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Archive for April, 2015

#PolicingThePolice

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Who guards the guardians? or Who watches the watchers?

In a modern translation, who polices the police.  It has become undeniably obvious that the police cannot or will not police themselves, and we cannot depend on civil authorities to bring the police under control.  There is an answer.  We, the people, police the law officers we pay for.

Each of us has a camera and video recorder in our possession and we are getting better at making videos whenever we see police officers using what seems to be excessive force on a citizen.  We need to extend this surveillance.  Take pictures of every on duty police officer or sheriff’s deputy you see during the day in or out of their patrol cars.  Post the pictures using the hash tag #PolicingThePolice.  Let them know that, since they will not take care of the problem themselves, law abiding citizens will be watching them.  We will not allow violent officers to remain hidden by their fellow officers who refuse to control them or eliminate them from the force.
For several years I worked in a job that brought me into contact with police officers at crime scenes.  While I have never had anything but friendly interactions with law officers of all varieties, and I firmly believe that the vast majority of law officers in this country are honestly trying to do the best job they are able for the community they serve, they have not been able to remove the overly violent officers they serve with. 

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