As time goes on one thing is becoming increasingly clear about our government and the actions of our police forces: they do not like to be watched.
A simple Google search will bring up many results of officers and officials from the government assaulting law-abiding citizens who are in the midst of filming police actions. And while many of these encounters make it out into the public view, there are just as many accounts of police confiscating and then deleting photos and video, resulting in many encounters that never see the light of day.
If you or I deleted footage taken from the scene of the crime, we would be charged with destruction of evidence. If police do it, it seems to be considering standard operating procedure.
In addition to authorities not wishing to be filmed while in the middle of conducting their business, it is also becoming clear that they sure do love to film us.
Recently the City of Philadelphia announced a new mobile support vehicle which has a full range of surveillance mechanisms built into it. As mentioned in the linked article, "The cameras can remotely pan, tilt, zoom. They have night vision infrared so that we're able to use them on a 24/7 basis."
Of course the kinder, gentler reason for needing the vehicle is for "security" at public events. But no doubt you will soon be seeing these vehicles at protests and rallies where normal average Americans are practicing their freedoms of speech and free association.
Increasingly disturbing is the fact that not only are authorities starting to monitor every move we make in a public setting, they are now deploying facial recognition technology to identify, catalog, and label us. If you show up for instance to a marijuana anti-prohibition rally, there is a good chance you will now be logged in a database and identified.
Recently the FBI chose to publicly disclose for the first time by way of CBS's "60 Minutes" news program, the largest facial recognition database in the world. And if you think this is going to be just in the hands of the FBI, you are deluding yourself. The Department of Homeland Security is increasingly interested in getting their own hands on the same technology. Coupling this news with the fact the DHS was spying on the Occupy Wall Street protests on a daily basis, the implications of all this is terrifying.
It is now becoming clear. The government's official position seems to be "do not watch us, but we will be watching you".
So what do we do? How do we combat an increasing apparatus that squashes free speech, catalogs peacful protesters, and likes to hide their actions? We shine even more light on them.
With the advent of smart phones and digital recording devices that are affordable by almost anyone, we should be on the front lines filming everything. Those with smartphones who attend protests should utilize services like Ustream or Qik.
Organizations should come together and develop other technologies to record photos and video that can't be deleted, and are encrypted or immediately disseminated online or to others nearby. Photos and video of violent police actions at peaceful protests or public gatherings should immediately make their way to Facebook and Twitter, so the real story of what happens gets out, not the watered down news bites spokespeople feed to the media.
There is a wealth of technology out there to help protect us. We should not live in fear of our government, and the threat of unjust police brutality. In fact we should expose it immediately for all to see. Peaceful protesters are not criminals. And it is about time they stop being treated as such.
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