.
During the November 3, 2004 demonstration in Mt. Vernon, like many demonstrations, the Baltimore Police appeared to use plain-clothed police to monitor the activities. This article questions the wisdom of this practice, and offers a recommendation to City officials and police officers.

Video Documentation of Protesters by Police

The practice of video-documenting protesters is debatable. It is not the intent of this commentary to engage in that debate, but I will make two points. First, broad video documentation of all participating protesters by authorities has an intimidating effect on legitimate freedom to assemble and freedom of expression. Many question the motive; is it intended to intimidate? If so, that is not the appropriate role of the police and is unwise.

Second, if the police must to document questionable behavior by particular individuals, then the video documentation should be limited to those specific activities. In addition, this task should be assigned to uniformed officers for reasons discussed below.

Use of Plain-clothed Police at Protests

I question the wisdom of using plain-clothed police at protests for several reasons. Street protesting is a legitimate form of free assebly and freedom of speech. One role of police is to protect these constitutional rights.

We know that vigilante radicals are "out there" and intend to do harm to peaceful protesters. Another role of police to protect peaceful protesters. If the police fail to do this, it sends a message that we must protect ourselves. If this message takes root, civil order will break down as people are forced to take the law into their own hands.

Plain-clothed police could be mistaken as vigilantes. Vigilantes do things like videotape progressive protesters and target them for violence. If protesters ask a plain-clothed person doing video taping if he or she is an undercover cop, and we don't get an answer, what are we to assume? For security reasons, we are tempted to assume the worse. We also have the right to document and expose this person as a potential vigilante member.



RECOMMENDATION: If the Police Department must conduct videotaping during protests, then they should assign uniformed police officers to the job.

Adopting this recommendation is in the interest of the Police Department. The exposure of plain-clothed police officers as "potential vigilante members" could expose a valuable under-cover asset in which the City has invested time and money to recruit and train.

Many of Our Interests should be Shared by Police Officers

Many rank and file police officers stand to benefit from the goals sought by protesters to change the misguided policies of the Bush administration. The Bush administration is intentionally de-funding the government to create a fiscal crisis. This is designed to force a roll-back of social safety-net programs and is resulting in budget cuts for cities, which affects police departments. This claim is not a theory. It is documented by people like former Treasury Secretary Robert Ruben, who comes from a mainstream Wall Street background.

This radical Bush tactic of forcing the Nation into fiscal crisis affects police officers directly as workers and members of society. It also affects police officers indirectly, because as the saftey net erodes, society breaks down, and police are on the front line of this breakdown.

Police officers have an interest in better health care for their families and the people they serve. Police have an interest in banning guns that can be converted in to automatic assult weapons. Police have an interest in preventing the manufacture and sale of kevlar-piercing bullets (cop-killer bullets). Police have an interest in social security that is not privatized. We had privatized "social security" in 1929, and the Great Depression taught us a lesson, which George Bush seems not to have learned.

Police are workers. Many protections for workers that were fought for in past decades are being undermined by the Bush administration. These include the eight-hour day, which results in thus over-time pay, the right to unionize and negotiate for holidays off and vacation time, the right to grievance procedures, the right to wistle-blower protections, the right keep your job if you must take leave to attend to family illnesses or a new-born familiy member.

These rights, for which past generations struggled "in the streets", are now being threatened. Police officers should pause and ponder value of the "street protester's" goals. Police might find they have common interests with many of those goals. In other coutries, where economies collapsed due in part to the greed of the privilaged, or where federal governments have lost legitimacy, local police have come to side with the street protesters.

Four More Years and More Demonstrations to Come

The vast majority of civic demonstratros are not "crazies," except perhaps for the fact that they are "crazy" enough to devote time and energy to protect the broader social good. It is difficult enough for this vangaurd of people to engage in the tradition of civic protest without being intimidated by the police, intentionally or otherwise.

In the years to come police and demonstrators will meet on the streets as we do our respective "jobs". All we seek is respect for our civil liberties, and thoughtful consideration of how you perform you jobs.
.