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How three teenagers invented an app to police the cops

economist.com

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Re: How three teenagers invented an app to police the cops

#11

Post by rrmm »

drglitch wrote: post #7

I'm glad to see that a lens flare photoshop filter is still a rite-of-passage in design just like it was back in late 90s :) Joking aside, this will have same terrible bias as BBB - bad reviews will be the only ones making it in. I am right up there with thinking cops significantly (and often) overstep their bounds but this is treating a symptom not the root cause.

There still needs to be visibility. Only the recent ubiquity of cell phone cameras has allowed the public at large to see interactions between citizens and police. Before this it was easy to dismiss or just be ignorant of how often police abuse occurred to certain groups of people. It was the officer's word against these "thugs".

Getting everyone to admit a problem exists and getting our heads around how frequently it occurs is the first step towards resolving it.

Re: How three teenagers invented an app to police the cops

#12

Post by jarcane »

bitJericho wrote: post #8
Namrog84 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do wonder if the app becomes popular and then an officer recognizes the kid in a pull over or situation how it will influence the interaction.

A cop's going to mess with a couple of kids because he might recognize them as having created an app? That makes no sense at all.

You don't interact with cops much do you?

I got messed with by the cops just for being out after dark as a kid. A cop once made my whole family his personal mission just because he caught one of my brothers biking without a helmet.

Makes perfect fuckin' sense to me.

Re: How three teenagers invented an app to police the cops

#14

Post by rrmm »

JustSomeNobody wrote: post #10
drglitch wrote: post #7

I'm glad to see that a lens flare photoshop filter is still a rite-of-passage in design just like it was back in late 90s :) Joking aside, this will have same terrible bias as BBB - bad reviews will be the only ones making it in. I am right up there with thinking cops significantly (and often) overstep their bounds but this is treating a symptom not the root cause.

> I am right up there with thinking cops significantly (and often) overstep their bounds... Really? Are you sure this isn't just because the bad ones are reported often and hardly any good ones? I mean, there are a LOT of officers in the U.S. Surely they aren't all overstepping. One thing to remember about officers; they see the worst of US day in and day out, every single day. I'm sure it colors one's view of the wo…

Significant and often are clearly a matter of perspective: what's significant and how often is too often?

Realistically, there will always be some incidents. Ideally, they should be as few as possible such that law enforcement is still effective (for whatever value of effective that society chooses). The severity also factors in: No one will probably care all that much if a cop screws up the exact wording of a miranda warning, but when the consequences are someone dead and police perjuring themselves, it takes a lot fewer of those incidents.

Re: How three teenagers invented an app to police the cops

#15

Post by Gracana »

drglitch wrote: post #7

I'm glad to see that a lens flare photoshop filter is still a rite-of-passage in design just like it was back in late 90s :) Joking aside, this will have same terrible bias as BBB - bad reviews will be the only ones making it in. I am right up there with thinking cops significantly (and often) overstep their bounds but this is treating a symptom not the root cause.

What's the root cause, and how do you get people thinking about it? What do people do in the meantime? We're talking about people with the authority and ability to ruin or end your life.. that they should face a little pressure and perhaps be enticed to find ways to fix their own system seems pretty reasonable to me.

Re: How three teenagers invented an app to police the cops

#16

Post by ck2 »

Put aside the whole idea of the app for a moment.

Think about how this reflects on society when this becomes therapy for teenagers at the formative years in their life to deal with something very bad that happened to them by people who were supposed to protect them.

Re: How three teenagers invented an app to police the cops

#17

Post by notahacker »

drglitch wrote: post #7

I'm glad to see that a lens flare photoshop filter is still a rite-of-passage in design just like it was back in late 90s :) Joking aside, this will have same terrible bias as BBB - bad reviews will be the only ones making it in. I am right up there with thinking cops significantly (and often) overstep their bounds but this is treating a symptom not the root cause.

It'll only have the same terrible bias as BBB once police forces can pay to massage their coverage...

Re: How three teenagers invented an app to police the cops

#18

Post by cubano »

bitJericho wrote: post #8
Namrog84 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do wonder if the app becomes popular and then an officer recognizes the kid in a pull over or situation how it will influence the interaction.

A cop's going to mess with a couple of kids because he might recognize them as having created an app? That makes no sense at all.

I was set-up and arrested in 2008 for simply being in a suspicious part of town where I knew an old family friend who fixed my car on occasion.

I was charged with a felony "destruction of evidence" because a totally crooked cop, whom was eventually kicked off the force for messing with hookers, claimed I ate the non-existent drugs, and actually tampered with the swab he used to wipe my mouth.

I was arrested and fired from my job the next week. Eventually, the case was "null-processed" as the cop had been fired for misconduct and the State had no case.

In a life of bizarre legal experiences, it was perhaps the most bizarre of them all, and since then I put absolutely nothing past police, although I do recognize they do a dangerous job of which I would want no part of.

Re: How three teenagers invented an app to police the cops

#19

Post by JustSomeNobody »

rrmm wrote: post #14
JustSomeNobody wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I am right up there with thinking cops significantly (and often) overstep their bounds... Really? Are you sure this isn't just because the bad ones are reported often and hardly any good ones? I mean, there are a LOT of officers in the U.S. Surely they aren't all overstepping. One thing to remember about officers; they see the worst of US day in and day out, every single day. I'm sure it colors one's view of the wo…

Significant and often are clearly a matter of perspective: what's significant and how often is too often? Realistically, there will always be some incidents. Ideally, they should be as few as possible such that law enforcement is still effective (for whatever value of effective that society chooses). The severity also factors in: No one will probably care all that much if a cop screws up the exact wording of a mirand…

As the poster I was replying to didn't set any constraints, its clear they meant generally. I disagree that generally officers significantly overstep their bounds.

Re: How three teenagers invented an app to police the cops

#20

Post by geggam »

rrmm wrote: post #14
JustSomeNobody wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I am right up there with thinking cops significantly (and often) overstep their bounds... Really? Are you sure this isn't just because the bad ones are reported often and hardly any good ones? I mean, there are a LOT of officers in the U.S. Surely they aren't all overstepping. One thing to remember about officers; they see the worst of US day in and day out, every single day. I'm sure it colors one's view of the wo…

Significant and often are clearly a matter of perspective: what's significant and how often is too often? Realistically, there will always be some incidents. Ideally, they should be as few as possible such that law enforcement is still effective (for whatever value of effective that society chooses). The severity also factors in: No one will probably care all that much if a cop screws up the exact wording of a mirand…

Changing the mission back to peace keeping instead of law enforcement would go a long way to fixing the issue. Enforcing the law causes more problems than it solves. See : drug war
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