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The ACLU is hoping that its new "Mobile Justice'' app for Android smartphones will encourage people to videotape police interactions with the public that they witness to hold "law enforcement agencies accountable for their actions.'' The app is only available for Android users, but an iPhone version is expected next year.

(The Oregonian)

The ACLU is watching you! The police, that is.

With a new smartphone app called ACLU Mobile Justice unveiled Thursday, witnesses can record video of police interactions with the public or police arrests and send those videos straight to the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon for review.

"Police officers have a unique role and position within our society, and they are given extraordinary powers,'' said David Fidanque, executive director of the ACLU of Oregon. "Oregonians have the right to record video of police in public places as a check to those powers.''

The ACLU here is launching the app along with affiliates in Missouri, Mississippi and Nebraska, with help from a grant from the national ACLU. It's modeled after the New York Civil Liberties' Union's "Stop and Frisk Watch'' phone app that was released in 2012. Since then, New York's app has been downloaded more than 30,000 times.

Fidanque said the ACLU affiliates began developing the app before the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., this summer. It's being distributed free for Android devices only; an iPhone version is expected early next year.

"The events in Ferguson made the need for the app even more urgent,'' Fidanque said. "Over-policing, racial profiling and the excessive use of force are also a problem here in Oregon.''

The Android app is intended for use by people witnessing police encounters, not by people who are the subject of a police stop.

"If you see something, say something,'' the app advertises, encouraging users to document and send the ACLU what they see.

In New York, the police department wasn't pleased when the "Stop and Frisk Watch'' app was unveiled. New York police expressed concern that real-time information about locations of police stops could be used by criminals, yet at the same time said they would be interested in seeing the videos and potentially calling those who recorded them as witnesses.

Portland police request that anyone recording officers not get in the way, spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson said Thursday.

"Portland police officers are quite used to being filmed and all we ask is that people doing the filming stay a safe and respectable distance away from encounters so as not to interfere with the officers as they do their job,'' Simpson said.

The ACLU's new app has three functions: record, witness and report.

Record initiates the camera and video, and the app prompts the user to add any information about the police interaction filmed. The file, including the video and report, are then sent directly to the ACLU.

The witness function activates the phone's GPS, and can alert the user if anyone else in the vicinity has started to film the same police incident.

A report function allows an incident report to be filled out, even if no video or audio was recorded. The app also contains a "Know Your Rights'' information, instructing people that they have the right to film police.

"We hope this will be an empowerment tool for people to be able to assert their rights with police and let the public know they have the right to record the video,'' said Sarah Armstrong, ACLU of Oregon's outreach coordinator.

"We would plan to share the videos in instances where civil liberties could be furthered, for example with lawmakers or news organizations, but we will respect the privacy of those who have taken the videos,'' Armstrong said.

Those who use the app have the option of remaining anonymous or identifying themselves to the ACLU.

Local activist Teressa Raiford, said she applauds the new app.

"Often people won't report police misconduct because they don't think they will be believed,'' Raiford said. "Taking video of a stop can make a huge difference – while it is happening and after.''

The ACLU app users won't be the only ones recording police encounters.

Portland police and other law enforcement agencies in the state have video cameras in their patrol vehicles, and several have or are actively considering, outfitting officers with wearable lapel cameras.

--Maxine Bernstein