Does the public have a right to monitor and communicate about police actions?

I find this news report very troubling. A NY man was arrested under accusations that he was coordinating with protestors via electronic means so that they could evade law enforcement officers.

A self-described New York City anarchist has been accused of tweeting the location of police officers to protesters trying to evade them during the Group of 20 economic summit in Pittsburgh. [...]

According to the criminal complaint, officers acting on a tip arrested Madison at the Carefree Inn on Kisow Drive in Pittsburgh. The complaint said Madison and another man were found in a room in front of computers and telecommunications equipment, wearing headphones, and surrounded by maps, contact numbers and police and emergency scanners. The men were communicating with protesters by cell phone and Internet, including Twitter, the complaint said.

My thoughts are: if the police are allowed to use electronic and other methods against individuals asserting their basic rights, shouldn’t regular people be able to use those same types of methods in their own defense? There must be some basic power or authority that the ordinary citizen has as a check against police and military powers. The courts are all well and good and the Law is the Law, but as state institutions, the courts are always going to be skewed in favor of the police and their actions simply by association and mutually supporting structures.

I’ve often considered a similar subject here in Baltimore with the blue light cameras used by police to visually monitor “troubled” neighborhoods, in lieu of actually having beat cops patrolling the streets, being part of the community and making positive change through the example of their character. If police can have cameras pointing into our neighborhoods, what if we went out and took photos, GPS and other information about the cameras and posted it in a public place? Stories like the above in New York (along with a measure of common sense) lead me to believe that such a monitoring action by the public of the police would land one immediately in a whole mess of trouble. I’m not sure that that’s right, but I’m also not sure what else to do…

Suggestions? Comments?


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This entry was written by happy thanksgiving, y'all!, posted on October 5, 2009 at 1:03 pm.

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4 Comments

  1. working on a mask
    Posted October 5, 2009 at 1:20 pm | Permalink

    Related news item out of Honduras:

    Evidently, civil rights have been “temporarily” suspended there…

    TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — An emergency decree that prohibited large street protests and limited other civil liberties following the return of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya will be repealed within 24 hours, the country’s interim leader said Monday. [...]

    The decree empowered police and soldiers to break up public meetings, arrest people without warrants and restrict the news media, with armed troops stationed throughout the capital to enforce the order.

    The main effect of the emergency decree was to close down the two main pro-Zelaya media outlets, Radio Globo and Channel 36, and it blocked protest marches for several days. Zelaya supporters eventually ventured out to demonstrate, but in much smaller numbers than before.

    While the decree was in force, the government also retook control of a government Agrarian Institute building that had been occupied by protesters. They detained about 55 people and lodged sedition charges against 38, who were still in custody over the weekend.

    Police spokesman Orlin Cerrato said about 1,000 people were detained for violating a curfew that was imposed before the decree.

  2. alistair
    Posted October 8, 2009 at 2:22 am | Permalink

    well, flashing your lights at oncoming traffic to warn them of a radar trap will get you pulled over if the cops catch you here in canada…..

  3. working on a mask
    Posted October 8, 2009 at 4:20 pm | Permalink

    wow, thats intense! how would they catch you though? how could they prove you were flashing your lights for that specific purpose?

  4. working on a mask
    Posted October 8, 2009 at 4:31 pm | Permalink

    Sent by a friend, a list of the new speed cameras around Baltimore City (the table this data was in got a little mucked up, but oh well):

    Count Enforcement Street Direction of Enforcement at Cross St
    1 33rd Street EB @ The Alameda
    2 The Alameda SB @ 33rd Street
    3 Caton Ave NB @ Benson Avenue
    4 Caton Ave SB @ Benson Avenue
    5 Liberty Heights Avenue EB @ Hillsdale Road
    6 Liberty Heights Avenue WB @ Hillsdale Road
    7 Harford Road NB @ The Alameda
    8 Edmondson Avenue EB @ Cooks Ln
    9 Edmondson Avenue EB @ Woodridge Road
    10 Edmondson Avenue WB @ Woodridge Road
    11 Frederick Avenue EB @ Catherine Street
    12 Harford Road NB @ Christopher Avenue
    13 MLK Jr Boulevard SB @ Pratt Street
    14 Franklin Street WB @ Pulaski
    15 Harford Road NB @ Rosalie Avenue
    16 Walther Avenue NB @ Glenmore Avenue
    17 Wilkens Avenue EB @ Desoto Road
    18 Cold Spring Lane WB @ Hillen Rd
    19 Cold Spring Lane WB @ Loch Raven Boulevard
    20 Sinclair Lane WB @ Moravia Road
    21 Sinclair Lane EB @ Shannon Drive
    22 Sinclair Lane WB @ Shannon Drive
    23 Orleans Street EB @ Linwood Street
    24 Eastern Avenue EB @ Kane Street
    25 Hillen Road SB @ Argonne Drive
    26 Liberty Heights Avenue NB @ Dukeland Street
    27 North Avenue WB @ Howard Street
    28 Northern Parkway WB @ Springlake Way
    29 Northern Parkway WB @ Waverly Way
    30 Northern Parkway EB @ Greenspring Ave
    31 Northern Parkway WB @ Greenspring Ave
    32 Charles Street SB @ Lake Avenue
    33 Reisterstown Road SB @ Fallstaff Road
    34 Cold Spring Lane EB @ Tamarind Rd
    35 Wilkens Avenue EB @ Pine Heights Avenue
    36 Erdman Avenue EB @ Macon Street
    37 Erdman Avenue WB @ Macon Street
    38 Madison Street WB @ Caroline Street
    39 Franklin Street WB @ Cathedral Street
    40 Orleans Street EB @ Gay Street
    41 Park Heights Avenue NB @ Violet Avenue
    42 Patapsco Avenue WB @ 4th Street
    43 Perring Parkway SB @ Belvedere Avenue
    44 Pulaski Highway EB @ Monument Street
    45 Northern Parkway WB @ Park Heights
    46 Park Heights Avenue NB @ Hayward Avenue
    47 Park Heights Avenue SB @ Hayward Avenue
    48 Cold Spring Lane EB @ Roland Avenue
    49 MLK Jr Boulevard NB @ Washington
    50 Lombard Street WB @ Gay Street
    51 Harford Road SB @ Walther Avenue

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