By Michael Kinney CNHI News Service
Allegations of police brutality are nothing new
-- as long as there has been law enforcement, citizens have registered claims
that some officers cross the line. But in the last few years, the claims of
excessive force are being corroborated with new technology from cell phone
cameras, police dash-cams and surveillance videos.
The most recent example to make headlines is
the death of Eric Garner in New York on July 17, after being put in a chokehold
by members of the New York Police Department.
In the past, Garner's death could have just
been attributed to another case of resisting arrest, despite the presence of
several witnesses. But because the entire ordeal was recorded on a cell phone
camera, the public is provided a clear picture of what took place.
It's a weapon that activists such as the Rev.
Al Sharpton believe is changing the way police brutality cases are handled.
"We definitely want to encourage people to
video and keep their videos there," Sharpton said in a radio interview on
The Rickey Smiley Morning Show this week. "Because if there had not been a
video ... we would never had been able to prove this. They would have lied on
them. You and I must become the vigilance of what is upholding the law by being
ready to film."
According to The Inquisitr, the city of Rialto,
California, did a controlled study where the city's 70 police officers were
required to wear a video camera that recorded all of their interactions with
the public. In 2012 alone, complaints against Rialto police officers fell by 88
percent, while use of force by officers fell by almost 60 percent.
"When you put a camera on a police
officer, they tend to behave a little better, follow the rules a little
better," Rialto Police Chief William A. Farrar told the Inquisitr.
"And if a citizen knows the officer is wearing a camera, chances are the
citizen will behave a little better."
One of the first videos of alleged police
brutality to gain national notoriety was the 1991 case of Rodney King. Even
though the police officers were found not guilty, which led to a riot in Los
Angeles, the event showed the power video has on public sentiment.
Now, with the advent of social media, videos
are uploaded, posted and sent across the world in a matter of seconds.
Yet, while it's now easy to go onto a social
media site, type in "police brutality" and find hundred of videos,
photos and stories, Sharpton doesn't believe that means there is more of it
taking place than in the past.
"I think there is an increase in the
technology and the ability to prove it," Sharpton said in the radio
interview. "Unfortunately, we hear these complaints everyday, all day. But
now that we have the videotape, we can go public and get a lot of things done.
I don't know if there is an increase in brutality as much as an increase to
establish there's brutality."
Here are just a few of the incidents involving
law enforcement officers over the last two years that caught the attention of
the media and public at large (Warning: The videos below are graphic).
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According to reports, Eric Garner, a 43-year
old New York resident had just broken up a fight when he was confronted by
members of the NYPD July 17. The recording shows Garner telling the officers he
did nothing wrong and he was "tired of it." After being place in a
chokehold and held down on the ground while he complained he couldn't breathe.
Garner died minutes later at the scene.
