by Attorney Eric D. PuryearIn cases where a person’s civil rights are violated by the police or another governmental agency, it is important to preserve evidence of the violation for use in court later. A variety of smartphone apps now exist for this very purpose.Civil rights violations are a serious problem. Each year, citizens suffer great harm and lose their lives at the hands of police and other government employees who abuse their powers. Putting a stop to such abuse is the only way to save future people from being victimized, and to right the wrong that was committed.
Doing so requires evidence, as cases where is is only the word of a police officer against a single victim can be very difficult to prove in court. Modern technology provides a solution in the form of the many smartphone apps that now exist to record evidence during interaction with police. Below are links to some of those apps:
- Cop Recorder 2 (for Android and iOS)
- Police Tap (for Android and iOS)
- FiVo Film (for Android and iOS)
- Secret Camera Recorder (for Android and iOS)
- Oh Crap App (for Android and iOS)
The laws on recording other people vary from state to state. However, in both Illinois and Iowa it is lawful for a person to record a traffic stop or other such interaction with the police.