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Monday, July 9, 2012

An App That Lets You Report Bad Police.


Smartphones allow people to check email, Facebook and Twitter accounts, and now keep an eye on the police -- at least in New Jersey.
The New Jersey chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU-NJ) has just released “Police Tape,” an Android phone app that allows people to securely and discreetly record and store their interactions with police, as well as provide legal information about citizens’ rights when interacting with law officers.
"This app provides an essential tool for police accountability,” ACLU-NJ Executive Director Deborah Jacobs said in a statement to Wired.com. “Too often incidents of serious misconduct go unreported because citizens don’t feel that they will be believed. Here, the technology empowers citizens to place a check on police power directly.”
Almost all cell phones come with video cameras, but Police Tape has a "stealth mode" that makes the app disappear from the screen once the recording starts, to minimize the chances the police might squelch the recording.

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