Hey, this week's podcast was initially going to be about something completely different but with Ferguson Missouri currently looking like a warzone, I opted a different direction. To clarify on August 9th 2014 a teenager named Michael Brown was shot and killed by the police department in Ferguson, Missouri. The community has been protesting police brutality and demanding justice but in the process have been met with an army of officers with tanks military grade weapons. At the time of this recording this conflict is still happening.

Social media has been a way for the world to keep an eye on this town in ways that would have been so beneficial during incidents in the Jim Crow era. It's about accountability. 

And that brings me to an app called Legal observer. The app was created to "act as a witness to hold police accountable for their actions". It was created in 2011 during the occupy movement". So, this seems really important considering that the media has been given limited access to this conflict, according to MSNBC.

Features of this app include the ability to input key information about incidents with the police. So. You'd be able to do a profile on the officer. Name, Badge number, weapon they used. If you'd like you can explain the interaction further and can even take photos or video. There ALSO is an option to email this information after it has been collected. Which is very IMPORTANT If police officers are confiscating phones. The disclaimers related to Legal Observer are tied to local laws. Information around this is included within the app.  So, I definitely suggest you check that out first.

Another app I came across was called "I'm getting arrested" which gets to the point. It was inspired by the Occupy Wall Street era as well. The functionality lets the user broadcast a custom text message in the event that they are arrested. They long-press a button within the app and their pre-entered message is sent to the appropriate people.

Legal Observer is available for apple android.  And the I'm Getting arrested app only seems to be available for android at this time.

Information is power and apps like these provide a process for what can often be chaotic situations. I hope this has been helpful. Thanks for listening.