Fundamentals of Interactive Journalism

His superhero name is Jimmy Justice, a citizen journalist who tapes and uploads videos of NY traffic agents said to be breaking the very same laws they enforce. 

He’s been on national television, such as on ABC’s “i-Caught,” MSNBC’s “Caught on Camera” and the “Star Jones” show.

“I’m an average working class guy with a passion for justice. What makes me different from others is that I am not afraid to walk up to a law enforcement officer and confront them,” he said.

Got that right. He isn’t intimidated by them, but he still rather hide his true identity and not his face, as shown in the following video clips. 

Though NYPD failed to provide a response to me, officials have spoken on television, obviously outraged and calling Justice’s actions harassment.  His response is, “I would not have the conscience to accuse someone of wrongdoing unless I was absolutely certain that according to the law they have done something wrong.”

Some find it refreshing that New York City’s “zero tolerance policy” carried out by cops is extended to include them as well.

Justice started video taping two years ago, when he found an officer parking his vehicle in front of a fire hydrant when it wasn’t an emergency, a move that would cost any other civilian $115.

“I could show the entire scene, and provide empirical proof, such as the officer leaving McDonalds holding a bag of food, and the officer would not have the opportunity to lie. “

Part of his confident stems from reading up on traffic law, along with privacy issues when filming in public.

So the government, specifically Internal Affairs Bureau, does reprimand their own, according to Justice.  The 311 procedure is shown below:

He has not yet been arrested or seriously injured for his “activism.”  However, he has been pushed around, punched, almost run over by a car, spit on, cursed at and had two cameras broken.

Oh, and has a day job, folks, this doesn’t exactly pay the bills.

“I always bring my camera with me to work in case I see something unfold that should be recorded. Manhattan is the busiest borough so therefore I get the most video there.”

Justice claims that he’s making a difference, seeing a reduction in the rate of recidivism in areas where he made a presence.  He even described a “success” story, after revealing the behavior of one highly ranked cop:

Justice receives about 200 emails per week, which range from fan mail, to death threats, to marriage proposals by German girls.  He won’t stop what he’s doing until he’s run out of material.

New York Giant's Plaxico Burress from www.wallpaperpimper.com

The case of New York Giants football star Plaxico Burress, who shot himself in a nightclub last month, has stirred up another type of gun battle in New York City.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg pushed for a law in New York City requiring mandatory a minimum of three and half years in prison for anyone with an unregistered gun in public. Bloomberg said he would make sure that same law would be put to the test to convict Burress.

Now, mayors in other cities are looking at New York City as an example to find a way to deal with illegal guns. The Mayors in Greater Cleveland recently joined Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a group organized less than three years ago by Mayor Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino to help create local, state and Federal laws to keep illegal guns out off the streets.

The New York City Police Department said the number of murders and shootings this year have increased by over 10 percent compared to 2007. NYPD reported there have been 377 murders in September 2008 compared to 344 during the same period last year. Shootings are up from 1,324 incidents last year to 1,420 this year.

An estimated 66 percent of the 16,137 murders in 2004 were committed with firearms, according to the FBI’s Crime in the United States, a Web publication of its annual uniform crime report. Nine percent of the 4.7 million victims of violent crimes in 2005 stated that they faced an offender with a firearm, according to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). Homicides of teens and young adults are more likely to be committed with a gun than homicides of persons of other ages, according to the FBI’s Supplementary Homicide Reports from 1976 to 2005.

The NYPD and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office tried to find a solution to the city’s gun violence problem with the $100,000 program known as “Cash for Guns.” Research shows that government gun-buyback program take out about three million guns out of circulation each year from the 200 million to 350 million privately owned guns in the United States, with at least 4 million more added annually, according to the Violence Prevention Research Program at the University of California-Davis. However, other studies show that the pool of guns that are used in homicides and suicides are different than the guns turned in, according to the Medical College of Wisconsin’s Firearm Injury Center.

Although big city mayors like Bloomberg are trying to find ways to keep illegal guns off the streets, they couldn’t deter those people from around the country who ran out to buy legal firearms after the Nov. 4 presidential election.