Looking at the videos of the Occupy Wall Street protest and in particular of the “pepper spray incident” I’m actually pretty hopeful. I think that it is now becoming clear to police departments and officers that there is very little they can do during protests that will not be recorded. What’s really striking in the scenes of this particular protest is that nearly every person has some sort of video-recording device and is using it. Of course police seemed to be making an effort to arrest those actively recording, but this protest should teach them that such efforts are futile.
What’s interesting is that most of the police officers are pretty calmly going about their jobs, in contrast to film of past protests I’ve seen, going back to the Vietnam era, in which it seemed like the majority of the police were really getting off on the chance to kick some ass. In this case, the pepper spraying was done by an older deputy inspector who probably hasn’t had that thrill in a while. But I’m sure he will be retiring soon. The London officer who attacked Ian Tomlinson (a newspaper vendor who took a wrong turn home, got caught up in the G20 protests and died as a result of his injuries) was finally charged with manslaughter. Not all the rogue cops are young. This guy picked out a cyclist and slammed him to the ground for fun, but his father and uncle and grandfather were also officers and he probably grew up on stories of kicking protester ass. He is no longer carrying on the family legacy. The police in Fullerton who kicked a mentally ill man to death are being charged with murder, which would not have happened without video.
I think we are seeing the passing of an era. Everyone is realizing you just can’t do this stuff and get away with it. There will still be cases of excessive force, and police will try to confiscate all cameras, but it is ultimately a futile effort. And the officers for whom kicking ass is one of the attractions of the job (my guess is that some are actually addicted to it) will, eventually, be weeded out. And newer officers won’t understand what the attraction was in the first place.