Video cameras have played a key role in exposing police brutality in recent years.
Now, comes some added technology.
The ACLU of Michigan says it's offering a free app, Mobile Justice MI, a downloadable mobile-device application that allows users to record and quickly report police misconduct.
“It’s every citizen’s right to film the police, and we believe that accountability is essential to building trust between communities and law enforcement and to creating confidence that the criminal justice system is fair,” Kary Moss, Executive Director of the ACLU of Michigan, said in a statement. “With this app, we empower citizens to know their rights and to document life-threatening interactions.”
ACLU branches in some other states also offer the app.
The ACLU said the app offers three features: “record,” “witness” and “report.”
A press release states:
Record allows citizens to capture exchanges between police officers and themselves or other community members in audio and video files that are automatically sent to the ACLU of Michigan.
Witness sends out an alert when someone is stopped by police so that community members can move toward the location and document the interaction.
Report gives the app user the option to complete an incident report and send it directly to the ACLU of Michigan for review.
The application is available in iOS and Android versions and can be downloaded through the ACLU of Michigan website.
