Comments on: Sooner State boasts its own Video Vigilante

By: Jeff

Jeff — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 01:26:06 +0000

Hey, “Respect,” it’s nice that you don’t blame the police for telling him they didn’t want to be photographed, but perhaps that just shows your misunderstanding of the law.

It’s legal to take photographs in a public place, and the police work for the citizens (at least in theory). It is NOT their job to threaten withholding of normal police services.

If the man was videotaping legally, then the police are just going to have to learn to respect the law, and accept that he had the right to videotape. It shouldn’t matter if the cops are irritated by Mr. Bates’ actvities or the color of his shirt or his haircut; if he wasn’t doing anything wrong, they just need to suck it up and DO THEIR JOBS in a professional manner.

By: Respect

Respect — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 23:30:47 +0000

I don’t blame the police for telling him that. If they told him they didn’t want to be photographed, he should have respected that.

By: CJK

CJK — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 21:12:07 +0000

Unfortunately, here should be more people like him out there exposing these things and fighting for citizens. Because today it seems we are losing our rights faster than we know it.

By: Gatz

Gatz — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 19:42:35 +0000

that’s quite alright I didn’t expect the cops to help with things anyway infact in a situation that would involve violence I would consider them enemy combatants that should be subdued by any means necessary.

By: kooky

kooky — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 17:34:45 +0000

Why can cops keep disciplinary action secret?

By: enhager

enhager — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 23:35:19 +0000

Fantastic story – kudos to Brian Bates.

Great quote: “I’ve captured everything from racist comments to macing already handcuffed people etc. At the time I figured the bad guys deserved it, but as the years went by and I matured, I realized how corrupt they were.”