Similar apps also are aimed at helping people navigate interactions with police.Ĭreators of the Driving While Black app in Portland, Ore., from left, software developer James Pritchett, lawyers Mariann Hyland and Melvin Oden-Orr say it will educates drivers about how to safely deal with police during traffic stops. The app is coming to market as protesters around the country keep attention on instances of deadly encounters with police in Ferguson, Mo., and New York City. Growing number of apps for dealing with police There's also a recording function to document the interaction with an officer. With the phone hopefully in a hands-free device, the app allows drivers to send an alert to friends and family that they have been pulled over. believe they're targeted by policeĭespite its attention-grabbing name, Oden-Orr said the app due for release in late December will provide common sense advice to motorists of all races and outline what civil rights you have during a stop.
It doesn’t sound difficult, but such encounters can be dangerous for police - putting them on heightened alert - and drivers can find it difficult to relax when they feel they’re being stopped for their skin color. The key to surviving a traffic stop, Hyland and Oden-Orr say, is to remain calm, keep your hands on the wheel, be respectful and make no false moves. The term “driving while black” reflects widespread frustration among African-Americans that they are more likely to get pulled over than white people - a reality confirmed in a Justice Department report last year that also found black and Hispanic drivers are more likely to be ticketed and searched than whites. She and Oden-Orr collaborated on it with developer James Pritchett. Portland attorney Mariann Hyland got the idea for “Driving While Black” after learning of an app for drivers suspected of drunken driving. “It’s obviously in the forefront of everybody’s mind the police know they are being recorded and people in public know they can record,” said Sarah Rossi, ACLU-Missouri’s director of advocacy and policy. It’s modeled on “Stop and Frisk Watch,” an app the ACLU released for New Yorkers in 2012. “Five-O” is an application released this summer by three Georgia teenagers that people can use to create their own “incident reports” on police encounters, and contribute to community databases that rate how individual officers treat people.Īnd “Mobile Justice,” released by American Civil Liberties Union affiliates in four states, enables users to record and upload video of police encounters so that ACLU lawyers can look for due-process violations.
With attention focused nationally on police killings of unarmed black people, it’s one of several free smartphone applications that aim to help people navigate encounters with law enforcement. The app describes how people can assert their civil rights with officers, enables drivers to alert friends and family with a push of a button that they’ve been pulled over, and includes a recording function to document the interaction.