Watching the Watchers and McLuhan's Tetrad: The Limits of Cop-Watching in the Internet Age

Abstract

Video-taping police actions as a form of political activism—also known as “cop watching”—has been an activity which has garnered much scrutiny and media attention in recent years. Many hold the idea of cop watching as a realization of the democratic potential promised to us by the Internet. Primarily drawing from the theoretical lens provided by Marshall McLuhan, however, this essay argues that the medium is the message or, rather, the use of video clips shared through the internet may actually neutralize to some extent the political potential of this form of activism in many ways. As such, caution is warranted in over-emphasizing the power that video-activism may bring in halting or at least drawing attention to acts of police brutality and corruption.

Camera-friendly Policing: How the Police Respond to Cameras and Photographers

“…In addition, the development of social media has enabled these citizens to easily share any footage they record with a potentially massive body of Internet users who can discuss what they see (Greer and McLaughlin 2010;Schaefer and Steinmetz 2014). The surveillance of police, therefore, represents an empowering form of "sousveillance" (Mann, Nolan, and Wellman 2003) as members of the general public are increasingly able to engage in bottom-up observation which denies legal authorities their ability to work under low visibility conditions, and creates opportunities to observe, scrutinize, and critique police work so that officers will be held accountable for their decisions.…”

“…Accordingly, the police's growing visibility has been the subject of extensive debate and speculation in recent years, likely in response to the regular influx of controversial videos showing police violence (Wilson and Serisier 2010;Greer and McLaughlin 2010, 2011Stuart 2011;Toch 2012;Schaefer and Steinmetz 2014;Evans 2015;Brown 2015;Sandhu and Haggerty 2015). Activist organizations like CopWatch (see http://www.berkeleycopwatch.org) speculate that the surveillance of police offers citizens a new way to expose abuses of power and deter misconduct.…”

Becoming the Camera: Body Worn Video and Shifting Expectations of Police Work

“…These discussions draw on the figure of the cyborg human with augmented capabilities, which may explain the continued optimism toward wearables as extensions of the body (Dvorak 2008;Mann 2001). In a related vein, the potential for wearables to empower users has been the focus of those who see BWV as a means for individuals to gain an increased level of control over their surroundings (Mann 2001;Schaefer & Steinmetz 2014). Dvorak (2008) presents an extensive history of wearable technologies from early dreams of futuristic cyborgs to the necessary characteristics that make modern wearables successful including size and technical simplicity.…”

“…In an effort to turn the tables and shed light on police misconduct, many citizens have used video technology to record the police -something that has become increasingly common due to the prevalence of smartphones with excellent video capacity (Schaefer & Steinmetz, 2014;Wall & Linneman 2014). Schaefer and Steinmetz (2014) consider cop-watching, "a form of video-activism where citizens attempt to expose deviant police behaviour, monitor routine interactions between citizens and the police, and to challenge the largely unidirectional gaze of surveillance" (p. 503).…”

“…In an effort to turn the tables and shed light on police misconduct, many citizens have used video technology to record the police -something that has become increasingly common due to the prevalence of smartphones with excellent video capacity (Schaefer & Steinmetz, 2014;Wall & Linneman 2014). Schaefer and Steinmetz (2014) consider cop-watching, "a form of video-activism where citizens attempt to expose deviant police behaviour, monitor routine interactions between citizens and the police, and to challenge the largely unidirectional gaze of surveillance" (p. 503). Literature on cop-watching is naïve in many ways, as it often overstates the potential for producing meaningful change in policing by failing to consider factors like the lack of centralized organization among cop-watchers and the unequal distribution of power between those watching and the system they are attempting to expose.…”