Purpose of this Manual
This
manual is meant to provide a basic overview of proven tactics for video taping
police at demonstrations. This information
is presented with the hope of having as many people as possible attending
these demonstrations carrying video cameras and having knowledge of how to
use them effectively. It is hoped that
you the reader will become one of these people.
Why Videotape Police
Video cameras are, if properly employed,
one of the most effective tools for documenting what occurs and containing
excesses by the police.
The majority of arrests are usually a
form of control and harassment. During
a typical demonstration they are usually for trivial things like "jaywalking
or "offensive littering" (i.e. throwing a cigarette butt down in
the street.) Other times, there may
be blatantly over the top behaviors, even involving the use of chemical agents
and projectile weapons, or circling hundreds of demonstrators followed by
mass arrests. In any case, letting
the police know that there’s a record being made and that they are accountable
is one of the best ways for law-abiding citizens to control and prevent these
harassing tactics.
Assembling a Team for Videotaping Police
Like
a person involved in any sort of direct action, the person videotaping may
utilize and might require support. Support
positions may include the following:
-
Buddy. Also known as “eyes.” This person keeps an eye of what’s going on
as the person with the video camera photographs the action. This person is watchful for:
a) Other incidents;
b) Any police officer or officers approaching
the video camera operator.
-
Reporter. This person can provide descriptions of what
occurred for later broadcast or legal records.
This person can also interview witnesses or victims of police misconduct.
What
is important to videotape depends a lot upon what occurs. Sometimes cops seem to be trying to fill a minimum
quota for numbers of arrests. Then
you'll see them arrest people for stupid things like "jaywalking,"
"offensive littering" (i.e. discarding a cigarette butt,) or simply
because someone is standing on the wrong side of a line.
Let's face it, mass demonstrations are big overtime bucks for cops.
For example during the 2001 Seattle WTO Anniversary demonstration,
cops were received about a quarter million dollars to corral a couple of hundred
demonstrations. To justify this continued spending, you need
results, hence cops create arrests.
One
choice to make is how much of a participant you are willing to be while videotaping.
Being as professional and as neutral as possible will maximize your
credibility, both in the field, and when appearing in court later.
If you're there with a fist in one hand, your camera in another and
a shirt that says "fuck the cops", and if your audio tracks got
you saying chants, good luck on getting a jury to believe your tape's an objective
record.
It
is okay, and can be important to let the police know you are videotaping them
while they are making an arrest. While
there are some cops who join the force for altruistic reasons and are relatively
decent people, there are some that seem to enjoy hurting people. Given that a study by the New England Journal
of Medicine showed a substantial number are spousal abusers, this should not
be a complete surprise. Tactics observed
in past demonstrations included police tossing a demonstrator between them
to make it look as if the person was resisting arrest.
Police also circle around people so that what they are doing to them
cannot be seen.
This
is precisely why it is important to videotape every arrest and every potential
arrest that takes place. The police
hate to be seen doing these things and video cameras are simply the best tool
for exposing and controlling this behavior.
If a cop knows that they are being videotaped when an arrest is going
down, the arrest is likely to be a lot gentler.
This is especially true if the cop or cops believe that this tape is
going to be broadcast somewhere. Most
of the local cops have families who live in the area. They don't want their parents, children or spouses
to see them behaving in a brutal manner. Asking the arresting officers questions such
as their names, badge numbers, supervising officer, and the charge can let
the police know they're being watched and get information at the same time.
The more accountable the police officer feels that they are, the better the
chance that they're liable to behave during an arrest.
If
you do tape a cop being particularly brutal, try keeping it on your local
cable access channel for the next six months, making sure the officer's name
gets mentioned a lot. This can do lot
to change behavior.
One
of the most Common techniques cops use when they’re arresting someone or using
excessive force is to circle around their victim or victims so that they can’t
be seen. There are several techniques
for penetrating the cops when they go into a circle during an arrest. One is to simply get in as close as you can.
Since cops have been known to attack cameras with their batons, this
is where older or less expensive cameras are recommended.
It is a really good idea in this situation to have someone holding
the cameraperson’s back and ready to yank him or her out.
The
other strategy when the cops circle around someone they are arresting is to
hold the videocamera above your head and point down. This is where the flip-out view screens on some
of the newer cameras can be most effective. A good image stabilizer is helpful too. If your
camera lacks one of these side screens the best technique has proven to be
putting your lens as wide as it can go and simply pointing the lens at the
action while holding the camera over your head.
In
these sorts of situations most attorneys find it useful to show the physical
relationships between the actors. The most typical charges at demonstrations
revolve around things like people crossing a line on the street or standing
on the curb instead of the sidewalk. Many
an arrest charge has been dismissed simply because it's been shown a person
was not standing where the officer said they were.
If you begin videotaping an incident, it's a good idea to leave the
camera running until the incident is over.
Many prosecutors try to use the gaps in a videotape to attack it.
The
most basic technique for good pictures is to try to brace yourself against
something so that your camera doesn't shake.
Again, the image stabilizer function on your camera can help here,
but it’s still limited in terms of how much it can correct. Since you’re trying
to cover a lot of the action, leaving your camera in wide angle is recommended.
If you’re trying to make a record it’s a good idea to get the time
and location. Since it’s difficult
to get details such as street signs, or badge numbers when you’re on the fly,
it’s often better to read these into your microphone.
If
you’re making a record of an extended event it’s a good idea to record some
tape every five minutes or so. You
can make notes on such things as the demeanor of the crowd, numbers of people
present, number of police present, if they are wearing hard or soft uniforms,
number of weapons that they are carrying, their demeanor, etc. Remember that the police have people in their
employ designated to capture what demonstrators are doing, so your main job
is to keep an eye on the police.
It's
always a good idea to interview witnesses.
The
basic technique for friendly is to start with a very open ended question. This can be something like: "What happened?" "Can you describe it?"
From
there you can start going into specifics.
Things like: "what happened next?" How did folks react? Did you see anyone get hurt? How?" etc.
The general approach if you've got a coherent friendly witness is to
start broad and get narrower and more specific.
If anything's unclear during the interview, it will be unclear to the
audience. Ask them to explain.
If
you're witness may be a little frazzled, you might start with a slightly leading
question: "What did the cops just do?" "So you were just tear gassed, how'd it
happen?" are good examples of
this.
If you've got a witness who's completely frazzled, you might want to
cut your losses, if they're taking too much time.
It's always a balancing act between what your subject's doing and what
else is going on. Hence if you see
others getting the same interview, it may not be the best use of your talents
to cluster in and get the same interview instead, focus on what else is happening
or is likely to happen. Ideally videographers
share their footage.
It's
a good idea to get a contact for the witness.
If you're not someone who's known to them, witnesses may be reluctant
to give their information, even their names. It's understandable. One thing that's worked is to have a piece of
paper that they can mail later to either your organization, or the legal support
group - again a good idea for people to work together.
One
good location to do interviews is around where the medics are working. It's good to have a record of people when their
injuries are fresh, and to make visual documentation of them. Again, though there's a balancing act here,
and you don't want to interfere with someone who's just been injured. Evaluate the situation, take lots of deep breaths
(barring chemical agents) and use common sense.
Another
good thing is to have folks outside the jails t at the end of an action to
talk to releasees about any irregularities or abuses that may have occurred.
If they're too frazzled see the above about getting contact information.
Witnessing Less Lethal Weapons and Other
uses of Force
The
Seattle WTO Ministerial seems to have served as a military trade show for
the merchants of less lethal technology. They've become so omnipresent that
police spraying a few hundred people with pepper spray can be seen as a "restrained
use" even by the alternative (as opposed to corporate) media.
The
important thing to remember is that these weapons all have narrow parameters
around which they are designed to be used, almost none of which are possible
in a demonstration.
Projectile weapons ("rubber bullets,"
"bean bags," "dowels" etc.) should be fired at
certain distances. Even if you
missed an incident on videotape you should read into your video camera a record
of how far the weapon was fired from before it struck someone. Many of these weapons are meant to be skip-fired,
that is not fired directly at people, but ricocheted, off the ground. Note if a weapon is fired directly at someone.
There are limited areas of the body where someone may be struck safely
with these weapons. Generally these are the same areas that it's
okay to spank a child, the meaty areas, the thighs and buttocks, period.
Under almost no circumstance should someone be struck with these weapons
in the head, or remotely near any other vital organ.
Of course these are all violated routinely.
Document them. Get witnesses. Get officer's name, or available of identification
(if none visible, get that.) Oh and
record the time,date, location, and any witness statements about what lead
up to the attack. See above for getting
contact info.
Chemical
Agents include CS or "tear gas" (used on the Viet Cong by our
government) and OC or "pepper spray." There are strict rules about the distance that
these can be used from, and the length of exposure that a victim can receive.
Note these. These weapons should only be used in areas where
there is free flowing air. If it's
a confined place (car, phone booth, doorway, etc), the person's being exposed
to more than even the manufacturer deems safe.
Make a record of this as above. Time,
location, contacts, etc. Also note
if the person receives treatment. These are required by the manufacturers. Interference by cops with medics, or ohers administering
the aid that the cops should is something to document.
It's crucial to have several videotapes. If you videotape an incident, a runner can get
it out of the area and you can continue videotaping. If the cops start a circling
action and look like they’re ready to start making arrests, you can get your
videotape out of the area and keep taping. It’s nerve wracking to have to decide if you
want to stay in an area and get what’s happening, or get out and save the
tape you already shot. It’s better
to prevent yourself from being in that situation.
Choice
of video camera is also something to consider. Video cameras run the gamut from relatively
inexpensive ones costing three hundred dollars or less, to ones that range
into the tens of thousands of dollars.
One
of the first criteria to consider if you're going to be getting close to the
cops is what you can afford to lose. Unfortunately
camera shy cops do occasionally try to break video cameras.
Thus, you may wish to simply purchase a camera that won’t leave you
bankrupt if it’s injured or destroyed. Also
the camera’s that give you the best image on badly lit streets aren’t often
the same ones that get you a clean image of a well-lit interview subject.
Video
cameras come in a variety of tape formats.
Low End Analog
These
are the most basic formats, 8mm, VHS-C and VHS. Of the relatively inexpensive
camcorders on the market, my personal bias is to eight millimeter over the
slightly more convenient VHS-C camcorders, because you get more tape for your
money, slightly better resolution (roughly 240 lines of resolution vs. roughly
280 lines) and the tapes hold up better over repeated use. 8mm gives you a 2 hour tape that can run anywhere
from $2-$8 depending on vendor, and quality of tape. VHS-C gives you a half hour of tape for the
same amount of money and usually records in mono. The one advantage of VHS-C is that it can play
in a VHS VCR – 8mm requires you to use your camera for playback, though it’s
relatively easy to copy to a VHS or other format tape. Reliable no-nonsense 8mm cameras are super cheap
with the influx of digital. $200 is
not unheard of. The draw back to the
influx of digital is that the lower end cameras are not made with as many
features as they once were. Few, for
example, have microphone inputs, which are crucial if you'll be using your
camera to record speakers.
High End Analog
Other
formats will improve your picture markedly and are worth considering if you
are looking at putting your work on the media.
Hi-8, and the somewhat rarer SVHS will give you about 50% more resolution
(roughly 400 lines of resolution) than 8mm or VHS.
You’ll be looking at $300 for the most basic model, though you can
occasionally find them for less as the newer digital cameras become more commonplace. Again, there are problems with less available
features on the camera as digital becomes more pervasive. There are lack of microphone inputs on most
current models. Others don't have an
output that allows the camera to playback and export the tape at full resolution.
The tapes run considerably less money (about half the cost per minute)
of the digital, so can make good, relatively high resolution "thrash"
or secondary cameras.
Digital 8 or Mini DV will double the
resolution of an 8mm or VHS tape (500 lines of resolution), but the starting
point is $500. Most of these cameras have firewire or similar
digital input/output that enables you to copy either to a computer or other
digital video w/o loss of image quality, much like copying a file onto a computer
disc. If you do purchase a digital
it's recommended that you make sure your camera has one of these firewire
inputs. This, and and actual firewire
cable can enable you to trade and copy footage in the field with another videographer
with no loss of image quality whatsoever. The popular format Digital 8 was created out
of the older 8mm technologies. These
cameras can playback older 8mm and hi-8 tapes.
It generally costs less to run these cameras – tapes cost less - and
you tend to get more features for your money.
They have several drawbacks. The
resolution isn’t quite as clean as Mini-DV, the cameras are not as ruggedly
built, and you have to use your camera for all tape playback, as dedicated
Digital 8 decks don't exist. These
do make okay street cameras, and give you the option of doing digital exports
of older 8mm and hi-8 video. However
if this is you're first camera and you're in this price range, you're probably
better off looking at a DV format camera.
Mini DV is slightly higher resolution
though you’re often looking at about $10 or more for a one-hour tape, though
they can go as long as $4. Older Mini-DV
cameras frequently require more light than the other cameras, so can often
produce beautiful video with enough light but can get quite grainy without
it, in most of the newer ones this problem seems to have been defeated. This
is especially true of the higher end cameras with three CCD’s (chips.) You’ll want to pay attention to the lux rating
if you’re doing a lot of night shooting – typically you’d want 1 lux for this
type of work (as the numbers for lux get bigger you’re needing more light).
The optical zoom (the part that comes from a lens, not through electronics)
on older Mini DV is also typically less than on other cameras, though this
seems like it's being recitifed in the newer ones.
There are features to consider which will improve your video, though
they all add a little to the cost.
- Image stabilization is a feature that
eliminates shaking and will improve your picture. These are invaluable when you’re in a jostling
crowd, or moving around police who are trying to block you. It can add about a hundred dollars to the price,
but is becoming ever-more common. There
are several types of image stabilizers; the worst of these digitally crops
your image and losses about 35% of your resolution. The best of these is optical image stabilizer. Also acceptable is the chip based stabilizer
or steady-shot, which has minimal degradation of image.
-Batteries.
The industry is moving from the older Ni-cads to longer running Lithium-ion
batteries. For Ni-cads, there are “no-memory”
batteries that can give you a much longer running time, though still not as
high as the Lithium-ions. With any
of these, whatever your advertiser or sales person tells you, it’s a good
idea to drain them of all power at least once a month, and then give them
a full recharge. Failure to do this
will cause your battery to develop a diminished charge. It’s an excellent idea to have more than one
battery.
- A flip out view screen can be extremely
helpful in a fast moving street scene. Cops
will circle around a demonstrator they’re arresting or beating, push back
onlookers till you’re only able to see a crowd of cops etc. In these cases having a flip screen can let
you hold a camera up in the air and look down, or hold it between a cops legs
all while having a reasonable idea of what you’re videotaping. This can also be helpful in a situation where
a spokesperson is giving a conference and is being circled by reporters.
-A small microphone will also improve
your sound quality. Sound is one of
the weakest components of most non-professional videos.
Choice of microphone depends a lot upon whether you will be video taping
with a reporter. If you have a reporter,
a simple stick microphone will work best.
If there is no reporter, a zoom microphone may be best to capture the
action. Generally it’s a good idea to try to find a
mike from the same manufacturer as the camera to limit compatibility problems.
- A
small light is good for night shooting when much of the worst of police behavior
occurs, though budget conscious activists have accomplished the same thing
with duct tape and a small flashlight. Some
of the newer Sony cameras have an infrared device built into them that can
actually record a decent image with no light for about twenty feet, and can
be extended beyond that with attachments.
- Tripods can provide a more stable picture.
Obviously, the larger ones can slow down your speed, though work great
for videotaping staged events. Some folks have been known to use single legged
unipods.
The Advantages of Looking Professional
Another
school of thought is that the more professional you look, the more the cops
are going to be cautious of you. Activists
and alternative media folk with cameras that look relatively close to what
the networks are carrying, and a press pass from what appears to be a respectable
news organization have been known to chase off phalanxes of cops.
More common is that you are less likely
to get pushed out of an area by the police.
This can allow you to get shots that someone who’s an activist, wearing
a ski-mask and nose rings with a camera will miss: arrests, interviews with spokes-people, etc.
Also, as the cops have begun embracing the technique of blocking all
exits to street demos and arresting everyone inside, more professional looking
videographers have had better luck getting out of these traps.
The other consideration is if you are a representative of a legitimate
media outlet, you are on stronger legal foundation and less vulnerable to
the cops. For example, there is a
If you are considering this route during a large event you may want
to consider applying for a press pass from the municipality where the event
is taking place, or from the organization hosting it.
This will gain you the ability to cross many lines you would not be
able to as a demonstrator.
With
the escalation of police tactics against demonstrators, including chemical
agents and projectile weapons, videographers need to be aware of what is out
there so that they can protect themselves.
Some folks are concerned about the "image" of having a gas
mask. The bottom line is if you’re
lying on the ground with a medic washing tear gas from your eyes, your not
getting video when you should.
A
good basic gas mask is recommended and can be purchased from most local army
surplus type stores. Avoid anything
with glass around the eyes. The Israeli
gas masks are the cheapest, but are not designed to withstand the heavier
duty stuff. It’s also a good idea to
have a discrete looking bag for this, something that looks like more video
gear. Police do tend to target people they perceive
as “threatening” in appearance, so it’s important to be able to carry it discretely.
Since
gas masks have been outlawed at past demonstrations, it’s a good idea to be
familiar with the other alternatives. One
method of improvising a gas mask is to crush charcoal briquettes and sew them
into a cloth. The finished product
must be large enough to cover both mouth and nose. Keep this moist – a sealed plastic bag works
well. Another method is to soak a large
handkerchief in vinegar.
If
gas masks are unavailable, eyes can also be protected with swim goggles or
ski goggles, though the cloth areas of the ski goggles should be covered with
duct tape, or the chemicals may leak in.
Other
good basic articles are bike helmets and the protective gear favored by roller
bladders. These will give some protection
against batons, while at the same time avoiding a threatening appearance that
may provoke police.
Getting Your Videotape Seen
You
may, want to consider, if it’s particularly damning, negotiating with one
of the local stations about airing your piece.
NEVER under any circumstances give these people your original tape. Many of the professionals work daily with the
cops and if they’re not sympathetic with the cops, they’re certainly reluctant
to jeopardize their relationship. Give
the professional media only copies of your tape, and give them only what you'd
want them to show. If events that you
videotape can be reedited, corporate media have been known to do that. Also, if they offer to pay you, read any contract,
and make sure they’re not preventing you from showing the piece anywhere else.
He may be contacted directly at paulrichmond@workingfamilies.com,