As we have seen, the violent crackdown on independent journalism in Ferguson is a sign of a worsening situation in much of America. More than ever,?each citizen?needs to become a?member of the media?and record everything that they see during encounters with the police.A new smartphone app called Sidekik aims to make it as easy as possible for you not only to record the police and upload that recording offsite, but to put you in immediate contact with legal representation to help you navigate the encounter … in real-time.
What is Sidekik?
Sidekik is a mobile application which will perform two key actions simultaneously. One, Sidekik will activate your smartphone’s audio and video recording devices and begin streaming the data to a secure facility. Two, Sidekik will initiate a video call and connect you with an attorney who will represent you in whatever situation you find yourself.
Why is Sidekik Important?
When you are in a critical situation, such as being pulled over by law enforcement, the balance of power is often against you. The fact is that most people don’t know their rights or how to enforce them. In addition, without a record of your encounter with law enforcement, the question of what happened during the encounter devolves into your word against that of the officer, which normally results with courts and public opinion in favor of the officer, regardless of what actually occurred. Though many people have begun recording their interactions with law enforcement, the recording is stored on the recording device, which is sometimes confiscated.
Sidekik solves both of these problems. With the activation of the Sidekik app, your smartphone’s audio and video recorders will begin streaming to a secure server. If the officer has behaved outside of their bounds and doesn’t want evidence of that misconduct available to you, there is simply nothing the officer can do. The audio and video has been stored and timestamped securely, and can be retrieved by you at your convenience.
Within seconds of activating the Sidekik app, you will be connected through a video call to an attorney licensed to practice law in your jurisdiction. Every attorney on the Sidekik network will be well versed regarding your rights during a police encounter and do everything in their power to defend your rights as they interact with the officer on your behalf.
The Indiegogo site states: “Sidekik is important because it restores balance to a previously unequal interaction. Your rights are worth preserving; all it takes is the tap of a screen”.
If enough people start using Sidekik then police departments across the country could?be?faced with a Maywood, CA situation. In early June of 2010 the City of Maywood received a notice that their insurance was being cancelled, primarily due to the number of complaints filed against the police department. When the city tried getting coverage from other insurers, no insurance company would cover them. Maywood councilman Felipe Aguirre said, ?Nobody will insure us, not as long as we have the police department.?
But: is it legal to film police?
Yes. There are slight differences from State to State, yet the fundamental right to film police in the public performance of their duties remains the same. This issue has been settled by numerous court rulings over the years, such as?Glik v. Cunniffe,Smith v. Cummings,?ACLU v. Alvarez,?Carla Gericke v. Gregory C. Begin et al.?and several others. Additionally the U.S. Department of Justice has issued strongly worded opinions in support of the right to record police officers while they are in the public performance of their duties.
As long as the police are in public and you are not interfering with their activities, you can record them. If the police in question are interacting with you, then you can also record them. Just as the police have the right to record their interactions with the public using dashcams and lapel cams, you have the right to record them. Remember, everyone also has a right to legal representation at every stage of an interaction with police, and the recording aspect of Sidekik seems a perfectly legal way to document that interaction.
Sources: Indiegogo, ActivistPost