Cops gone wild showing on YouTube
August 8, 2008 by admin
From PCMike’s NBC-TV segment… With so many cell phones having built-in camcorders, it’s pretty hard for anything to happen out on the streets that someone can’t quickly record. And with video sharing sites like YouTube getting as many viewers as some network TV shows, there’s a ready audience for a VERY real form of… reality TV.
For example, a tourist, using a phone camcorder, caught a brutal New York cop in an unprovoked attack on a bicyclist in July. It used to be this was the sort of stuff we saw in sweeps week local TV investigations. This incident happened during what’s known as a Critical Mass bicycle ride in New York.
These events, held around the country, get a lot of bikers out to draw attention to the fact that bicycles have as much right to the road as anyone. The cyclist recovered from his injuries, the cop was suspended. At last check, the video has been seen by almost a million and a half people.
This sort of thing happens all the time. YouTube is filled with videos of cops harassing, hollering and causing havoc with people. In suburban St. Louis, a cop stopped a 20-year old and started taunting the driver and threatened to jail him on fabricated charges. All the audio was captured on a camcorder. When it ran on YouTube, the police department got hundreds of complaints and the officer was also suspended.
Then there’s the Baltimore cop who over-reacted badly with some skateboarders, putting one kid in a headlock and pushing him to the ground. His whole out of control tirade was also caught on video and has been seen now by 2 million people. He was suspended, too.
All this goes to show that… out there on the streets… someone is not just watching but very likely, could be videotaping, too.
Meantime, have you ever come across a YouTube video that you’d like to download to your computer? There’s no easy way with YouTube.
I’ve found a cool and easy-to-use program that lets you download YouTube videos.
The reason this is so handy is because YouTube videos are easily viewed online but because they are in the Flash format, they can’t be downloaded and saved to your hard drive and then used in, say, a PowerPoint presentation.
But I found this very neat $25 program called Video Piggy that does it for you. It’s really simple. It allows you to convert those Flash videos to AVI, WMV, MPEG, MP4, MOV and 3GP video formats, for easy playback on your computer and DVD player. You can even extract the audio to an MP3 if you want.
To check it out Click Here.
FINALLY!!! Someone in the MEDIA has the BALLS to do what has needed to be done for years.
I personally have become SICK of knowing and witnessing the police corruption that is rampant out there as well as the abuses and double standard the police (in general ANYONE with a badge and a gun) have been living by.
The FAULT lies with the politicians who have for years “rubber stamped” BILLS and LEGISLATION that seeks to increase the pay and the sheer numbers of men and women in uniforms to the ranks with one ultimate purpose in mind.
The purpose to keep the citizens terrified about standing up for their civil rights against “authority”.
Where does it STOP people?? When are you all going to become tired enough of being “pushed” around by people in authority to take BACK your RIGHTS as guaranteed by the first 10 amendments to the Constitution (basically KNOWN to ALL as the BILL OF RIGHTS.
Thank god, for the BRAVE citizens who DEFY “authority” long enough to VIDEOTAPE the BLATANT ABUSE of these supposed people who take an oath To PROTECT and To SERVE”
Since when is protecting and serving the people include OBVIOUS violations of citizen rights!!
AND how DARE the SUPERVISORS of these people in “LAW ENFORCEMENT” just basically look the other way when confronted with allegations and videotapes of police ABUSE of POWER to the EXTENT that they ONLY place the offending officer on PAID administrative leave.
Honestly, where does it stop??
I could write for hours of the blatant abuse of power I have personally witnessed over the past 30 to 40 years but I will NOT bore you all with details.
Suffice it to say, I would NOT be placing this comment here IF I felt differently and felt the police and other law enforcement agency’s were doing the CORRECT job that my TAX dollars are paying for.
The TIME for FOCUS on this issue is NOW and EVERY cop that VIOLATES your civil rights, unprovoked and without good cause, MUST be FIRED IMMEDIATELY and held to ACCOUNT for their actions to the SAME level of FINES and PUNISHMENT that civilians are held too.
The DOUBLE STANDARD must STOP NOW!!
NUFF SAID!!
Mike,
What you have stated about the case in New York is not the truth. I am from New York, and just happened to catch your segment on television while vacationing in North Carolina. Our local reporting did a much better job explaining the situation. The fact is that this officer had been provoked, but the video conveniently does not start until this was over. Both witnesses and the Police Officer have said that this cyclist had been riding in an extremely reckless manner and appeared to be a danger to not only the officer but others in the area. Whether or not the officer overreacted to the provocation is still unclear. While the officer has been suspended this does not necessarily imply any guilt on his part. Police in this country are far too often portrayed as villains by the media, and this is just one more instance. Yes the person commenting before me is right there is a double standard for police, but not the one he thinks. The true double standard is that if something happens which violates the law and/or threatens human life, a police officer is REQUIRED to intervene, while a civilian wouldn’t even be expected to. A police officer must be fit for duty at all times, and are legally required to act as a police officer in all cases. They risk their lives every day in order to protect us, the civilians. You also seem to need to be reminded that just like the criminals they deal with, these police officers are innocent until proven guilty. A suspension is not a implication of guilt, but it seems that people like you in the media think that any officer who is suspended is guilty even if proven innocent. Besides that, it is my opinion that the job which Police Officers perform each and every day should afford them the benefit of the doubt. So please, in the future at least put things like this in the proper context, which i may remind you is your job. Otherwise, you are no more useful than services like YouTube which show raw, and often biased information.
Enough said.
Contrary to Brian’s opinion, police are not required to intervene in any situation. The Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that the police do not have a constitutional duty to protect a person from harm. (Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzales)
Police hypocrisy is obvious. Let’s say a cop writes someone a ticket. Now rewind, exact same situation, vehicle, and infraction. This time the driver is a cop from another jurisdiction. Does he get a ticket? Of course not. Police enforce standards on the public that they themselves don’t maintain.
In New York, where I live and where this incident happened police officers absolutely must intervene and New York State law states that Police Officers must be fit for duty at all times. What you say about tickets has nothing to do with a situation like this, what you are describing is simply a matter of professional courtesy. Any good Police Officer would be obliged to enact the appropriate punishment against anyone who committed a serious infraction whether or not that person was another police officer. In any profession, colleagues will afford each other certain courtesies, Police are no different. Let’s face it, letting fellow officers off of traffic tickets, does not really equate to “the police enforcing standards on the public that they themselves don’t maintain”