Tag Archives: The Counted

Cop Watch: protecting neighborhoods from the police

To protect their neighborhoods against police violence, Cop Watch groups in the U.S. patrol and document police activity, hoping to abate the harassment.

By Jelle Bruinsma. Published 8-29-2015 at ROAR Magazine

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In a period of 10 minutes, we saw the same police car stop three vehicles. Each time we’d walk up with our cameras and phones held out; the cops would put on their best smile, get back in the car, circle the block, go back to the same spot hidden behind a wall, and stop the next car passing by.

They weren’t the exception: in this poverty-stricken Brooklyn neighborhood siren lights are pervasive on any given night. Bedford-Stuyvesant (Bed-Stuy, as it is commonly known) is one of the many New York neighborhoods where a Cop Watch group patrols the streets, encouraged and cheered on by local residents. Continue reading

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