sex fiend?

I mean... seriously. Do you know how often police beatings happen? Just because you only see the ones that Foxnews brings to you in your living room does not mean that more aren't happening on a DAILY basis. All it takes is one person to videotape it happening - and how many of us are walking around with video cameras?

For what it's worth, I've met a lot of hippie-type people. They tend to be the most decent, honest, respectful, non-judgmental people. Not very many of them carry the prejudice and hatred that you do.

 

Well I'm not a Hippie Dippie, and I haven't smoked pot since I was in high school. I do think their are mostly good cops out their. As with any profession though, some will be lazy, and others will abuse their power.

If someone put a group together, and that group did their homework and made sure there was a reason that they should watch a particular officer, then why shouldn't they do that? I know employers put cameras up to watch their employees, then why don't they do that with police?

 

I agree. There are always cops who get on a power trip no matter what town it is. And like you said if the group knew who that officer was and watched him i have no problem with that either.

 

Agreed Andy. Excellent post.

AND, having lived in Berzerkeley it is also true that there are many folks(who usually ID themselves not as hippies but as anarchists...sooooo different) who DO film their own protests and the police reaction, and now the arrests of others in an attempt to get that snippet that disproves the adage "the camera doesn't lie". Some are merely trying to foment trouble, not support justice.

Lastly, it's interesting that the the "anarchist" "bongheads" share one quality with a lot of their more vocal detractors...

...intolerance.

 

More and more police agencies are putting video in patrol cars for traffic stops. The cops aren't camera shy. If the amateur videographer's get in the way of the cops' business, I'm sure they will get the attention they desire. From a judge.

 

They aren't always with and if front of the car.

 

I think the thread was supposed to be about the few who are trying to do nothing but discredit the police. I'd say that the majority of police are good and effective at their jobs, that only a few are incompetent and/ or corrupt. If the copwatch people are hampering the ability of the police to do their job- or if they are editing the video to put cops in a bad light- then they should be dealt with severely.

Perhaps the Hippie Dippie part could have been left out?

 

Perhaps. Point taken. It was my reaction to the clip I saw on the news. You should have seen these guys, along with some of the other stuff that continually comes out of Berkley that I find irritating. It gets to a point where the worst comes out in me. I sure would make a lousy cop as I could not have been as tolerant as these officers were while being harrassed on the job. Wasn't trying to offend anyone. But I guess I hit some nerves.
Sorry

 

Hey Olfordsnstone......don't be sorry. I AM a cop. Here in Charlotte, NC we all have cameras in our cars and microphone/transmitters on our belts, and we ALWAYS have them on whenever something controversial is happening or is about to happen. I had to transport a drunk female from the airport to the jail the other day and had to listen to her for 20 minutes on the trip up call me every name in the book and curse and threaten and everything else you can imagine, THEN wouldn't get out of the car and told me I'd have to drag her out of the car to get processed by the deputies. No problem....I DID have to drag her out, but everything, including her rantings, were on tape, so I'm covered.........and you can imagine what types of accusations can come from females having a bad day with the law. I don't give a D--n who videotapes me.......but if anyone interferes with me trying to do my job (whether they have long hair or short hair), your a-s is going to the crossbar motel in bracelets manufactured by "Peerless"......and the charge down here is "Resist/Obstruct/Delay"........

But I just want to "Po-lice" when I'm working, and on my off-time, I want to play with Fords the rest of the time (with hunting and fishing thrown in for good measure).

Steve

 

Thank you for that. You put the proper perspective on the matter. It protects you and the public to have incidents recorded.

I don't think anybody approves of interfering with a police officer when he or she is doing their job. Like Redd Foxx said to his heckler, "I don't go rattling your mops and brooms when you are at work."

 

Sure we all dislike cops now and again, but anyone who thinks this country would be a better place with out law enforcement is ignorant. The U.S.A. would be a 3rd world country in a few weeks with out it.

Im sure them tree huggers wouldnt hate the cops if they were surrounded by guys in skii-masks with baseball bats and knives....or the cops pulled over the drunk driver a mile before the red light he was gonna run, and paralize you from the waist down.

 

Intolerance by the self-righteous of either political or cultural persuasion is killing this country.

"Tree-huggers"...More namecalling...Schmids, you just proved AndyM's point above.

This thread should not devolve into "police lovers vs others"...it's not black and white (no pun intended) like that. I think everyone here has great respect for good cops.

As I sit here wearing a tye-dyed shirt and typing, I'm also the son of a deputy and a monetary supporter of police organizations. I just finished cutting down a tree for next years firewood, but I am against clearcutting and abuse of the forests.

And I've been treated poorly by a couple of cops in my life, for no good reason on their part. So I'm a bit wary when I see a cop in action...but I watch their backs for them too.

But you still don't squat about me, because you haven't met me...what name will you call me? Here's a thought: It could be "friend". Or "neighbor". Or something intolerant that closes the door. Your choice. Your world.