News

Actions

Is social media changing law enforcement?

Posted
and last updated

Two other deadly police shootings are sparking national outrage and federal investigations. Philando Castile died overnight after a traffic stop in a Minnesota suburb, two days after shooting death of Alton Sterling at a convenience store in Baton Rouge, LA. Protestors are calling for justice and for the officers to be held accountable.

Both confrontations were caught on camera and shared on social media.

In a shocking and graphic video, Diamond Reynolds documents the final moments of her boyfriends life live on Facebook.

She claims police shot Philando Castile multiple times.

But how does videotaping such an encounter impact the way officers across the country do their jobs? Sand Springs Patrol Captain Todd Enzbrenner says it doesn't.

"If the person who is videotaping us is not obstructing our investigation or what we are trying to do, it really doesn't matter to us," he said.

But the impact can go viral.

"Now everybody's got a phone, everybody's got a camera and they can videotape and when you only get a partial view of the incident and then self report about it on social media, often times you're not getting the whole story," Cap. Enzbrenner said.

Andy Wallace is a journalism is a professor at OSU. He agrees with Captain Enzbrenner. He says the fact that citizens and officers have cameras, can be both good and bad.

"Everybody goofs up in some way or has a blooper, if you will," Wallace said. "On the other hand, things that are going on that shouldn't be going on, now we have recording of it."

Wallace says video can show multiple viewpoints and police say it can even help their investigation, though it still won't mend the hole left when a loved one is lost.