During an armed standoff in a house, the cops had the front street closed at each end of the block, I couldn’t get any good footage. So I wandered a bit along the back lane across the street, maybe get something from between houses.
Some folks invited me into their house for a better view. As luck would have it they were right across the street from the incident.
For a good 20 mins I rolled tape as suspects were pulled out of the house. the cops didn’t beat anyone, it was tense but their actions weren’t out of line. The story ran with all faces blurred…
Cops came down hard on me for crossing a police line & trespassing, tried to make a big deal about it. Talk of charges and seizing my gear.
Fortunately I was rolling the whole time, footage showed zero evidence of police controlling access to lane… no tape, no barricades… I was invited on to private land by the owners. We rebutted each accusation with proof, police didn’t come off looking to good after that.
I say record, record record. Never stop recording. But DON’T be a dick about it. Don’t sass the cops, don’t strut like you’ve got an absolute right to be there. You might be asked to move further away… sometimes it IS for your safety… other times ACAB wanna ACAB and not get seen doing their ACAB things.
As well, with your iPhone in portrait mode held over the police tape and you yelling “World Star Yo !! got your asses on Facebook” you might bring unwanted attention to yourself.
And here’s the biggest thing to remember - a cop can still detain you, can still accidently smash your phone or face in the heat of the moment and then release you 30 minutes later. They didn’t put you into custody with the idea of you facing a lengthy trial and a proper flow of justice. They wanna shut you down right there and then, deal with the slap on their wrist later.
