ACLU of Missouri Mobile Justice 2.0

Innocent people are routinely stopped, searched, harassed, bullied into compliance and humiliated every day in Missouri. It's not a crime to walk down the street, to peacefully protest, to march or to gather with a group of your peers on the sidewalk. Yet, black and brown Missourians are turned into suspects for doing just that. In Missouri, police harassment has increased exponentially since Aug. 9, when Michael Brown was fatally shot by a Ferguson police officer.

The ACLU of Missouri Mobile Justice smartphone app was created to empower individuals to hold Missouri law enforcement agencies accountable for their actions. It has four main features:

• Record- allows citizens to capture exchanges between police officers and themselves or other community members in audio and video files that are automatically emailed to the ACLU of Missouri.

• Witness- gives citizens the option to alert nearby Mobile Justice App users when they are stopped by police so that they can move toward the location and document the interaction.

• Report- gives citizens the option to provide a more-detailed account of their interactions with police in an incident report, which will be transmitted directly to the ACLU of Missouri.
• Know Your Rights- provides an overview of what rights protect Missourians when they are stopped by law enforcement officers.

Based on helpful feedback from our users, we launched Mobile Justice 2.0, which includes some exciting upgrades. Now, the app will:.

• Automatically save a copy of the video to your phone’s camera roll.
• Save notifications on a newsfeed so that app users can view all notifications they have received.
• Better protect people’s privacy via an independently operated database.
• Ask users to provide their contact information when sending a submission.

When interacting with law enforcement, exercise caution when attempting to use the app to document your exchange. Your safety depends on your ability to clearly communicate your actions and to remain calm.

1. Announce that you are reaching for your phone.
2. Announce that you are attempting to access the app to record the exchange.
3. If the officer forbids or prevents you from doing so, do not argue or resist. Follow the officer's instructions. If your rights have been violated, your attorney will argue your case later.
4. If the officer attempts to touch your screen in an effort to destroy the evidence you've captured, don't worry. The moment the recording is stopped it will automatically be sent to the ACLU of Missouri.