'Siri, I'm Being Pulled Over': Phone Shortcut Helps People Record Police
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - A shortcut app called "Police" for iPhones is gaining traction following recent events showing excessive force by police officers. The shortcut enables your phone to secretly record officers.
You give the command, "I'm being pulled over" and the program pauses any music you were playing, goes into 'do not disturb' mode, dims the phone's brightness, and starts recording on the phone's front-facing camera.
Further, once you stop the recording it will send the video to a designated contact. Considering recent events, including the death of George Floyd at the hands of officers, some say they'd use it.
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"Sure, I would because look what happens... I think it would be a good idea to keep track of police and see how they handle their business," said Monique Hannah.
"That's a good idea because some people might be getting pulled over for no reason or something might happen and then someone knows what your predicament is, or what's going on, why you're getting pulled over," said Jordan Norman.
California Highway Patrol says they understand people would use the program, but says if an officer asks you to put your phone down for a sobriety test or to get out of the car, you have to take heed even if you don't stop recording.
Sacramento civil rights attorney Jeff Kravitz says people have every right to record officers, but there are limitations.
"Officers are public people, you have every right to film them while they're carrying out their official duties," said Kravitz.
Kravitz says the recording has to be in public. You can't secretly record in the police station with a hidden camera.
"That would be an invasion of privacy, you couldn't film them on private property, that would be an invasion of privacy. But these apps are, it's my understanding, they work when you are being pulled over," said Kravitz.
The developer told several news outlets when the program first launched in 2018 that he made it to help people stay safe and honest.
In order to use the shortcut, you must first download the Shortcuts app. You can then find the shortcut by visiting this URL: https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/84ad422bdfaa45a695422cf6aab41b7f