On May 7, 2015 the California Chapter of the ACLU launched a mobile app that will allow bystanders to record cell phone videos to document possible police misconduct and then quickly upload and save the footage to the organization’s protected computer servers, even if a phone is subsequently seized by police or destroyed.
The App, known as ACLU’s “Mobile Justice CA” comes on the heels of increased scrutiny of law enforcement following several high-profile instances police misconduct over the past few years in the United States.
In addition to recording and uploading the footage, the app sends an alert to anyone with the app in the area, increasing the number of potential witnesses to the event. As we have previously noted in our commentary of the shifting nature of accountability in law enforcement, more transparency can only lead to better outcomes for the broader cause of social justice.