In America, “justice” roughly translates to pushing the things (and people) we perceive as problems under the rug. I think this is something we’re finally becoming aware of (or maybe I’m just becoming aware of it as I go through college and learn about life) but by no means is it new.

The story we’re all familiar with by now: in 2014, Eric Garner died in the hands of the law, a victim of police brutality. There was public outrage, but the justice seen was glaringly American in its absence. In fact, the only person going to prison here is Ramsey Orta, the man who caught the encounter on camera. Last week, Orta started his four-year sentence. While, technically, the time is for unrelated drugs and weapons charges, but that’s a more complicated matter.

On September 29, mere days before he would be stepping behind bars, Ramsey wasn’t at home with his family, or waving goodbye to his freedom with any kind of send off party. He was at Bard College, doing a panel discussion on police brutality, opening up conversations and sharing his story. Other members of the panel include the founder and two other members of WeCopwatch, a group of people across the country dedicated to simply being present for any police intervention they see. This discussion was filmed and shared by Bard's Oblivion Mag.

The basic mentality is that police are much less likely to use unnecessary force when there are eyes (other than a body-cam) on them. Body cameras, the ones that show POV shots from the officer’s perspective, don’t give a cohesive picture. It’s a tactic used in movie making: POV shots done with shaky cameras don’t have to be well-choreographed or look remarkably genuine, they just have to convey the confusion of the scene. This is both why movies aren’t shot entirely from point-of-view and why body-cams are generally not effective as evidence.

This form of justice, again, is just a way of relinquishing responsibility. If all you have are questionable, confusing shots from an officer’s uniform, you can’t see what’s really going on. Unless the civilian involved is directly within the camera’s frame and also perfectly facing the cops head-on, you don’t get a full picture. Not to mention the fact that we can’t see the officer’s body at all. it seems to me that, while good intentioned, body-cams have been a failure, just another way for cops to cover for themselves when something goes wrong. If an officer is beating someone bloody in the street, as long as they yell “Stop resisting!” loud enough to be recorded, enough times to be heard, it’s amazing what they can get away with.

This is where people like Ramsey Orta and the rest of WeCopwatch come in. They act as an objective third party where the police are involved. They do not interfere or hinder the police, but they let their presence be known to all parties, hold up cameras, and make sure that, if something were to happen, there would be a third-person view into the proceedings.

While Ramsey Orta’s going to prison for four years, it is not (officially) because he filmed the Eric Garner incident. The way the law has treated Ramsey and the charges being used to put him away are questionable, but WeCopwatch is not illegal. You would be within your rights to film.

There are many rules you must know first, though. I’m not suggesting you start carrying a camera with you wherever you go or to pull over when you see a cop and someone stopped on the side of the road. Knowing your rights also means knowing when they stop, knowing the limits of the liberties you can take. Fortunately, WeCopwatch is coming out with online classes in 2017 to teach you just that. Keep an eye out, and keep yourselves safe.