Smartphone vs. Police brutality: A socio-technological account of the public image of militarized United States law enforcement in conjunction with new media

Abstract

As mobile technology has progressed in the past decade, users have been increasingly able to share content through their mobile devices. Where users were previously limited to audio and text messages in 1-to-1 communication, they are now able to audio-visually record content and distribute it over a vast network of interconnected mobile and stationary devices. This progression is now affecting the representation of United States law enforcement in online and traditional media as police misconduct is more easily recorded and distributed through smartphone technology. This technology has been excessively used by American protesters in the Occupy movement which is why it will exemplify the war of images being fought by law enforcement and the public. The role of mobile devices and social media in the movement will be analyzed in order to understand how the ubiquity and affordances of representation of digital technology is now converging with a parallel development of increased militarization and non-lethal weapon use by law enforcement.