Spain to ban photography of the police. They are unable to cope with the bad press of pictures of ci - Polidicks

[quote][I]As anti-austerity protests spread around the country, the Spanish government is drafting a law prohibiting citizens from taking photos and video of riot police on the job. Video already released on YouTube shows police firing rubber bullets into crowds and beating demonstrators. The proposed ban on citizen photography seems to have prompted even more people to join protests and take pictures, including 12 year old Paula Carrasco.[/I] AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: In Spain, the government is drafting a law that would forbid citizens from taking photos or video of police on the job. That's after several amateur videos popped up on YouTube showing riot police beating anti-austerity protesters. Large numbers of police have also been injured in the clashes. As Lauren Frayer reports from Madrid, the idea of banning the use of cameras at public protests has raised all kinds of questions, from is it fair to is it even enforceable? (SOUNDBITE OF CHANTING PROTESTERS) LAUREN FRAYER, BYLINE: As Spain's economy has tanked, angry protests have become a weekly, often daily fixture in downtown Madrid. And often, the next day, graphic videos emerge. (SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEO) FRAYER: This recent clip uploaded to YouTube shows Spanish riot police pursuing protesters into Madrid's (unintelligible) railway station late at night. They fire rubber bullets into a crowd on a train platform. An older man tries to shield a younger possibly handicapped man who appears to be holding crutches. UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Speaking foreign language) FRAYER: Shame, shame, the older man yells at police. Last month, Amnesty International called on Spain to stop what it called excessive use of force and human rights violations against protesters. But weeks after that warning, another video emerged from the eastern city of Tarragona showing riot police beating a 13-year-old boy on the ground. (SOUNDBITE OF SIRENS) FRAYER: None of the videos could be independently verified, but images like this have sparked threats against police and their families. Riot troops have started covering up their names and badge numbers when they go out into the streets. Activists say that allows police to act with impunity. Protesters can't log complaints against anonymous officers. The standoff prompted the director general of Spanish police, Ignacio Cosido, to call for a ban on the capture, reproduction and editing of images, sounds and even information about police while they're working. IGNACIO COSIDO: (Through translator) What this law seeks is a balance between the protection of citizens' rights and those of security forces. FRAYER: The law is still being drafted. It's unclear whether it would pass parliament and legal experts say it would be almost impossible to enforce. Arturo Rodriguez is a photographer who sometimes works for the New York Times here in Madrid. He wonders what the law would mean for freelancers and citizen journalists. ARTURO RODRIGUEZ: It's very important that the people go to the street and say that this is my country. This is my life. I need the help of my government, not the violence of my government. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NEWS CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Dateline Spain, July 18th, 1936, the maelstrom of civil war pitted fiercely loyal Spaniards against one another in a battle to the death. FRAYER: Heavy-handed police hearkened back to the days of Francisco Franco, the military dictator who ruled Spain until his death in 1975. The country is still divided over his legacy. Emotions flared when members of Spain's ruling party, which has historic ties to Franco's regime, congratulated riot police for their efforts. Rodriguez, the photographer, says Spain is like two countries in one. RODRIGUEZ: One of this country's people say it's no matter on the police that we have is a very good police. And the other half of the country, it's like, okay, we need to go to the streets all together and work for our future. FRAYER: Activists say camera ban would infringe on their freedom of speech and assembly and the mere suggestion of such a rule appears to have prompted more people to join the protests and bring along their cameras. Police assemble barricades ahead of another planned protest outside Spain's parliament. Passersby stop and stare. Twelve-year-old Paola Karaskas(ph) snaps a photo with her cell phone. She says she's heard about the controversy over photos of police. PAOLA KARASKAS: (Speaking foreign language) FRAYER: I think it's very bad, she says. They don't want us to reveal or broadcast the true nature of these protests. Having grown up with YouTube and Twitter, the girl says she doesn't even trust TV. KARASKAS: (Speaking foreign language) FRAYER: We need to know the reality that's out there for ourselves, she says. For NPR News, I'm Lauren Frayer in Madrid.[/quote] [url=http://www.npr.org/2012/11/21/165675687/amid-protests-spain-tries-banning-photos-of-police]Source[/url] /facepalm

Franco would be proud.

They'll just protest it by doing it anyways.

spain is one hell of a country

This is why Spain is the world's best country.

This is a perfectly good law. Just because those rabble-rousers and anarchists don't have jobs doesn't mean they can make the police's job harder.

It's sad I had to knew about this here and not in Spanish newspapers or the news. I know that usually the news only show the attacks to the demonstrators, which are usually started by some idiots mocking off the riots. I have seen pictures of a girl showing her ass to the riots and licking their shields before getting arrested, and many are started by just three or four guys trying to get through the fences the police puts up. Still, the riots shouldn't act like that. A woman lost her eye or at least partially her vision due to a rubber bullet, those things are just bigger bullets that don't leave a hole, I have seen classmates with bruises like fists. They are supposed to be forbidden, but you can see they are still being used. The saddest thing is the government doesn't care about the demonstrations, they have no effect on it.

You know the main reason police don't like being photographed is because generally the public doesn't have the stomach for real police work. A lot of times it gets rough and some extra force is needed and it's completely lawful, but then it gets them in trouble anyway because footage of SOME of what happened gets out and the public starts whining about it. 99% of people don't know how hard it is to handcuff someone that doesn't want to be handcuffed

[QUOTE=TheTalon;38555321]You know the main reason police don't like being photographed is because generally the public doesn't have the stomach for real police work. A lot of times it gets rough and some extra force is needed and it's completely lawful, but then it gets them in trouble anyway because footage of SOME of what happened gets out and the public starts whining about it. 99% of people don't know how hard it is to handcuff someone that doesn't want to be handcuffed[/QUOTE] Then they should suck it the fuck up, banning people from photographing police is completely outrageous in any country that purports to be or approximate a free-speech democracy.

[QUOTE=TH89;38557296]Then they should suck it the fuck up, banning people from photographing police is completely outrageous in any country that purports to be or approximate a free-speech democracy.[/QUOTE] Hard to suck it up when some video showing perfectly lawful police work makes you lose your career. And there's people out there that instigate issues on camera with police just for the sake of doing it

[QUOTE=TheTalon;38557311]Hard to suck it up when some video showing perfectly lawful police work makes you lose your career. And there's people out there that instigate issues on camera with police just for the sake of doing it[/QUOTE] Good point. Some cops might conceivably lose their jobs, that's certainly a great reason to remove citizens' only recourse against abusive law enforcement. What planet do you live on dude.

Next up: Banning suing police for abuse of power.

[QUOTE=TheTalon;38557311]Hard to suck it up when some video showing perfectly lawful police work makes you lose your career.[/QUOTE] Wow, you're one stupid brown noser. When has that ever happened? Because it HASN'T. Seriously, name me one single instance that this has ever happened. It's very, VERY hard for police to get fired for things they do on duty, even if they do use excessive force.

[QUOTE=TheTalon;38555321]You know the main reason police don't like being photographed is because generally the public doesn't have the stomach for real police work.[/QUOTE] No, it's because they don't like being watched. That's it. We already know of a way to reduce the impact of footage of police activities- officer POV cameras, which have been demonstrated to hugely reduce claims against officers and improve officer conduct (enough so to offset the cost of the equipment). If anyone genuinely cared about reducing false claims, they would buy those systems. Police don't like being recorded because they're human, and humans like to be left to handle things the way they want to, for better (or much more frequently) for worse.

What next? Banishment of throwing explosives at police? Fucking dictatorship.

[QUOTE=TheTalon;38557311]Hard to suck it up when some video showing perfectly lawful police work makes you lose your career. And there's people out there that instigate issues on camera with police just for the sake of doing it[/QUOTE] Over here in america, video footage of police brutality only warrants "Two weeks of paid vacation".

[QUOTE=TheTalon;38557311]Hard to suck it up when some video showing perfectly lawful police work makes you lose your career. And there's people out there that instigate issues on camera with police just for the sake of doing it[/QUOTE] That never fucking happens. Even when real police brutality is caught on tape, the police rarely get into trouble.

[QUOTE=TheTalon;38557311]Hard to suck it up when some video showing perfectly lawful police work makes you lose your career. [/QUOTE] ehem. Lawful doesnt mean correct. Law can be wrong and people can protest that, considering the thread topic this should be obvious.

A better option would be to tackle police brutality itself, rather than tackling people taking pictures/videos of police brutality.

[QUOTE=st_nick5;38563189]A better option would be to tackle police brutality itself, rather than tackling people taking pictures/videos of police brutality.[/QUOTE] Thanks captain.

good their suits are fucking atrocious A++ country, would live in it again

should we train our policemen to not be huge dicks ? Nah, let's give them another excuse to be dicks !

Pics or it didn't happen.

In spain you can be sued for having pictures of anyone without their permission, I took a picture of a kid in my class, he started shouting and screaming "I'm gonna fucking sue you you prick"

reminds me about guantanamo or somewhere where they stopped taping interrogations for exact same reasons

[QUOTE=smallfry;38553260]Franco would be proud.[/QUOTE] Goddamnit, I had that going through my mind as I clicked on the thread. Ninja'd by two days :suicide:

[QUOTE=TH89;38557355]Good point. Some cops might conceivably lose their jobs, that's certainly a great reason to remove citizens' only recourse against abusive law enforcement. What planet do you live on dude.[/QUOTE] Go out and put away some people who break the law, and try and deal with the ones who don't cooperate. Calling people sir and being polite doesn't work on people not willing to cooperate, and as far as the law goes, once someone is under arrest, you can use the force necessary to put them in cuffs and bring their asses to jail. But when they try, and the guy puts up a fight, and it's filmed, and some flake like Nancy Grace who of all people should know since she was an attourney gets ahold of it and puts it all over television painting the officer in a bad light even if what he did was completely justified and right, it puts pressure on the department and the officers in question to do something for the sake of PR. Face facts dude. You all rate me dumb because you're idiots and live in a fantasy world where you think being polite and courteous to criminals always works. It doesn't. I would wager to say more good officers just doing their jobs have suffered, and have absolutely been fired because of being filmed, and the public over reacting, than bad officers being caught and punished being cunts. I never said that this should or shouldn't be banned, I was just telling you all the reasoning as to WHY it's up for discussion

[QUOTE=TheTalon;38555321]You know the main reason police don't like being photographed is because generally the public doesn't have the stomach for real police work. A lot of times it gets rough and some extra force is needed and it's completely lawful, but then it gets them in trouble anyway because footage of SOME of what happened gets out and the public starts whining about it. 99% of people don't know how hard it is to handcuff someone that doesn't want to be handcuffed[/QUOTE] So rather than addressing underlying societal issues that cause people to break laws, it's better to ban police being publicly accountable for their actions. Brilliant! By your logic the police may as well be walking around in balaclavas.

[QUOTE=TheTalon;38582336]Go out and put away some people who break the law, and try and deal with the ones who don't cooperate. Calling people sir and being polite doesn't work on people not willing to cooperate, and as far as the law goes, once someone is under arrest, you can use the force necessary to put them in cuffs and bring their asses to jail. But when they try, and the guy puts up a fight, and it's filmed, and some flake like Nancy Grace who of all people should know since she was an attourney gets ahold of it and puts it all over television painting the officer in a bad light even if what he did was completely justified and right, it puts pressure on the department and the officers in question to do something for the sake of PR. Face facts dude. You all rate me dumb because you're idiots and live in a fantasy world where you think being polite and courteous to criminals always works. It doesn't. I would wager to say more good officers just doing their jobs have suffered, and have absolutely been fired because of being filmed, and the public over reacting, than bad officers being caught and punished being cunts. I never said that this should or shouldn't be banned, I was just telling you all the reasoning as to WHY it's up for discussion[/QUOTE] Uhm hey dude no one's saying you can't use physical force to apprehend an uncooperative suspect. If the officer isn't breaking regulations he's not going to get fired regardless of what the public thinks. Public photography of police activity will only help improve officer conduct.

[QUOTE=TheTalon;38582336]Go out and put away some people who break the law, and try and deal with the ones who don't cooperate. Calling people sir and being polite doesn't work on people not willing to cooperate, and as far as the law goes, once someone is under arrest, you can use the force necessary to put them in cuffs and bring their asses to jail. But when they try, and the guy puts up a fight, and it's filmed, and some flake like Nancy Grace who of all people should know since she was an attourney gets ahold of it and puts it all over television painting the officer in a bad light even if what he did was completely justified and right, it puts pressure on the department and the officers in question to do something for the sake of PR. Face facts dude. You all rate me dumb because you're idiots and live in a fantasy world where you think being polite and courteous to criminals always works. It doesn't. I would wager to say more good officers just doing their jobs have suffered, and have absolutely been fired because of being filmed, and the public over reacting, than bad officers being caught and punished being cunts. I never said that this should or shouldn't be banned, I was just telling you all the reasoning as to WHY it's up for discussion[/QUOTE] Good, then make all the cops wear cameras so they can show people their side of the story. In a democracy, the police serve the people. If the public "can't stomach" what they're doing, they need to stop, regardless of how much of a stiffy they're giving internet authoritarians.