Police Viral Videos: Law Enforcement in the Metro Talk About Excessive Force

A young girl being thrown from her chair at a school in South Carolina has been one of latest videos to go viral.

Police brutality videos go viral almost every day, but when is excessive force a must?
 
“When you talk about excessive force I think it’s boarder than that. I think it’s just activities involving law enforcement whatever it is, that is heavily scrutinized,” said Lt. Tory Jacobson of Moorhead Police Department.
 
Jacobson says for the almost 700,000 police officers, there are in the nation a small percentage don’t belong on the job.

He says those are usually the ones that are caught on camera, and go viral.
 
While many viral videos are transparent scenarios, the growing popularity of catching a cop on camera has blurred that perception, only telling half of the story.
 
“Trying to get the public to recognize that these videos going to always provide actual information however they have to be viewed in totality,” said Lt. Jacobson.
 
Fargo Police Lt. Michael Mitchell says one setback of the viral video frenzy is that it has changed the way many view law enforcement.
 
“You know I’m not going to say if it’s fair or not but if something happens in Kentucky we pay the price for it in North Dakota just as well as people in Kentucky,” says Mitchell.
 
But he says there is also good that can come from the videos.
 
He says, “Officers law enforcement other people in check. Were always aware that what we’re saying and doing is likely to be recorded.”
 
People like Justin Brown say the new generation’s attitude toward law enforcement encourages these types of videos.
 
“Just listen for example that class they ask you to leave, get up and leave they ask for you to leave why are being stubborn for,” said Brown, a Fargo resident.

Law enforcement is also using cameras to their benefit.

Moorhead Police Officers currently have cameras attached to their Tasers, and installed in their vehicles.

Fargo Police says they are looking to add body cameras for officers in the near future.