I just watched a video of an incident at #OWS where an officer on a scooter ran into someone with it, then dragged him along the ground by hand, may have hit him (it was hard to see), then arrested him.
Most of the action could not be seen in this video, but people in the crowd were shouting "He ran over his foot!" Clearly some people had the whole story.
That knowledge is a resource. Every time an incident like this happens, what if the eyewitnesses cluster and give their testimony to anyone videoing?
One idea of how: After each incident they can hold up their hands and start yelling "eyewitness" (or "I witness") and go to each other, then as they cluster keep yelling together, which lets other eyewitnesses join them and also lets those with cameras find them.
Multiple on-the-spot accounts on video will create a much clearer picture of what happened. These collections will be persuasive to the public, may be helpful in court and will reduce the effectiveness of any false police reports (not that that happens), spin or disinformation.
Stating the date, time and location of the incident will help, along with the name(s) of anyone arrested or attacked if known, and (if they're willing) the names of those giving the eyewitness reports. Think of these as alternative arrest and incident reports, by the people.
If eyewitnesses make a point of getting the name and if possible the badge number of any police involved, and including these in the reports, so much the better.
If this becomes SOP, the knowledge that there will be a full and accurate account online, with the responsible parties identified and if possible pictured, should help deter bad actions.
Would Antony Bologna have been so free with the pepper spray if this was what he expected?
An #Eyewitness tag will help identify these videos from all the others, and other tags with identifying info will help as well (date, location, officer name, etc.)
Those with good video of the event can go to the witness cluster and put it all together for even more effect.
Bonus idea: those in the crowd could make a point of noticing the names of police involved in incidents. Then they can shout that name instead of "shame, shame." Making it personal should give some pause as well.
Bonus idea 2: Noticing the officers' names before any action starts would be easier than after, leading me to wonder what the effect on an officer would be of having everyone around him simply saying his name loud enough for others to hear, even if nothing was happening.
They would at least be on notice that any action would be traced immediately to them and that they are not anonymous. It might well be rather inhibiting to be known so publicly. Those with good behavior would have nothing to fear (hmmm, where have I heard that before?).