Immediately after the death of Michael Brown at the hands of police officers in Ferguson, Missouri, his neighbor, David Whitt, took action to prevent another such death from happening again. He began Copwatch, taking inspiration from the Copwatch group in Oakland, California. Armed with cameras, the organizations aim to prevent police brutality by capturing wrongdoings on camera. People like Whitt only want to protect the rights of those in their communities. Copwatchers do not seek to intervene or try to prove innocence of suspects, they are only there to film unnecessary force used by police officers. These people train themselves to peacefully and efficiently film video from police interactions. It seems as though these efforts are slowly bringing to light how ready police are to give out tickets or jail people for small offenses, specifically in Ferguson. In the traffic stop Whitt features in the video, a black woman is pulled over for having expired plates, but is left with eight tickets, totaling well over $800. In cases where excessive force is exhibited, Copwatchers will offer the footage collected in case it could be of help to someone who had an interaction with the police weather they are guilty or not.
Organizations like these are essential to invoking change. Filming police in this manner is the very definition of praxis; a community sees a problem and it is taking steps to make it better. The video shows all types members of the community participating in copwatching. They are all filming because they know it can help someone else and others in the future. Besides police violence, the point of the Vice video really comes down to racial profiling. Communities like Ferguson and Oakland are predominantly African American, and it’s from communities like these that we hear of police violence. According to policeviolencereport.org, 2017 saw 1,147 police killings of which 68% were “unarmed and not attacking” people of color compared to the 32% that were “unarmed and not attacking” whites. Even on the smaller scale, this type of social inequality is reflected. According to the Vice video, 75% of the people living in Ferguson, Missouri have a warrant, most for minor infractions. Many may have to pay additional fines which they may not be able to afford. It is a great disservice to communities, like Ferguson, that the police have to be filmed out of fear by the public. These are people that are meant to protect and not be the people to be protected from. Copwatchers are helping to change the view that a lot of society holds on to, that police brutality is acceptable. Excessive forced used by police will not be tolerated.
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https://policeviolencereport.org/
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