Slashdot Mirror
App To Hold Police Instantly Accountable In Stop and Search (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes: A collective of London-based youth clubs and organizations has released an app called Y-Stop to help encourage those involved in unfair police encounters to instantly record and report their experiences. The idea is to 'encourage police accountability' by making it easier for anyone to have a say about what they think may be unjustified or illegal police action. The app allows its user to immediately send audio and video footage of harassment for secure holding with the charities themselves, or with the police directly. It also enables easier communication with lawyers for assistance and advice.
Read the woman's blog about how she was stopped for "Walking While Black", then watch the police dash cam.
Why would excercising a legal right be intimidating or antagonising to an officer?
You bring up a very interesting point.
What will happen when the footage and audio captured repeatedly shows that the police were in the right, that they acted reasonably, and that it was in fact the other party/parties who were in the wrong?
Will the non-police parties actually admit that they were wrong? Or will they continue to live in a constant state of denial, even when all of the evidence shows that they were the ones in the wrong?
The Michael Brown incident is a perfect example of this. We have some clear video footage of him mercilessly robbing a store and abusing the cashier just minutes before his encounter with police. Just after this criminal incident, he was disrupting traffic by walking down the middle of the street. Then when confronted by the police, all of the evidence from the grand jury investigation showed that he had repeatedly attacked the police officer physically, including trying to take the officer's gun.
The officer did the only reasonable thing given the circumstances, and defended himself against this violent attacker using force, which ended up resulting in Brown's death. Yet despite all of the evidence available showing the police officer being completely in the right, and the violent thug completely in the wrong, it was still the officer who was mislabeled as having done wrong in this case. Thankfully, the justice system worked properly and brought the truth to light: the officer acted completely in self-defense, and did nothing wrong.
Yet despite all of the clear and indisputable evidence showing how the events unfolded and who was responsible (Brown), Brown's supporters have continued to deny the truth and reality of the situation.
I suspect we would see the same happen when it comes to footage and other evidence in general. The perpetrators in these cases are so convinced that they're "right", even when they're completely wrong, that they just can't accept it when the evidence shows that the police were actually in the right.
Simple solution: Strap them into a movie theater seat with their eyes forced open and make them watch gory movies while giving them a drug that makes them nauseous. The worst thing that can happen is that maybe they'll develop an extreme aversion to Beethoven.
The Moore-Murphy Law: The number of things that will go wrong will double every 2 years.
In the US, your State's ACLU probably has an App.
The "CA Justice" app is great. Set it to record, and if anyone tries to operate your smartphone, it will immediately upload the recording to an ACLU server, along with date-time-GPS stamp, and later any info you want to add.
Other Apps:
Claiming that because some group may have some percentage of bad actors does not justify the criminal behavior in any way by police officers. In Miami Beach, the PD has a documented history of attacking anyone documenting crimes by police officers and destroying evidence. Bad officers are bad officers are bad officers and should in all case lose their certification and jobs. Any officer that breaks the law is violating their oaths and obligations to society.
-a.e.mossberg
I think this app is more going to be used to antagonize cops.
Well, if they haven't done anything wrong, they have nothing to worry about.
Seems to have been a popular statement applied toward civilians for some time.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
It's perfectly sensible reasoning.
It call comes down to not voluntarily putting yourself into a dangerous position.
If you dress like convicted criminals typically do, and then hang around in known high-crime areas, be prepared for the police to target you.
If you dress like a prostitute, and then hang around in seedy bars, be prepared for molesters to target you.
If you dress yourself in raw steaks, and then hang around in the lion's den at the zoo, be prepared for a lion to maul you.
So if you don't want to become a victim, don't go out of your way to do stupid shit that will greatly increase your likelihood of becoming a victim!
There are few things petty, small-minded people resent more than knowing you are right when they dislike your message. Nowhere is this more obvious than when you explain to a victim how they can take control over their situation so they don't have to be victims anymore (or can at least improve their chances). They will immediately frame the discussion not in terms of fact, but in terms of blame, with a childish concern for how to most favorably allocate it.
Victimhood was once viewed as an undesirable state in which any sort of improvement or advice is welcome. Now it's like a dysfunctional sainthood, as resistant to truth as any other form of idolatry.
I'll give another example of the same mentality. A long time ago, I was overweight. I didn't like it. I knew it would continue to get worse if I didn't change. So I did something about it. An acquaintance noticed that I became slim and fit, and, being overweight themselves, wanted to know how I did it. What they really wanted was a magic pill or shortcut. When I told this person that I started seriously exercising, learned to like vegetables, stopped eating junk food and lost my taste for sweets, they immediately became hostile. They resented the implication that their own actions contributed to their situation, even though changing those same actions is what worked so well for me.
This person doesn't have the emotional maturity to cope with the reality in front of them and do what it takes to change it. This person has continued to gain weight. I hope they enjoy their dysfunctional sainthood. I hope it comforts them when they achieve diabetes, heart disease, painful joints, various cancers, reduced quality of life, or any one of the other many health problems obesity causes or worsens.
This is the mentality you're dealing with. It's resistant to reality. It resents even the facts and logic it asks for because they aren't the cheap effortless quick-fixes it hoped they would be. I don't believe it's capable of improving. It must run its course until it reaches its inevitable failure. I think nothing less than natural selection will rid us of it. The best thing you can do for yourself is to recognize and avoid such people.