[LINK] Police edit CCTV footage

[Kim Holburn]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jul/19/gaza-protests-inquiry-police-cctv
> CCTV and police abuse of power
> Investigations into the London Gaza protests last year have called  
> into question how CCTV evidence is being used by police
>
....

> More worrying is the way in which CCTV is being used by the police.  
> Demonstrator Jake Smith was charged with two counts of violent  
> disorder. These charges were later dropped when Smith's solicitor,  
> Matt Foot, viewed the original CCTV footage and discovered that the  
> police video had been edited to show events out of sequence, at one  
> point implying another man was Smith while omitting footage showing  
> Smith being assaulted by a police officer without provocation.
>
> Considering the potential for abuse of power, the control that the  
> police have had over the use of CCTV is frightening. Foot warns, "We  
> should be both curious and suspicious about how the police use CCTV  
> footage in these cases."
>
> Foot's concern extends to how police have dictated the use of their  
> edited material. Solicitors representing the protesters were told to  
> sign an undertaking by the Met that prevented them sharing their  
> police videos with anyone but their client. This stopped defence  
> solicitors working together to establish a wider picture of the  
> protests and their context. This worked hand in hand with the  
> decision to charge all the protesters individually rather than  
> collectively.
>



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Kim Holburn
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