A mobile phone application aimed at empowering civilians to hold law enforcement accountable has been re-launched in California amid a growing nationwide debate on policing tactics amplified by recent officer-involved incidents-turned-deadly.
The free “Mobile Justice CA” app released by the American
Civil Liberties Union this week is an easy-to-use program that
instantly records video with a single touch of the screen and
then offers the user the option to send that footage
automatically to the ACLU with another.
Specifically, the ACLU says the app is a response to
over-policing, racial profiling and excessive use of force –
topics that have all taken center-stage in recent weeks after
Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man from Baltimore, died from
injuries sustained while in police custody.
“Video images have clearly become a powerful tool in
documenting encounters between the public and police. The ACLU of
California wants to make it more likely that even more
individuals will use their phones to record those incidents,
enabling the public to hold officers accountable when they cross
the line,” said Hector Villagra, the executive director
of the ACLU of Southern California.
“We’ve seen a number of examples of high-profile incidents of
abuse and unlawful shootings or killings that never would have
come to light if someone wouldn’t have pulled out their phone and
taken video,” Peter Bibring, a senior staff attorney at the
office, told the Los Angeles Times. “Video doesn't always
capture everything, but it does provide a much more objective
evidence of what actually happened,” he said.
Modeled after previous version geared towards smart phone owners
in New York, Missouri and Nebraska, Mobile Justice CA is a Golden
State-specific edition from the ACLU’s California branch that
instantly sends the recording to the local office of the user’s
choice. The app appeared in Apple’s iTunes store on Saturday, and
was updated on Monday ahead of the ACLU’s official unveiling on
Thursday this week. A version for Android users is also available
on Google Play.
Bibring, the senior staff attorney, recalled to the Times an
issue from earlier in April when a woman in South Gate,
California had her recording device snatched and then smashed by
a United States Marshal as she tried to tape police activity. A
neighbor managed to capture the encounter from their own device,
and that footage has been viewed on YouTube more than 1.5 million
times in the week since.
“The right to film police is clearly established and even so,
we see incidents like that,” Bibring said. Indeed, federal
officials announced on Tuesday this week that a cop
across the country in Buffalo, New York has been charged with two
counts of deprivation of civil rights after he allegedly beat a
person in police custody. According to the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, one of two supposed instances was captured by a
witness but was deleted from their cell phone upon the demand of
another officer.
Additionally, the app also provides a feature which, when
enabled, broadcasts the location of the person who is recording
so that others in the area can stay alert for suspicious
activity. Coupled with functionality that lets users quickly
capture police activity and instantly share it with civil rights
experts, the ACLU hopes the app will help citizens hold officials
accountable by making it easier to get it into the hands of
others.
“People who historically have had very little power in the
face of law enforcement now have this tool to reclaim their power
and dignity,” Patrisse Cullors, the director of the Truth
and Reinvestment Campaign at the Ella Baker Center for Human
Rights, said on Thursday.
“Our vision is that this app will ultimately help community
members connect and organize to respond to incidents of law
enforcement violence, and then share their experiences and
knowledge with others,” Cullors said.
The April 12 arrest of Freddie Gray in Baltimore and his
subsequent death is currently under review. In North Carolina,
meanwhile, former police officer Michael Slager remains in
custody after being charged with murder after he fired eight
shots at a black man who fled following a traffic stop earlier in
the month. Slager was working with the North Charleston Police
Dept. at the time of the incident, and eyewitness footage of the
altercation was instrumental in propelling awareness of the case
and bringing charges against the officer.