The ACLU Launches Smartphone App That Lets Users Secretly Record Police Stops
The American Civil Liberties Union has taken its mission of policing the police to smartphones. The ACLU has released an app called “Police Tape” that lets users secretly record police stops.
The ACLU’s Alexander Shalom said the app is easy to use.
“You can think back to when Rodney King was beaten at the hands of the LAPD,” Shalom said. “For years, we’ve watched the police on video and that’s led to reforms and police accountability, but now that cellphones and smartphones are becoming more ubiquitous, people have this ability to videotape. It really is a cutting-edge tool to ensure accountability in the 21st century.”
“Unlike a recording that’s just done in the standard camera or video mode on someone’s telephone, it’s a little more complicated to find these files and delete them. So it can theoretically be done but it would take a far more tech-savvy police officer to do it,” Shalom said.
Users can store the recording on their phones or send a copy to the ACLU for backup storage and analysis of possible civil liberties violations.
The app is currently available for Android users and a version for iPhones is in the works.
When Tennessee Pigs Fly 
July 6, 2012 at 3:04 PM
Excellent news! This would have been helpful if we had had the opportunity to record what happened to us when a Nashville SWAT Unit broke into our home, brutally attacked and injured us, and arrested me based on a false police report filed by my abusive ex-husband who, at the time, had refused to sign our divorce papers. We have yet to find a competent attorney who has the courage to file a civil suit on our behalf. Any referrals?