So after a post on Photography is Not a Crime by Carlos Miller and a brief pitch on Free Talk Live , another donor has stepped up and increased the prize pool by another $50.  Matthew Bohan was kind enough to add the latest donation to the contest.  I can’t tell you how encouraging this is to see and I hope people are out there with cameras in hand.

Again, here are the details for the contest per the last ($200) post:

The basics of the contest are simple:

• Film police conducting their duties
• Submit to Cop Block; I’ll discuss how below
• Do not post your video on line before contacting Cop Block

The submissions will be judged on content (what’s actually going on in the video), how the videographer handles themselves (as we’d like this to be educational) and quality of video (though the CB team is willing to assist in editing).

How to get Cop Block your video

There are two options for sending us videos.  One being to email us (see below) and we’ll give you access to our YouTube channel where you can upload the video as private.  If your video needs editing then email us and we’ll provide you with an address, so you can mail us a CD, we’ll then edit it for you and post it on our YouTube channel.

Deadline and other info

I think it goes without saying that engaging (not monitoring), harassing and yelling/swearing at police will be frowned upon.  You might make the pages of Cop Block for such video but you will not win any prizes and we’ll post your video as a what not to do.  Again, it’s important that the video is recent and not posted on line already.  By par taking in this contest you’re giving Cop Block the exclusivity of your footage, to use as we please.

Be creative,  call a police department about a local issue, follow a cop for a day, film cops in court or simply film a traffic stop of someone you don’t know.

Here are some good examples of what we’re looking for;  New Mexico Police Confront Man for Open Carry, Columbia, MO SWAT or Miami Police.  All these are good examples of what we’re looking for.

The deadline for submitting videos is June 7th.  Then, depending on the number of videos, Cop Block will post the top 3 -5 videos for viewers to vote on.

I do want to clarify one thing.  Cop Block is only interested in the video first being published here, as we’re paying for that.  We do not want the rights to your video and after you’ve won you’re free to do as you wish with it.  The statement to use as we please is not exactly what we mean.  I just stated that to make sure we get original content.

Also, I’ll wait until the week before the contest has ended to announce prizes just in case any other generous people like Rusty and Matt decide to juice the pot a little more.  Hopefully next time we run this context, Cop Block will have some T-shirts to give away as well.

There is  another donor I’m waiting to hear back from as well, so this might not be the last post we do updating the prize pool.  Though several have opened their wallets and given time to help promote this contest, we still have yet to receive a video submission.  This could be ‘easy’ money for those willing to film police, so let’s not let these donors down.

Thanks to all of those who are re-posting this for us. One site even copied our idea; we’re honored, guys. :)

Phone: 206.279.1258
email: CopBlock[at]gmail.com

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