Forum Post: Police abuse (of protesters, reporters, and others) ...

Police physically abusing/arresting journalists for reporting on OWS events, doing the same with protesters, poor/minority city residents, etc. got me thinking. Like the legend of the Danes who wore "Jewish armbands" in a show of solidarity with the Jews (against the Nazi's), we should all don some means to record video, in solidarity with journalists who face police abuse for carrying out their First Amendment rights. A police officer should never be able to abuse privately and with impunity in a city like New York.

The civilian complaint review board has become a joke:

The Civilian Complaint Review Board might as well change its name to the Civilian Complaint Review Ignored. Complaints about police misconduct will hit a record high this year, but the CCRB's budget has been slashed. 26 investigators are being cut from the payroll, so half of the cases will be dropped because investigators can't meet the 18-month statute of limitations.

http://gothamist.com/2009/10/05/complaints_about_nypd_abuse_to_ccrb.php

And this report is a few years old (I'm sure things are much worse by now). The NYPD needs to be monitored by an outside authority (e.g. the Justice Dept., NYS attorney general's office, etc.). We shouldn't have to tolerate this in America, and especially not in New York.