Law should allow us to videotape cops

I read your coverage of the brutal Streamwood cop convicted of beating a citizen repeatedly with a baton. The judge praised the video from the cop’s own cruiser as the evidence instrumental in bringing justice.

So what do we learn from this about being good citizens? The first thought I had was to keep a loaded video camera at the ready in case I see a cop brutalizing a neighbor. Wouldn’t that make me a good citizen? Maybe, but in Illinois it makes me something else — a felon.

That’s right. Check it out yourself. Illinois is one of the few states in the country that still has a law forbidding anyone from videotaping a cop while performing his duties, no matter how brutal or corrupt.

What’s the big deal, you might ask. You haven’t heard of a rash of cops beating people up, right? Maybe it’s because there’s no video. Maybe there’s no video because people who’ve witnessed police brutality know it’s a felony to tell on a brutal cop using videotape. The only reason the Streamwood cop was convicted is because he kept his own camera rolling.

The famous Rodney King case of police brutality 20 years ago in Los Angeles would never have come to light if an Illinois-type law had been in effect in California. That revealing tape was taken by a private citizen.

It’s time a state legislator finds the guts to change this draconian law that makes cops a bit too comfortable to be brutal and makes good citizens afraid to become felons.

Thomas Mulrooney

St. Charles