Recording Police Brutality: What are your Rights?

When many people think of cops, they think of noble people fighting for justice in our streets: The good guys. In recent years however, words such as verbal abuse, excessive force, and even death have been associated with these people who have previously been looked to as heroes. Cases such as Trayvon Martin and more recently, Michael Brown of Ferguson, Missouri are just two of the many that have hit the news stands highlighting police brutality. One of the  major issues with the two cases mentioned before was the issue of hearsay evidence. Hearsay evidence is when there is no indisputable proof of a situation, so the only thing left is to go off of what people say happened. Many are saying, "If only someone would have been recording."

With all of the technology that Americans have access to today, it seems impossible that there would ever be a situation that one needed to record, and didn't. Sometimes people do record incidents that happen, but don't turn it in to authorities because they aren't aware that they are afforded the right to record police at all times. Cable News Network's (CNN), Will Ripley made a video addressing this very issue in today's society. He shows many different instances where police were caught on camera using excessive and sometimes deadly force on victims. He also showed footage of cops telling people to put their recording devices away so their actions won't be caught on camera. Lastly, Mr. Ripley makes the point that it is the right of all citizens to be able to record police in action as long as they're not interfering in any way.

Whether or not it is right to record police doing their job is debatable. What's not debatable is that all people are afforded the right to record police officers if they feel inclined to do so. This is important for college students to know because they are at an age where they not only need to know all of their rights, but they are more likely to have run-ins with police because of issues such as drinking and speeding. If all college students knew they have a legal right to record police when they have an issue, then maybe they won't end up in situations like Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and countless others. In the case that they do then they have indisputable proof of what happened in order to get justice for themselves.