Good-Cop Video Goes Viral

[Frank D.]

...but it's sad that this is something to get excited about. Still, it's a good thing when police can impress the public/internet.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iryk9xVIkfE&

[ford.304]

Nice to see cops a) being the good guys and b) getting attention for it.

[TCinVA]

It's only something to get "excited" about because people don't typically upload one of the overwhelming majority of positive interactions with police officers to the web.

[Frank D.]

It's only something to get "excited" about because people don't typically upload one of the overwhelming majority of positive interactions with police officers to the web.

Exactly.

[TGS]

It's only something to get "excited" about because people don't typically upload one of the overwhelming majority of positive interactions with police officers to the web.

Not only that, but a lot of times the jackwads running around with video cameras are being argumentative just for the sake of filling some sad void in their life by thinking they're standing up for their rights or some lame shit. So, even when the cop is being reasonable, courteous, and/or polite, they still post the video and say how they were abusing their rights when they were pretty much trying to do the same thing this cop was....but couldn't get past the first 3 words in their sentence due to being interrupted.

I don't see how this video is anything amazing that's worth posting. Don't act like a dick, and I guarantee you most cops out there will talk to you like a reasonable person. It's nothing new or special. They go to the same bars and restaurants you do, they go to the same schools and colleges you do, they go to the same sports games you do, they watch the same TV you do....they're just people, not some evil army of robots hell bent on trampling your rights.

[Shellback]

The intro to the video states "Photography is not a crime" and I'm sure that has a lot to do with it being posted. Lately there have been many false arrests made by police officers for people video recording and photographing police in the performance of their job.

I think people are confusing the OC wingnuts looking for a "gotcha" type video versus the average person being arrested for not committing a crime. I think it's good in the fact that it counters so many negative videos that are posted and shows the "other side" of what's typically portrayed.

[Serpico1985]

I think a distinction should be made between 1) video tapping officers doing their job from a reasonable distance and not interfering and 2) interjecting yourself into the arrest/investigation/traffic stop etc.

I've seen officers react poorly to both, however just because your holding a video camera in your hand doesn't mean you get a get out of jail free card. Walking up to officer's while they are on a traffic stop, conducting an investigation or arresting someone is a no-no as it should be. How close is subjective and depends on the situation. If you stick around and continue to prevent them from doing their job after being told to move/leave an arrest is likely justified.

Standing 20 yards away filming an officer on a traffic stop is ok, standing 2 feet from the patrol car and yelling screaming at the officer while filming the stop is not (I realize that didn't happen in the above video, I'm commenting on other video's I've seen). It seems a lot of video’s that people get upset over police response are legitimate arrests where if the camera was removed from the situation the person was still in violation of a law.


I said all that to say I think generally there is a predisposition for folks to think that just because someone is holding a video camera while actually interfering with an investigation etc. it gets them out of trouble and that is not the case. Not to say folks on this board think that way as the quality of legal discussion on this forum is reasoned and polite.

edited to add: It seems my comments don't exactly along with the thread. I guess I was just venting about this issue in general.

[mc1911]

There were a lot of camera angles in this video along with the guy mentioning, "Did you see me by the bank?" What does this guy do, spend his spare time filming cops?

[Suvorov]

So without spending my time with this guys other videos, my question is - why does this guy film police stops? Is he just a "cop geek" and film them the way others film trains or airplanes, or is he some self appointed watch dog idyllically trying to keep police from overstepping their bounds or more cynically, trying to get his 15 minutes of fame and some $$$ by videotaping the next Rodney King or Oscar Grant incident :confused: