NYCLU’s “Stop and Frisk Watch,”
is a smartphone app designed to let observers record and report stop-and-frisks they see on the street, is a “free and innovative smart phone application that will empower New Yorkers to monitor police activity and hold the NYPD accountable,” per its description online.(video)
Police Brutality 101: “The head stomp” Stomp the arestee’s head. If he winces from the pain he will struggle to get your foot of of his head, Using your club, break his ribs and arrest him for resisting arrest.
Stop-and-Frisk Watch works like this: A bystander with the app sees a stop-and-frisk happening on the street and triggers the app, which starts recording video. After the video recording is over, the user fills out a survey about the stop-and-frisk, which is sent to the NYCLU. A “Listen” feature also alerts users if people are being stop-and-frisked nearby.
Can an app, particularly one that depends on bystanders to care enough to download it to their phone and then put themselves in a position to record an incident really reduce stop-and-frisks, or even lead to more people reporting them, when there are hardly any official avenues to do so?
