Project Activities
a. Film The Police Guidebook
Copwatch GR created the educational Film The Police guidebook in both Greek and English. In its ~80 pages, the legal framework that allows people to record police activity is analysed comprehensively. Moreover, the guide includes practical advice and tactics for recording police activity safely and effectively, gathered from the field. Preparation tips before recording, encryption, recording in teams, leaving the field, recording during internet shutdowns, metadata, and secure file deletion are some examples. Several feedback loops with individuals and communities most affected by the harms of policing were conducted by Copwatch GR during the creation of the guidebook, to ensure their experiences and perspectives are mirrored in the guidebook's contents. The guidebook is a tool that will remain publicly useful and will continue to evolve in future.
b. Film The Police Workshops
Based on the Film The Police guidebook, Copwatch GR conceived participatory workshops in both Greek and English. During the workshops, the guidebook's contents were presented, specific questions were answered, and the archiving and publication process was demonstrated. The workshops helped establish meaningful and lasting relationships with communities, as they were tailored to their specific needs. Through this process, the workshops evolved into much more than educational sessions; they became spaces of collective exchange, trust-building, and community formation around citizen journalism, accountability, and practices of collective self-protection.
The workshops fostered the creation of a participatory and inclusive network of community members who submit primary source material through the platform. As a result, communities were empowered to use police recording as a means of self-defence, collective memory, and archiving. Finally, the workshops created a feedback loop for the enrichment of the educational material.
c. Film The Police Platform
Copwatch GR launched the filmthepolice.copwatch.gr platform, allowing for the submission of primary source material through a web form. On the platform, everyone can, possibly anonymously, upload videos or images, or submit links to material they have authored themselves or found from third parties. This material is verified, annotated, and archived in encrypted storage and, if deemed necessary to publicise, it is anonymised and made public along with all the relevant information. All videos, photographs, and written testimonies are presented in a searchable format. This constitutes the first collection of its kind, showing the public how policing in Greece is experienced by the communities affected by it.
The launch of the Film The Police platform has sparked a wave of submissions of testimonies created by people subjected to or witnessing police misconduct. Material from protesters, photojournalists, activists, and members of communities subject to heavy policing, such as immigrants, has been received. Moreover, unpublished community archives are being integrated into the platform.
The platform is evolving toward becoming a public archive of policing made by the people and is gradually becoming an important long-term resource for journalists, researchers, lawyers, activists, and communities affected by policing practices.
