In response to the increasing tensions between law enforcement agencies and the public, the ACLU announced it is launching an app to allow people to film law enforcement officers in action and automatically download a copy of their videos to the ACLU. The app, called Mobile Justice CA, is designed to help users record and automatically preserve their recordings of encounters with police to document alleged civil rights violations. The app automatically sends any recordings to the ACLU, which will review the recordings with an eye toward potential civil rights lawsuits. This process ensures the recordings are preserved even if the user’s phone is later seized or destroyed.

It’s unclear what the long term effects of Mobile Justice CA might be, as the app only launched in California last week. Yet, there are a variety of potential advantages and disadvantages to its use. For one, the recordings are likely to increase police accountability and transparency at a time when the public is demanding those values more. The app will also offset some of the suspicions the public has voiced about the subjectivity of body worn cameras, and the ability of officers or agencies to edit BWC footage prior to release. The Mobile Justice app provides the opportunity for multiple sides of the story to exist, and for one recording of the incident to be checked against others for a fuller depiction of what transpired in the field. The app also has the benefit of encouraging people to get involved in the civil rights process.

There are also risks to its use, however. To begin with, the app could place users in jeopardy as they try to film police encounters that may be inherently dangerous situations. The interference of various — and potentially numerous — civilians in police activity may increase the risk of the situation escalating as much as the cameras filming it promise to decrease that possibility. Further, even when police activity is ultimately found to be within the confines of the law, publicly available video of that activity may be used to harm police officers or departments who are not violating the law. Beyond that, Mobile Justice CA may reduce the natural initiative of officers in the field, who may be reticent to act for fear of future public condemnation. Some of these may ultimately lead to benefits, like changes in departmental policies or increased thoughtfulness and mindful engagement of officers in the field.

While the ultimate benefits and detriments of Mobile Justice CA remain to be seen, law enforcement agencies should be aware that the ACLU will now be collecting, reviewing and preserving video footage of police encounters throughout the State, and that some of this footage is likely to be used in future civil rights actions . On the other hand, these videos, captured and archived in a single place, might also be a source of evidence for law enforcement agencies in conducting criminal investigations, supporting prosecutions and for internal affairs and critical incident reviews. As departments across the State are considering or working toward increased transparency, awareness of the app and its potential to be both a tool and a problem, is vital to ensure that it ultimately does more good than harm.