That's a concise summary of a new trend first reported by National Public Radio last week -- the trend whereby law enforcement officials have been trying to prevent civilians from using cellphone cameras in public places as a means of deterring police brutality.

Oddly, the effort -- which employs both forcible arrests of videographers and legal proceedings against them -- comes at a time when the American Civil Liberties Union reports that "an increasing number of American cities and towns are investing millions of taxpayer dollars in surveillance camera systems."

Then again, maybe it's not odd that the two trends are happening simultaneously. Maybe they go hand in hand. Perhaps as more police officers use cameras to monitor every move we make, they are discovering the true power of video to independently document events. And as they see that power, they don't want it turned against them.

But wait -- why not?

Though you'd expect that uncomfortable question to evoke dissembling, Fraternal Order of Police spokesman Jim Pasco was quite straightforward about it.

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But every once in a while, there's a romantic comedy that's at least good for a roll in the hay. "When in Rome" isn't the answer to our romantic-comedy prayers: It's a bit too rough around the edges; even though it features a few inspired gags, director Mark Steven Johnson (writer and director of "Ghost Rider" and "Daredevil") doesn't give them the sharp, careful shaping they need. But there's a glimmer of something going on here: "When in Rome," flawed and messy as it is, at least attempts to spark a connection, instead of just settling for being slick and impersonal. It's not as nutty as it ought to be -- this is a movie, after all, in which a young New Yorker's love life changes drastically after she retrieves a handful of coins from a magic fountain in Rome. But its stars, Kristen Bell (of "Gossip Girl," "Heroes" and the late, lamented "Veronica Mars") and Josh Duhamel, have an easy rapport; their characters seem to fall in like even before they fall in love, which is unusual for a romantic comedy. And the picture doesn't mistake sappy feel-goodism for sweetness. When the lovers finally get together, you get the sense they've earned it. They wear their bruises and battle scars proudly.

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