The Police Accountability Tour had the opportunity to meet with the creative individuals behind CopWatch of East Atlanta. Having been active in their area since the late aughts, the project established itself as a resource for the community, providing a phone number for people in need of a few individuals armed with cameras to reach out through. Following an experience-based set of collectively understood policies, CopWatch participants are also involved in other actions in the area, including Food Not Bombs.
A pixelated still image from footage damaged in police custody
Stemming from an incident in 2010, and complimented by a similar situation which occurred later, the Atlanta police department has now been specifically trained to permit videography and photography of themselves and their suspects and detainees from a reasonable distance. During the 2010 camera seizure, which helped shape CopWatch of East Atlanta’s policies as well as the police’s, a camera phone was taken from an activist by the police after multiple unlawful requests to terminate the recording. Eventually, the camera was wrestled away, and a revealing phone conversation with the property-seizing officer was documented and disseminated. The officer revealed that the person potentially videotaped being arrested may act as a confidential informant on an investigation. The camera phone would be returned on the condition that the police employee could be granted access to the footage and ensure its deletion. An audio recording of the telephone conversation would secure a $40,000 settlement for the group. Upon retrieving the footage, it was posted publicly in very damaged condition, possibly as a result of its poor handling in police custody, or through intentional sabotage. Since that time, CopWatch of East Atlanta has adopted policies to prevent the loss of objective documentation of a scene by working in groups, wearing uniforms, keeping distances between videographers, and observing numerous other safety precautions. Recently at the DeKalb County public library, the group offered to the public a know-your-rights training session. (more…)
Outside of the jurisdiction of the AKPF, Garret ventures about Chicago to meet the agents of the ACPF – Aqua Chicago Parking Force. In town as part of the 2013 Police Accountability Tour, Pete and Garret spent hours on the streets in search of authorities to film before stumbling upon a parking enforcer issuing citations just North of downtown. During the conversation about modern parking enforcement in the United State’s third largest metro, the concept of Robin Hooding is introduced. The reason for the city of Keene’s lawsuit against Robin Hooders did not have to be explained to Agent #734. “This city depends upon that revenue…That’s the reason why you’re getting sued, because this is revenue.” In fact, the recently retired uniform of Chicago’s parking enforcers included a reflective safety vest with large text reading REVENUE embroidered on the rear. It is refreshing to hear honesty up-front from the individuals tasked with revenue collection in the ACPF. Chi-Town officials were on the ball at preventing the Merry People from being able to perform saves in their streets, as they removed all coin-operated meters in favor of kiosks roughly two years ago. Despite the difficult one would face trying to comp the parking of others in the Windy City, Agent #734 parted Garret with, “Keep doing what you do, man!” Check out the special Aqua Chicago Parking Force feature embedded below to get a sampling of parking enforcement under the dominion of Rahm Emanuel.
How many of us have been told by police employees that the reason they must take such aggressive actions is to “make it home to my family”? That mindset, according to Threat Management Center founder Dale Brown, is flawed. Instead, those tasked with protecting others – those who take a salary to do so, should have as their highest priority the safety of others.
Incentives matter. Police, as currently structured, will never provide protection, justice or be accountable. Dale Brown and his colleagues at Threat Management center are proving that these services are better supplied through consensual interactions.
RELATED RESOURCES
[website] Threat Management Center The objective of our organization is to make the world safer by denying the opportunity for violence to take place. By using tactical psychology, tactical law, and tactical skills, we create conditions which, by design, are not conducive for violence. V.I.P.E.R.S. Threat Management emphasizes the use of deterrence, detection, and defense to achieve non-violent outcomes.
[website] Police Accountability Tour The Police Accountability Tour, on the road from mid-August until December, will maximize police accountability by facilitating connections and collaboration among those who know that badges don’t grant extra rights, and through skill sharing and the capturing and dissemination of relevant content. This tour will help further connect individuals involved with Cop Block, Cop Watch, and Peaceful Streets groups as well as all police-watching groups and people around the world, so we can together advance a reality free from institutionalized violence. (more…)
This lengthy post is basically a partial biography and tells my story in some detail about my path to liberty and spirituality:
I just can’t do it anymore. I have had enough of paying for this inhumane and insane state system.
It’s more than just a system – “the state” is a belief system and a religion. It is an evil religion that masquerades as though it is good.
Of course, I didn’t always think like this.
I suppose I should start at the beginning. Probably like you, I attended state-run school while growing up. They told me I was “gifted” – a designation that to this day I find ridiculous – so I went to the state school where the other “gifted” students went. School still sucked, but I had no idea how much worse it was at the other schools as I was insulated at the institution that was generally inhabited by the kids of the elite, though there were exceptions, including me. My family were middle class Presbyterians. (more…)
My name is Rich Paul. Last year, on May 31st, I was arrested by the Keene Police department. I was transported to the police station, where I expected to be booked for some crime. But I was not booked. Instead, I was taken to Special Agent Philip Christiana, who attempted to blackmail me. I was threatened with 81 years in prison, for delivery of marijuana and delivery of a substance purported to be LSD. I had, indeed, delivered marijuana as alleged, but had not purported anything to be LSD. The told me I had only one chance to save myself from them … that was to go on selling marijuana, but at the same time to spy on my friends at the Keene Activist Center, a political association of which I am a member.
I invoked my right to council, but Christiana said that if I did not relent, that the offer would be withdrawn, and that I would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and that no plea bargains would be offered to me at any time. I wanted to hear what he had to say, so I did relent and waived my right to council. I said that I would not make any kind of deal with him without being represented by council, to protect my interests. I also told him that we would not be negotiating with him, because he did not have the authority to give me immunity, and because law enforcement officers are permitted to lie to suspects, and that I could not trust him for that reason. He responded with a lie … (more…)
This video set from the New Hampshire Liberty Forum details what may become the most significant technological and economic innovation for advancing human liberty. Bitcoin, a crypto-currency that has multiplied in value over the last year, seems to be replacing silver and other precious metals as the best investment and inflation hedge. With a fixed rate of production, there is no counterfeiting concern, from either third parties or the issuing authority. The digital platform allows for any quantity of payment to be distributed to anywhere that can connect to the internet, almost instantly. Bitcoin eclipses modern financial institutions in terms of transaction processing abilities, and the decentralized design of the program provides multiple layers of security to meet the user’s custom needs. Hosting the panel on the revolutionary alternative to fiat currency are Erik Vorhees, Roger Ver, and Charlie Shrem. Since being uploaded three days ago to the Fr33manTVraw channel, the first of eight videos from the presentation has over 1500 views.
Heroic liberty activist 
