Streamwood, Illinois police officer, James Mandarino, while making a traffic stop, tasered, Ronald Bell, the driver and hit him with his baton 15 times. The Cook County District Attorney has charged Mandarino with felony aggravated battery and official misconduct.. The beating may not be unusual but the charges are becoming more common. What made the charges possible was a video of the beating taken by a camera in the officer’s vehicle.

Many cases of police using excess force are making the press and some of them are resulting in criminal charges. Videos are also helping law enforcement officers fight charges of excessive force such as the case of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) officer who was accused of throwing a man through a glass window but the video showed that it was the suspect was punching the window. But of course another BART police office is facing murder charges based upon a cell phone video for killing Oscar Grant, a BART passenger, on New Years Eve 2009.

While some of the video’s,such as that of Mandarino are taken from cameras in their vehicles, others such as the video of Rodney King were taken by citizens. With the advent of cell phone cameras videos, such as the killing of Oscar Grant, and You Tube are becoming omnipresent.

Videos can also be used to help convict or exonerate individuals. But mny police departments have been slow to install them in police cars. In DUI’s I can think of no better evidence that a videotape of the suspect performing the field sobriety tests.

One of the advantages of videos, although it did not work in the Bell case, is that it should make police more reluctant to use unnecessary force. But Mandarino tasered Bell and hit him numerous times with his baton despite the fact that Bell did not offer any resistance and despite the fact that it was being recorded on the officer’s camera.