Larry West (the young skateboarder who ran for Mayor) wrote up a really good blog post about this weekend’s Go Skateboarding Day. It is refreshing to see a skateboarder trying to make a difference in Philadelphia and being very sensible about it. Thanks.
larry for prez! 2013!
Good work Larry! To sum up what he said, don’t act like a total jerk. It’s funny how people need to be reminded this.
On Go Skateboarding Day take a moment to remember everyone’s favorite skate cop, the honorable officer Rivieri. This site even gave him an award.
Hey Dude!
http://www.policecrimes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3222
Cops are such tough guys, when they’re not picking on kids over bs stuff they’re messing with old people. The comments for this one are pretty funny. “The Fry Police”
http://www.policecrimes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3034
Try and (discreetly) record any incidents of excessive force. Eyewitness accounts mean nothing. If you don’t have evidence cops will just lie and your claim will go nowhere. Sometimes cops will try to steal peoples cameras. You can link your cell phone to copwatchla.org so if that happens it won’t matter. If you can’t afford a good camcorder a personal audio recorder (available for cheap on ebay) is better then nothing. It’s never a bad idea to record any interaction with police.
You may actually run afoul of wiretapping laws by recording audio without the other person’s knowledge. I’m not saying don’t do it, but a risk exists.
Andy is right. Technically PA is a “two party consent” state for recording. However luckily there are some loopholes in the law as far as what constitutes reasonable expectations of privacy.
“Kane found the officer had acted in good faith and believed the arrest was proper. She said it is unclear whether Kelly had a right under Pennsylvania’s wiretap law to record the officer’s conversation during the stop. The state’s wiretap law bars the recording of someone’s conversation without their consent. Cumberland County District Attorney David Freed said the law can be confusing, however, and he dismissed the wiretap charge against Kelly in mid-2007 after determining the officer couldn’t expect privacy in such a public setting.”
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2009/05/battle_to_continue_over_carlis.html
Video evidence is best, I was just thinking of that as a last resort. It’s better then nothing, since if you make a cop mad they love to hit people with bs “contempt of cop” charges. The charge of assaulting an officer IS a serious one. So if you’re dealing with a ticked off cop that you’ve had a bad experience with before, it’s not a bad idea to have audio of you calmly stating “I’m sorry for skateboarding” and “I am not resisting arrest”. Sad but you just can’t put anything past the cops. Last year corrupt NYC drug cops framed two completely innocent men. They’re REAL lucky there was surveillance footage.
http://www.policecrimes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4404
Well it’s gonna rain anyway…so I guess we’ll just have to wait another year.
Actually it is not illegal to record anything in public spaces, including police officers doing the jobs we pay them to do. This is why they are allowed to photograph us as well. The wiretap laws are for private communications.