Deputy Tasers Mom In Mini-van

Audra Harmon had two children in her minivan when she was pulled over for speeding and talking on her cell phone in Salina, a northern suburb of Syracuse, NY, in January. While she denies both those charges, a dashboard camera from Onondaga County Sheriff's Deputy Sean Andrews' cruiser captured a video of the officer using his Taser twice on the 38-year-old mom.

This has not been a good year for public safety forces across the U.S. when it comes to police brutality. Low-cost digital video cameras, combined with the availability of upload sites like YouTube and link-sharing sites like Reddit, have made it easier for people to share videos of alleged police brutality and violence in action.

On New Year's Day 2009, people in a Bay Area Regional Transit (BART) station in Oakland, CA, captured video of police fatally shooting Oscar Grant. Several angles of the shooting have made it to YouTube. Warning: This video contains adult language, and, again, this was a fatal shooting caught on camera. Watch the video »

Earlier this year, officers in Tennessee were accused of letting a police dog attack a man who had already been subdued. The officers were also accused of planting a bag of marijuana on the man after video of the incident surfaced.

The details are still emerging after an incident at a parade in the small town of Glenrock, WY, during which a 76-year-old man who was helping a nine-year-old boy drive a tractor was hit with a police Taser. After the man was hit, the tractor hit a car.

Just this week, at least three more stories have emerged from around the country. An internal investigation in Mobile, AL, found that police were justified in using a Taser on a deaf man with a mental disability. Video of an elderly woman being thrown to the ground by police in a Wal-Mart parking lot hit YouTube Monday (adult language in the video). And in Kalamazoo, MI, a police officer was suspended after punching a youth who spit in his face (more adult language).

» Take the poll: Top 6 police brutality videos of 2009

More

» From the syracuse.com archives: Why police use Tasers (Originally published March 9, 2008)

» The social networking site Reddit has a popular channel called Bad Cop, No Donut!

» The Huffington Post's top police brutality videos