"Why are Canadian Police Targeting Journalists?"

I have been witness, on many occasions, to inapproprapriate police behaviour. I have witnessed people being roughed up, pushed around and harassed by the police in this city.  Such events are witnessed by other citizens all of the time. A cross between not knowing our rights, atomized individuality (refusing to interfere as it will cause them to be involved - thus somehow reponsible) and just plain denial (what they are seeing is actually unethical, immoral and against the law!) are allowing these situations to continue.  I find it amazing how quickly individuals dismiss one's claim of indiscretion because they have never seen such acts with their own eyes. Folks, especially who drive everywhere and don't participate in the culture of the core, will completely dismiss these observations.  In fact, an acquaintance of mine who witnessed such a situation, with his own eyes (he is a suburbanite who drives everywhere and actively refuses to take the bus), does not recall the event in the same fasion that he did immediately after the incident. He has actively changed what took place in his mind. I would suspect this shift of thought is to justify the occurance so he does not have to deal with the moral responsibility associated with witnessing police indiscretion. If such acts were filmed, there would be no argument. Nor would there be a problem in court proving the police indiscretion. It is so bad in this city, that I was not sure if I should write this, in a blog, that few people read, in fear of the slight chance the police will see it.  I would feel their retribution no doubt. It feels like dealing with organized crime - except these chaps are funded by the state and backed up by the judiciary.  What the hell is our police oversight committee doing about this? Not much.

Why are Canadian Police Targeting Journalists highlights how the police are willing to act toward official mainstream media personel. First, if the police are willing to act this way with people in positions of power, how the hell do you think they are acting with people who don't have a media outlit at their disposal? How about with people who have a lack of credibility in the public eye (convicted 'criminal' - whatever that means)? What about folks who don't have the resources to hire a lawyer (one who actually cares about the case - duty council doesn't cut it)?... the list goes on and on. Secondly, if the police aren't worried about 'bad press' anymore, what the hell is stopping them? The only organized body that I can see is the Community and Protective Services Committee. It seems like some involvement there will be necessary. Possibly, a citizens subcommittee to the main advisory committee is what is needed. Until such time where we actually have a  subcommittee devoted to citizen testimonials, I will make a strong suggestion - record everything. Keep your cell phone cam's handy, or save some space in your backpack for your camera.  We need to capture this stuff on 'tape' (or a long string of 1 and 0's - 1101000100111). I believe the new Londoncommons website will have embedded video options so posting them here will be a start. I can hear that voice inside the heads of the more experienced folks out there "ya right, they just threaten us when we video tape them" or "they actively stand right in front of the camera when I'm trying to film". 

The most frustrating examples of police "oversight": folks are forced to stop filming a situation because they are "interfering with police business". Obviously different police are going to act in different ways to each situation. unfortunately for the public, the same individual police officer who is hyper aggressive and manipulative (well outright dismissive of the law) will be the same person that confiscates your camera or threatens you with arrest. These are obviously the most important people to continue filming!

What are our legal rights are when it comes to filming the police while they are 'at work'?