Apps for Recording Police Encounters

¶ … preponderance of abuse of power and excessive force incidence by law enforcement, it makes sense that citizens would use technologies to take back their rights. Smartphone apps offer an ideal means by which to document instances of police infringement on citizen rights, police brutality, and other issues that might be helpful for illuminating patterns of problems in communities or even in some cases, help the legal cases of victim of police abuse. Some of the apps that have been developed include CopWatch, Evidence Locker, Mobile Justice, and Police Tape.

Each of these and similar apps are evolving and are designed to empower citizens thorugh the use of audio and video recording. The principles by which these apps work include alerting the user of rights regarding law enforcement stops and probable cause. Moreover, these apps include safeguards against unlawful police confiscation of the device, which is remarkably commonplace (Hess, 2012). It is legal for users to record their interactions with police, but many law enforcement officers attempt to erase recorded data or prevent the recording.

These apps are designed to allow the user to instantly upload the material to public access websites and social media portals like YouTube. Some of the apps are sponsored or developed by organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union, including the Police Tape app (Tuccille, 2012). The ACLU collects the uploaded data, permitting the development of class action lawsuits or individual appeals. One app that is particularly useful for recording police activity includes CopWatch, which is available for download in different marketplaces for different devices including iOS and Android.

Different versions are pertinent for various cities in North America. This app is selected for analysis because it offers features that other apps lack, including a comprehensive guide to the legal rights of the user regarding photographing encounters with law enforcement. Furthermore, the guidelines include advice about comportment and communication to minimize harassment and maximize chances of success. The CopWatch app even offers instructional advice on filming. For example, the user is coached on keeping as quiet as possible and holding the camera in landscape mode (Hess, 2015).

During the encounter, the user should also make an effort to record surroundings and other details that could be helpful in courts of law or in interrogation situations. Other features of CopWatch include automatic uploads to YouTube, which helps prevent the obfuscation of the data by law enforcement. The phone is also placed in lock mode automatically, preventing law enforcement or any other unwanted user from accessing or deleting the data. Video recovery software is also recommended in case law enforcement does confiscate the phone (Hess, 2015).

The CopWatch app is useful for recording police encounters, and can be used to "spark a conversation" about abuses of power and other problems like racial profiling (Hess, 2012; Tuccille, 2012). All apps like CopWatch are useful for empowering citizens, informing them of their rights, and protecting the rights of citizens including witnesses. In fact, some of the apps are specifically designed for bystanders who are in the position of recording data that may be useful in courts of law. Even when.