Documentation

I dislke this trend toward a more militant police forces around the world. I also dispair of the legacy of oppression of minority groups. I applaud the efforts of all those who are legitimately working to address and end police brutality.

For that matter, I am proud to live in a nation where police brutality is an exception and the rule.

The fact that police brutality is not the rule means that occurences of brutality are more sensational.

There is big money in getting pictures of police brutality. A few good shots of police brutality with sniping slogans about the evils of civil society will shoot any web site into the stratosphere. You can also make money by selling the footage to big media or taking the direct approach of lawsuits.

Documenting Injuries is a page by Legal Support Ottawa. The purpose of the site is to train activists to get the most from the violence that they incite. The goal of any mass demonstration is to create a sufficient threat to illicit a response from the police. You don't get much from the violence without documentated evidence.

The police tend to react more stongly against minorities. Putting minorities in the way police during a praxis is a good way to get photographs of brutality. Unfortunately, although people with dark skin hurt every bit as much light skinned people, the bruises really don't stand out as well.

The article notes that the medical community isn't that eager to help create the damning documentation needed to support the cause. It is almost as if the medical community has this pathological attachment to the Hippocratic Oath and err on the side of treating patients toward the more noble goal of furthering revolutionary aims. Taking the victims to an emergency room or calling in paramedics seems to invoke some sort of hidden triage procedure that separates the activist from the praxis.

The Jury system also seems rigged with far too many rulings favoring the police who were incited to brutality to the victims that were brutalized after the police were incited to violence.

The article fails to mention that the police are also documenting and recording their activities at an unprecedented rate. We can hope that this documentation will lessen police brutality. Many of the most damning videos of police misconduct in recent years have come from the police themselves. You know, there actually are policemen who hate police brutality.

Although activist group's that create praxises aimed at inciting violence turn my stomache. I think it is good for the public to know how to document abuses from the powers that be. Photographic documentation of unprovoked abuses can lead to change. For example, the photographs from the unprovoked police raid of a permitted party in Utah County is making an impact. The poeple living in Utah County do not want a police state, although the ideology of the area often makes them lean toward that direction.

Being prepared is a good idea, although the chance of your being in the right place at the right times to take world alternating photographs of real events is small, I think it is good to have a digital camera on hand. Likewise, the courts should continue to err on the side of those people who do document abuse.