From #Ferguson to #OfficerFriendly

[Commentary] In the age of Michael Brown's death in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner's in New York, when police abuses can be easily documented by citizens wielding smartphones, relationships between police departments and the communities they serve can quickly become strained. And social media use by the police runs the risk of being initially dismissed as a publicity stunt. But after decades of losing the trust of important New York City communities, this step may help the department gain civic support. To build the citizen support that they need -- and to get the information they need to be effective -- local governments will have to give their employees the discretion to question and to respond with their own voices online.

[Crawford is the John A. Reilly Visiting Professor in Intellectual Property at Harvard Law School]