WILL PHUQ – ‘IMAGINE’
Imagine: You decide to exercise your legal right to peaceful protest, in support of one cause or another. We exist in the not-too distant future, when current technologies more fully enter ‘acceptance’ by the masses as common policing tools…
In the time since you decided to attend this protest, the authorities may have noticed your online footprint; posting online, or merely visiting a certain website. You may be on an email list monitored by them - or flagged as a known associate of someone they are interested in, perhaps. If you are a member of an organisation of any kind, law enforcement or intelligence agencies will have no qualms about infiltration as they deem it necessary, and may also lay on observation if you’re
…show more content…
All phone signals will be intercepted by IMSI ‘Stingray’ devices, to be parsed for useful intelligence later.
Any occurrence of police violence – whether apparently justified or not - is harsh and bloody, and will initially involve the use of batons and shields (using the latter not only for defence, but also as an offensive weapon). CS and/ or other incapacitant sprays may be used locally, or occasionally as a wider aerosol spray from specialised equipment brought in for the purpose, including water cannon.
If made possible by the crowd and/ or location, ‘kettling’ can occur, although can be - and increasingly is - replaced by the use of ‘Scene Management Barrier Systems’; caravans transforming into a steel-tipped enclosure, to pen protestors in whatever the location. Persons of interest may be snatched for interrogation, arrest, fingerprinting, photographing, DNA sampling, or a combination of some or all of these indignities. Those resisting will be beaten and
…show more content…
Protestors are processed and taken to trial; conversely, those fortunate enough to have escaped police notice (at least for now) either go to ground, or regroup to debrief. The large collection of related multimedia recordings (including footage from privately-owned CCTV in the vicinity of the protest), phone records, and other intelligence data gathered during, after, and prior to the event is put through a variety of high tech software suites, designed to parse every last drop of information from the material, recognising and predicting patterns perhaps hidden to the human eye. DNA evidence from the scene is collected and collated, in the hope of identification of suspects for immediate or future apprehension. Notwithstanding an individual’s attempts to obscure their identity and/ or certain actions at the protest, the police will attempt to ‘rewind time’, crunching an alarming amount of information with the aim of punishment and
This documentary argues that the use of these military tactics by the police does nothing but cause social unrest and nefarious silencing of the public.
Historically, surveillance came in the form of a watch tower, designed to watch out for danger in order to protect citizens. In a more recent context, the implementation has evolved now to supervise the citizens in order to watch out for danger. The modern “watch tower” does not occupy the same physical space as its predecessor and does not impress by its height, but rather, impresses by its seemingly omnipresent eye in all channels of society and its reach into the lives of individuals, but that reach is only enough to protect very specific dangers. Although mass surveillance portrays itself as proficient in preventing threats to a collective, Nikki Giovanni’s “Surveillance” reveals her mother’s physical abuse and, as a result, the dissonance
Protests are a way that many citizens have historically exercised their right to freedom of speech and as to voice their opinions on current matters in the U.S. as well as other nations. Protests help the uninformed get informed on specific issues, and try to persuade fellow citizens. What were some of the effective aspects of the protests that were portrayed in “The Matrix”, “Battle in Seattle” as well as those in “The Letter from Birmingham Jail”? What were the downfalls? An effective protest is one where an advocated idea gets across to the intended audience. Peaceful protests tend to have a better outcome than those that lead to violence.
Nonviolent movements are widespread across America, but very little are effective enough to create monumental change or to have a lasting impact. In their article "Waging Nonviolence: What makes nonviolent movements explode", Mark and Paul Engler explore what makes nonviolent protests powerful enough to force change. Written in December 2014, the article uses modern and historic examples of protest movements, with the main focus on the Occupy Wall Street movement, to create the context as to what each of the methods discussed has accomplished. Using the main example of Occupy Wall Street, the article showcases two major points, disruption and sacrifice, that nonviolent protest movements utilize in order to have the greatest effect, as well as how those two points work together to create lasting impacts. Disruption relies on interrupting everyday life and preventing business from occurring, while sacrifice focuses on what people are willing to risk and give up in order to see the change they wish for. In their article, the Engler’s propose that while these two methods of protest can be effective, protests rarely become large enough to actually create any change, even if they are combined, simply because the major businesses, corporations, and organizations that are being protested hold incredible amounts of political power and therefore are able to very easily shut down protests with police forces. This argument, that protests are inevitably going to fail, is very realistic
officer spraying pepper spray into a crowd who were not acting violently. Sure, the protesters
The demographic of peaceful protests contributes immensely to the increase in attention drawn by the public, which ultimately leads to a greater effectiveness. Many concede that “[a] big turnout is good” (Barabak) but rarely is it ever seen as a negative concept. Thousands to hundreds of thousands of people are convening in large cities to support peaceful protests, which in turn leads to a greater outcome (Ax & Fernandez). Places of large population have become the main
There are thousand among thousands of misconduct reports filed each year against the law enforcement for police officers using excessive force complaints make up nearly one quarter (Harvard Law Review, 2010). Decision, decision, decision… when a police officer decides to gun down a suspect during encounter or an arrest it the police officer decision. Particularly, that these deadly encounters are being video filmed by the communities that these police officers serve. The communities has come together to protest against the excessive force that police officers are displaying across the United States. These encounter that are being filmed by the communities are asking why are these acts continue to happen. With the advancing of technology (cell phone with cameras) and social media being played or watch throughout the real world display an unpredictable behavior among both police officers and the communities that they serve. These action has push Law Enforcement to consider a solution; Body worn cameras might be part of a solution for the growing recognition that the United States real problem with police excessive force. In August 2014 the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri or April 12, 2015 of Freddie Gray arrest in Baltimore, Maryland or March 3, 1991 of Rodney King in Los Angeles, California; there are many more misconduct of
In the weeks that followed the Michael Brown shooting, Ferguson was filled with violence, riots, and protests. There was massive police resistance, and demonstrators were clashing with police officers. Ferguson was all over the media and it brought up a lot of concerns. Among these concerns were police misconduct, unnecessary use-of-force, racial profiling, and police response to rioting and the public recording these incidences. It is apparent that the public consensus is that body-worn cameras are the answer to preventing another “Ferguson” from happening (Wasserman,
The police officers might be obligated to apply force while arresting a suspected offender, splitting up an altercation, disbanding a rowdy gathering, or carrying out many other events in the course of their day-to-day activities. They may use force ranging from simply pushing an individual to draw his or her attention to using a gun. In the middle of the excesses are numerous other forms of force, comprising firm grasps on a person’s arm, unbearable chemical agents’ usage, as well as blows using a baton. Irrespective of the technique used, law enforcement officers anticipate employing force only when necessary and finding a new solution to each
Protests riots in the United States has proven to an issue for both the country’s financial strength and the unity of the nation. With the presence of social injustices, combined with the increased impact of social media propaganda, protests riots are beginning to reach an all time high. Protest riots destroy individual communities and businesses, jeopardizes the safety of others and taints the protest’s cause by resorting to civil disobedience. Action must be done in order to prevent these random acts of violence from continuing after every social hot topic. The goal is not to prevent citizens from protesting; in fact, this should be encouraged. The goal is to change the way the protests are handled from both the citizens and authority perspectives, in order to prevent these protests from escalating into something dangerous.
Every one of us has relied on a medical professional at least a few times in our lives. When we get seriously ill, or suffer a serious injury, we put our health in the hands of doctors, nurses, and pharmacists, fully expecting to be treated with a certain degree of professionalism and safety. Unfortunately, sometimes the expected care is not given, or not given to the extent which the ailment requires. In these situations, we can feel blindsided, confused, even taken advantage of.
Policing relies on the public trust, police legitimacy and accountability, which can be destroyed by unjustifiable police shootings (Squires and Kennninson, 2010). Within this country, there is a recognition that the police do not always adhere to the rule of law (Newburn and Reiner, 2012: 809), which has led to consistent public outrage at the lack of effectiveness and legitimacy the police has maintained. Therefore the deliberate decision to enforce police to attend to the streets unarmed was employed to reassure the public that the police were not to be feared (Waddington and Wright, 2010). Ultimately, concerns derive from the belief that the police are completely ineffective when dealing with gun crimes (Farrell, 1992: 20). However,
Public humiliation or “Public Protesting” is a great way to spark up controversial tension but another way to argue a side to
Riots are often the center of discussion and, unfortunatly, also misunderstood. These two articles shed some light on this issue and share the same point of view.
Since the dawn of human civilization, there have been governments. As a species, we have always attempted to efficiently and systematically maintain order. However it is not uncommon for those same governments to turn on the people it protects, as evidenced by the countless tyrants and authoritarian regimes that plague our history. When studying the complex subject of a free or oppressive government, it is rather interesting to look at the stark contrasts between how both of these organizations handle protests against their rules or laws. The authoritarian regime holds absolute power, meaning that nearly any form of complaint against their actions will be met with disregard, or even punishment. However in a free society in which the government must answer to the people, protests are the language of the discontent, signifying to a representative government that change is needed.