Cop-watchers look for racial profiling on the streets of Phoenix

Source: CNN

Phoenix, Arizona (CNN) -- Margarito Blanco trains his camcorder on the officer approaching a Chevy pickup, while his friend Andrew Sanchez furiously scribbles notes on a pad.

They are not working for the police. They're watching them.

It's about 8:10 p.m. on a recent Thursday and the turquoise S-10 is pulled over at a Circle K gas station in Phoenix.

Anywhere else in the United States, this might appear to be nothing more than a routine traffic stop. But Phoenix is ground zero in the battle over illegal immigration, and to Blanco and Sanchez the stop represents a potential opportunity to catch a member of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office in the act of racial profiling.

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Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/05/11/phoenix.copwatch.arpaio/index.html?hpt=C2

good luck with that

Time to turn the tables and keep the authorities under the watchful eye. Some cameras come with wifi and everything. so even if they steal it from you, the video is already on the net. The power is OURS! BWAHAHAHAHA!

This is even better, though, because they have *video*.

His name is "the Fonz" - interesting character. He shows up at blues and reggae shows in roller skates and a "Fuck the Police" shirt. Always carries a video camera and is always watching the cops. He's been hassled and arrested several times too.

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/bastard/2009/06/free_the_fonz_fronzo_west_jail.php

I especially loved the part of the article where he was forced to remove an "offensive" T-shirt... only to reveal another "offensive" T-shirt underneath.

I was videotaping a blues show at a local club for an online profile and he was at the show. He looked kind of freaked out to see someone else with a camera taping the people at the show, so he kept a wary eye on me while I was there...