{"id":53918,"date":"2015-06-30T21:47:35","date_gmt":"2015-06-30T13:47:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=53918"},"modified":"2015-06-30T21:47:35","modified_gmt":"2015-06-30T13:47:35","slug":"new-smartphone-app-offers-legal-advice-for-random-cop-encounters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2015\/06\/30\/new-smartphone-app-offers-legal-advice-for-random-cop-encounters\/","title":{"rendered":"New smartphone app offers legal advice for random cop encounters"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"(Photo<\/a>
(Photo courtesy of Legalswipe)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

TORONTO \u2013 A new smartphone app aims to offer byte-sized legal advice as well as other protections to people randomly stopped and questioned by police.<\/p>\n

Called Legalswipe, the free app comes amid emotional debate over \u201ccarding\u201d and similar practices in which officers ask for information unrelated to a criminal investigation. Critics argue young black men and other visible minorities are disproportionately singled out for the stops.<\/p>\n

Law school grad Christien Levien, who said he has had his own unpleasant police encounter, said he saw a genuine need for his app.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe community at large is concerned about their legal rights,\u201d Levien said Monday. \u201cEspecially marginalized communities perceive that the police have been violating their legal rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Applicable to both Canada and the United States, the advice comes by way of a series of brief questions and answers.<\/p>\n

The initial question: \u201cWhat is the officer attempting?\u201d allows users to choose options such as: \u201cObtain identification\u201d or \u201cEngage in a search.\u201d<\/p>\n

It then suggests questions to ask: \u201cWhy are you requesting my ID?\u201d or \u201cAm I under arrest?\u201d and offers talking points and advice on what information you must provide.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are not being arrested or detained, then you are not required to show ID,\u201d the app states.<\/p>\n

Other functions allow users to video an encounter and send the recording to a remote server, and to send geo-tagged email messages.<\/p>\n

Desmond Cole, whose account of more than 50 police stops appeared in Toronto Life magazine in May, said such encounters spark fear and confusion. The app, he said, can act as a rights \u201crefresher,\u201d while the video feature can be invaluable in documenting situations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat people face on a regular basis from police as far as being stopped and not being told the reason why, being asked to produce identification for no apparent reason, these things are quite damaging,\u201d Cole said.<\/p>\n

Toronto police spokesman Mark Pugash said officers are under unprecedented scrutiny due to changing technology. The app is part of that change, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t see it as provocative,\u201d Pugash said. \u201cAs long as the public doesn\u2019t interfere in a police officer trying to do his or her job, if they’re recording it, they’re entitled to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

A few years ago, Levien, 28, said an officer asked him for ID. When he asked why, a second officer slammed him from behind into the ground, bloodying his face, and then placed him in the back of a cruiser, he said. \u201cI was scared; I didn\u2019t know what to do.\u201d They released him without charge or explanation, he said.<\/p>\n

Levien, who is studying for his bar exams, said he spent several years pursuing a formal complaint that led to one of the officers being reprimanded.<\/p>\n

Although the advice function works, the email broadcast and video functions are having teething problems. Still, the app, available for Apple and Android devices, has been downloaded about 2,000 times in just a couple of days.<\/p>\n

Levien is trying to raise $140,000 via crowdfunding to further develop the program \u2013 adding other languages is a priority.<\/p>\n

Alvin Curling, the only black person to serve as Speaker of the Ontario legislature, said in a statement that legal-rights education is \u201cessential to a working democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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