Copwatchers who use cameras, not guns to fight police brutality

AFTER Eric Garner’s death at the hands of police, a group of New Yorkers have a new weapon in the battle against police brutality.

WARNING: Graphic content

“I CAN’T breathe.”

It’s more than two years since Eric Garner gasped out those words as he died at the hands of New York police as they put him in a chokehold while trying to arrest him on the street.

Footage of the incident shocked the world. His desperate plea became the catchcry of protesters demanding justice for the succession of death of black men at the hands of US police.

Since his death, a group of New Yorkers have fought back.

But they’re not using guns. They’re using social media and smartphones as their weapons to keep the police and expose the brutal reality of zero tolerance policing.

Meet the Copwatchers: a controversial network of citizen activists who use police scanners and roam New York streets, filming every arrest, 24 hours a day, to expose and stamp out police brutality.

And as a stunning, and sometimes sickening, documentary to air on ABC’s Four Corners tonight shows, they’re willing to run foul of the law themselves to achieve it.

The BBC documentary by Ben Steele, titled NYPD: The Biggest Gang in New York, is a tough watch.

In one scene, footage shot by the copwatchers shows police manhandle a young black man to the ground for flicking a cigarette butt onto the footpath.

Another shows what appears to be a heavily pregnant woman, desperate as her son is arrested, thrown belly-down onto a footpath.

A third shows police walk a handcuffed man to a patrol car for suspected domestic violence. Asked what he has done by those filming, an officer replies: “He hit his wife. We can do whatever the f**k we want with him.”

When he emerges from the car at the police station, the man seems incapable of walking.

The next time he is shown, he is on a stretcher on his way to hospital.

The copwatchers aren’t immune either. While filming police doing their work isn’t illegal, the documentary reveals police don’t like it, and recounts many examples of copwatchers singled out for offences including jaywalking, disorderly conduct, and there are accusations of trumped-up charges. They no longer film alone.

For every 10 people stopped by the NYPD, the documentary reveals, eight are black or Hispanic.

Ramsay Orta, the man who filmed the Garner footage, is a former gang member with a rap sheet a mile long. He admits he’s no angel, but is a changed man since he watched his friend die.

He films so his friend’s death doesn’t count for nothing.

“My main goal is to put pressure on cops. Once they see a camera in somebody’s hand ... or a phone in somebody’s hand, they will think twice,” he says.

Recounting the day Garner died, he says: “The officer had his knee on Eric’s neck like this. And basically holding him down, trying to restrain him while other officers was twisting his arm.

“Watching it now is like it hurts. I get goosebumps because I feel like I could have done a lot more than just stand there and videotape.

“They don’t even try to take the cuffs off him ... they didn’t even try to give him CPR. They just left him there, laying on his side, with his eye rolled back and his mouth open.”

Copwatcher Kim: Aggressive, militant, and hopeful there is a camera rolling to protect her sons. Picture: ABC

There are many sickening moments in the documentary, but among the most jolting is watching Kim coaching her two primary school-aged sons how to behave if approached by police.

She is seen on the streets every week, filming as well as educating those being arrested on their rights.

“I got this on film. He does not consent to a search. So guess what’s going to happen when you get to court (with) this video? Bye bye!” she says as she films one arrest.

“I know I come across as very aggressive and very militant and I am. And I am unapologetic about it because ... day-to-day I see police harass people.”

It’s a far cry from the mother at home, as she schools her boys what to do if approached by police.

“You know if a police officer stops you have to be very careful, right?” she says, as she role-plays the boys through an encounter, telling them co-operating and keeping their arms by their sides is a must.

She suspects it’s only a matter of time until their turn comes. She hopes a camera is rolling when it does.

Four Corners airs tonight at 8.30pm on ABC

Originally published as Copwatchers who use cameras, not guns to fight police brutality