The NYCLU's smartphone app used to monitor stop-and-frisks hadn't been released yet before NYPD "sources" were condemning it in the New York Post. “Just what we need, somebody telling kids stopped by the police to quickly pull a handheld advice [sic] out of their pocket," one law enforcement source says. Yeah, those newfangled "wallets" will get you killed!
But wait: aren't we supposed to keep our smartphones out of sight? “We do live in a world where people carry around, treat cavalierly, pieces of technology that’s useful to somebody if they steal them,” Mayor Bloomberg said last month in response to skyrocketing iPhone thefts. Another police source told the Daily News, "It’s the equivalent of holding hundreds of dollars in your hand." So do you keep it hidden to protect your investment or carry it in plain sight to avoid being shot by law enforcement? And do police think people babbling on Bluetooths are high on bath salts?
Top NYPD Italian wooden marionette spokesman Paul Browne takes a different tack: "Surprising that the NYCLU wants to create a database of police stops, including arrests, without privacy guarantees." And this man knows about databases "without privacy guarantees!"
Browne is incorrect, which is understandable considering that he commented with no knowledge of the app whatsoever. As we noted earlier, the app tells the user that "the NYCLU may be legally required to disclose" personal information provided to them if it is subpoenaed. But it also states: "In such situations we will protect you to the fullest extent of the law, and only disclose it when legally required." And the developer of the app assured us that anonymously submitted data will not be able to be tracked.
"It’s unfortunate the Post went with a story that they didn’t have the facts on and is incorrect," NYCLU communications director Jennifer Carnig writes via email. "Stop and Frisk Watch is intended for use by people witnessing a police encounter, not by individuals who are the subject of a police stop." She continues, "The NYPD tells New Yorkers that if they see something, say something, and the NYCLU agrees. If people see police misconduct or an inappropriate stop-and-frisk, we want them to have the tools to say something about it."
But this is all just so confusing. Let's just leave the cellphone cameras at home and go back to the days of just taking the NYPD's word for it.
