Keeping Europe's Police Accountable

Details: Published on Wednesday, 21 June 2017 16:00; Written by editor

© Tomas van Houtryve/VII/Redux
Last September, a university researcher entered a suburban rail station in Paris and heard cries of intense pain coming from a middle-aged black woman being roughly handled by police. The researcher began filming the incident with his phone, which is when, he says, the officers turned on him, grabbed his phone, tasered him, and threatened to rape and kill him. As shocking as the researcher’s story was, it was hardly the first time that a European citizen was harassed by officers while trying to document their behavior. Despite being a key safeguard of civil liberties and human rights, the European Court of Human Rights has yet to establish filming or photographing police as a general right. Doing so would not only be good for citizens but would help law enforcement by establishing an objective record of contested incidents and, ultimately, building public confidence in their work.

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