Holding Public Officials Accountable

In Texas Bill Would Make Recording Police Illegal, a Texas representative is trying to pass a bill that would not allow a private citizen to film police within 100 feet of an officer.

I don’t understand what they are afraid of? What are they afraid that someone will record?

It seems to me that this is a safeguard for the police and the person involved. Neither party can say something happened and this is evidence that shows the incident. The more people who film what happens make the evidence stronger. If one video shows one thing and another shows something different, one of the videos has been tampered with.

I feel the same way about my classroom. I don’t care if anyone videos my class or not because I don’t do anything in there to worry about. I should be acting the same way whether I’m being filmed or not. Since I felt this way, I assured parents that they were welcome to observe my class but they just had to check in with the main office first for security reasons. I didn’t care if they let me know because I was proud of my students and the way I teach. If I worry about doing something that someone might see, then maybe I need to reexamine the way I’m teaching.

When I was in fourth grade, I had a teacher who physically abused the students in her class. I believe if there had been a video on this teacher, this would never have happened. I don’t understand why the other teachers didn’t do something about it either because they would have heard or seen something that went on.  She would scream at us if we got a wrong answer and then drag students out of the chair by their hair and bang them up against the cement wall. Luckily I was a good student and studied so that didn’t happen to me! I think back and wonder what ever happened to many of these students. I wonder if they suffered in future grades because of the trauma that happened there.

I also had a former student teacher that was accused of abusing a student. The student was angry because he failed a test that the student teacher gave him. This was his way of getting back at him. Luckily I had been in the back office and the angry student didn’t realize this. I was able to vouch for the student teacher that nothing happened. If this student teacher had been alone, this could have ruined his future career! If there were cameras to video the classroom, this would not have even been an issue.

I think filming public officials helps hold them accountable. If they are in a public place, than anyone should have the right to film their actions. This is America and not some dictatorship! Taking away this right is one more example of how the government is eroding our rights little by little.

What do you think? Should this bill pass or not? Why or why not? Please share.

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