BTV CopWatch is not a non-profit or hierarchical organization. We are an autonomous community of people who aid in community defense through filming the cops, providing mutual aid and community care with Food Not Cops, supporting Queer/Trans/BIPOC, and much more.
Why is it important to film the police?
De-escalation: prevent police violence (in the moment & long-term)
Documenting police action (when useful for court cases, media, etc)
Educate & Empower others to copwatch
Community Care & Defense: providing solidarity& support for people harassed by police
Protest & Disrupt & Abolish existing power structures
Trainings
We offer copwatch trainings to individuals, groups, events, and organizations with the goal of helping communities build capacity to effectively film the police. Although we cover basic legal rights for anyone filming police, we do not offer comprehensive “know your rights” trainings. We hope sharing our knowledge and experience will help people become more comfortable and prepared to respond to police presence when situations arise. Stay tuned to our social media channels for upcoming training opportunities!
Code of Conduct
Anyone can be a “member” of BTV CopWatch as long as you…
- Commit to anti-oppression in our dealings with each other and the community. Do not tolerate racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, or other forms of oppression.
- Respect the confidentiality of fellow copwatchers.
- Respect the privacy and dignity of community members we film.
- Seek consensus with other copwatchers before communicating any information obtained while copwatching. This includes video, audio, or any first-hand accounts of interactions with police or community members.
- Get consent before publishing any identifying personal information obtained while copwatching.
- Respect community members’ requests to stop filming them.
- Never use violent rhetoric, make violent threats, or commit violence.
- Make every necessary effort to not physically interfere with police.
- Commit to keeping community members safe by avoiding behaviors that could escalate situations.
- Never provide any information to police that could implicate someone in a crime.
- Never livestream any recording.
- Never copwatch while intoxicated.
- Refrain from carrying firearms while copwatching.
- Understand that copwatching involves the risk of arrest.