“I literally could not put my phone down. Whether I got shot or not, this needed to be documented.” Those words were spoken by the bystander who used their smartphone to capture the moment that police in Austin, Texas opened fire on peaceful protestors seeking medical assistance for 20-year-old Justin Howell. An officer had shot Howell in the back of the head with “nonlethal” beanbag rounds.The video spread like wildfire on social media, leading to a ban on nonlethal rounds by the Austin City Council and a proposed 100 million dollar budget cut for the Austin Police Department.This event, while horrifying, is not uncommon. In the past decade, a proliferation of bystander videos of police violence have circulated online, revealing the disturbing extent to which some officers abuse their authority and enflaming public unrest about police misconduct. This increased trend in civil vigilantism raises the question: why do civilians feel obligated to film officer misconduct?

中文翻译：

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致电海丝特·白兰警官：利用公众耻辱作为对警察不当行为的威慑的承诺和陷阱

“我真的无法放下手机。无论我是否中枪，这都需要记录在案。” 这些话出自一名旁观者之口，他用智能手机拍下了得克萨斯州奥斯汀市警察向为 20 岁的贾斯汀豪厄尔寻求医疗救助的和平抗议者开火的瞬间。一名军官用“非致命”豆袋弹击中了豪威尔的后脑勺。该视频在社交媒体上像野火一样传播开来，导致奥斯汀市议会禁止使用非致命弹药，并提议削减奥斯汀 1 亿美元的预算警察局。这个事件虽然可怕，但并不罕见。在过去的十年里，网上流传了大量警察暴力的旁观者视频，揭示了一些警察滥用职权的令人不安的程度，并激起了公众对警察不当行为的不安。