How can we police the police?
By: Sanford Gardner
Tags: Equity, Police Brutality

As long as there have been police, there have been complaints of police brutality; the only difference is now people have cameras with the ability to finally hold the police accountable. With the recent cases of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many others, the American police system has been put under the spotlight. Many people have even gone as far to suggest that the police system should be completely reformed.

The ability to capture images and save them instantaneously is rather recent but has completely changed the way evidence can be used in court. Instead of just having one person’s word against another’s, it becomes one person’s word against video evidence.

“… [the smartphone’s] ability to make the world witness police brutality toward African-Americans that was all too easy to ignore in the past. We could now see, with our own eyes, the black sides of stories that were otherwise lost when white officers filed their police reports.” — Joanna Stern, Wall Street Journal

This new truth is especially visible in the 2015 murder case of Walter Scott where witness Feidin Santana caught the murder on camera. Feidin Santana was able to think quickly and record the incident with his smartphone. This would lead to a verdict of 20 years in jail for the police officer in trial. His phone video was the key piece of evidence used to convict the police officer.

Image captured by Santana of the police officer killing Walter Scott

Stories like this are only possible because of the invention of the camera phone. In 2009, Karina Vargas caught Johannes Mehserle killing Oscar Grant III at a train station. She had her 10-megapixel Fujifilm with her and was able to record the situation. She said in an interview, “If I had this iPhone back then I would have taken much better video. I would have been able to get closer and I probably would have shared it to Instagram or another place so everyone could see it.”

One aspect of how cell phones have revolutionized holding police officers accountable is its ability to create virality. Social media has become a breeding ground for viral videos. In the past, a video could not be shared to the public in a matter of seconds but now it happens regularly. A great example of videos going viral is the George Floyd video. On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was killed by police officer Derek Chauvin. The altercation was recorded dozens of times and shared millions more. It was able to spread especially quickly due to the cruel way he passed away. The video shows Officer Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd’s neck as he pleaded for help. Many people were outraged and protests against police brutality in response. Derek Chauvin is now being prosecuted for second degree murder and manslaughter; the other officers present are being prosecuted for aiding and abetting murder as well as aiding and abetting manslaughter.

“Getting choked by detectives, yeah, yeah, now check the method

They be askin’ us questions, harass and arrest us…” — Kanye West, Jesus Walks

Cops have gotten away with police brutality too many times for far too long. Now, finally, anyone can produce court changing evidence with the help of smartphones. Although cameras were accessible before smartphones became popular, it was not nearly at the same scale that they are today. This brings up the question: How many cops should be in jail today but are not just because they weren’t being recorded?