Comments of the Day

ACLU Wrong, Police Right In Holding of Videotaping Teen

Pathetic. Your justifications and attempts to conflate recording public employees in the act of doing their job with some kind of lack of morality or thought are simply pathetic. It is not illegal to videotape the police while performing their jobs. She did not interfere, did not create a hassle until given an UNLAWFUL order, and was not charged with anything, despite several attempts by the officers to do so, including fishing around for anybody who would help them charge her. Fortunately, no one would, but taking a 17-year old to an adult detention center to attempt to charge her is not only despicable, but easily the most thoughtless and immoral thing the officers attempted to do. If you want to understand why many people have bad opinions of police officers, look no further. It's not just that this happened, its that people like the author of this drivel will attempt to defend obviously thuggish, poorly trained officers.

This article is wrong. The author is wrong. But most importantly, the police officers who are commenting here are WRONG! You are NOT above the law. You are NOT the embodiment of the law, either. Whatever you say is NOT the law. Aside from the fact that the law itself, as Mr. Bumble said in Oliver Twist, "is an ass," your job is NOT to make it up as you go along and arrest people for doing things you don't like. Cops and the government have cameras EVERYWHERE. They always say, "if you're not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to hide, " and "this recording is for your safety." Well, Fitchette was recording for her safety and that of the man on the bus who was being handled by the cops. What she did was simply fill the role of the cop's dashboard camera, which was not able to record in the bus. In fact, I'd be surprised if the bus itself didn't have a camera or two. Citizens have every right to film public officers, who are paid with public money, out in public, ostensibly fulfilling their public duties. No, she did NOT "bring this on herself," two grossly out of line police officers who thoroughly violated their oaths to uphold and defend the Constitution illegally brought this on her, unjustly and without any basis in law or reason, and they should pay for this violation of the public's trust with their jobs, their Peace Officer's certifications, and their own money when this is finally settled, as it should be, against them and their department. The taxpayers should not have to foot the bill for their egregious misconduct, and anyone who is here supporting these officers should be ashamed of themselves. This is a disgusting episode, but sadly, it is just one more in a long line of "isolated incidents" wherein police are waging an impromptu war on citizens who record their actions. Their "War on Cameras" is both unfortunate and unlawful