Android Users Can Now Secrectly Record The Police

A Google GOOG Android application, designed by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, has been created in order to allow users to secretly record the police. What this essentially means is that users won't be faced with the risk of having their Android-powered device seized. The application itself is aptly entitled Police Tape, which is a free app that has capabilities of recording both video and audio without one knowing. How does it act without one knowing the app is running? Firstly, it disappears from a mobile phone's screen upon the recording beginning. In addition, Police Tape allows users to send a copy of the recording to the ACLU of New Jersey, which will then be stored as a backup, as well as being available for analysis of possible civil liberties violations. Moreover, users are provided with legal information about the rights they have upon dealing with police. ACLU-NJ Executive Director Deborah Jacobs commented on the application in a statement: "This app provides an essential tool for police accountability. Too often incidents of serious misconduct go unreported because citizens don't feel that they will be believed. Here, the technology empowers citizens to place a check on police power directly." Select courts have backed cases where individuals have utilized their smart phone to record police activity. One of the more popular cases saw a federal appeals court instructing the city of Boston to pay an accumulative of $170,000 to an individual who was prosecuted for using their cell phone to record an arrest. Meanwhile, those hoping for an an Apple APPL iPhone (iOS) version of Police Tape will be glad to know that it's due to launch later during the summer.