
'Siri I'm getting pulled over': New shortcut can automatically record the police - cascom
https://www.businessinsider.com/ios-12-shortcut-uses-iphone-to-record-police-during-traffic-stop-2018-10
======
yason
I wonder what's the difference between countries that makes the police behave
so differently as to citizens having to come up with video surveillance to
back up their case?

In Scandinavia you'd have to be genuinely paranoid to not trust the police.
The presence of police generally has an aura of safety: actually, with the
reductions in force we've been quite unhappy to not see officers patrolling in
the city centre in the evenings as much as before.

I'll have to assume that most cops in the US must be friendly and considerate
but there seems to exist a minority (hopefully?) that seems to suggest it
might be safer to hang out with criminals rather than be confronted by the
police.

It's somehow mind-boggling but there must be a path of history and reason why
the behaviour of the police forces have diverged so much between countries.

~~~
FabHK
Very good observation & totally agreed.

In Germany, police is generally perceived as trustworthy, your "friend and
helper" as the slogan goes.

I was surprised by the antagonism and belligerence in the US.

A few observations:

* guns certainly play a big role, and the risk of escalation.

* I wonder whether silly laws also play a role. For example: a 20 year old drinking alcohol, having a cold beer while watching a sunset on the beach, prostitution are all illegal if I'm not mistaken (or smoking a joint, depending on the state). So, in the US, the police might often be the killjoy. In Germany, those things are either officially legal, or in a gray area that the police ignores. So when the police comes on the scene, it's generally an actual crime or problem, and everyone is eager to help and cooperate and fix whatever real problem there is. In short, police have a relatively positive image.

* My experience with the police in the US was much worse when I was on a bike than when I was in a nice BMW. The issues of power differential, authority, lawyers, confrontation seem to loom much larger in the US than I've perceived them in Germany.

* With all these factors, employment with the police might seem a less attractive choice of work in the US than in northern Europe, so people with few other choices (or a penchant for exercising authority) might end up there more frequently than in other countries. This, in turn, could result in a downward cycle and a "besieged" mentality.

At any rate, I'd much rather interact with police in Europe or Asia than the
US.

~~~
bluejekyll
All of these are definitely part of it, but we need to look more deeply at the
economic realities of policing in the US to understand some of this. Read this
article: [https://harvardlawreview.org/2015/04/policing-and-
profit/](https://harvardlawreview.org/2015/04/policing-and-profit/)

Police in many municipalities are not fully funded via taxes. Instead their
revenues are maintained via tickets, fines, and property seizures. There are
recent cases that have gone to the supreme court related to some of these
issues: [https://newrepublic.com/article/148013/will-supreme-court-
re...](https://newrepublic.com/article/148013/will-supreme-court-rein-civil-
forfeiture), I don't believe this case has been heard yet.

The point is, the police in the US have an economic necessity to pay their own
salaries by fighting "crime". This incentivizes them in seizing property,
prior to any conviction in court. Often the property is seized from people
without the means to fight to get it back, and/or it's not worth the fight.
This tactic of ticketing, fining and seizing property to pay for the police
force, IMO, is the root cause of the issues between minorities and low income
people and the police. In effect, the police need crime and will find crime,
because they need to in order to earn their salaries.

~~~
taneq
> Instead their revenues are maintained via tickets, fines, and property
> seizures.

How can this be anything but a case of extreme moral hazard? They sound
indistinguishable from the mob.

~~~
LitFan
Americans hate to pay taxes. The "law abiding citizens" don't have to worry
about these extra fines, as long as they go out of their way to avoid the
police. Then they can convince themselves that it's only the "bad guys" that
are being fined, and as a result they deserve the treatment.

~~~
moate
I really don't understand why you're getting hit on this one.

There is a common perception in America that criminals are morally bad people
who must be punished, instead of a perception that they're desperate or broken
people who need assistance or reform of behavior. There is a private prison
sector that is literally allowed to use prisoners for manual slave labor. We
have one of the largest prison populations in the world even when adjusted for
our large population.

There are a ton of factors that play into why there is a mistrust of the
police (on both side of the political spectrum) but there is also a common air
of ambivalence about how we treat people once they're marked criminals. You
see it every time a large media stir comes up because of a high profile police
shooting. "Well, he was no angel. That thug had a criminal record, so the cop
probably..." as if it's impossible that the victim could have been a criminal
AND the cop used unneeded lethal force.

Your point is a little blunt and lacks nuance, but it's sentiment seems in
line with what many prison reform advocates perceive as being the prevailing
culture in the US towards criminals and prisoners.

~~~
nojvek
Going back to OP saying the police should be courteous and polite, I agree
with him/her.

In Australia the police always niceley greeted you and generally polite, in
US, it’s the other way, I’ve rarely met a polite one, most are brash and treat
you like a criminal from the get go.

The US police system for some reason I don’t understand doesn’t embrace
politeness as a value (may be it makes the police look weak?) I don’t know.

But yeah, you want to stay away from the US cops if you can.

~~~
moate
I generally adopt an NWA mentality the second any cop comes into view. When
they get their collective shit together I'll be more helpful.

------
Johnny555
_it starts recording using the iPhone 's front-facing camera. Once you've
stopped recording, it can text or email the video to a different predetermined
contact and save it to Dropbox._

Too bad it seems to record locally first -- it'd be nice if it could stream
the recording online, in case the phone is seized or powered off before it can
save the recording.

Maybe it could have a checkpoint feature where it sends the current recording
to the cloud while continuing to record, maybe triggered by a keyword or a
cough or something.

~~~
reefoctopus
There is an aclu app called mobile justice that does this. There appears to be
a different one for each state. I was previously under the impression that it
uploads the video if you shake your phone, but I found some articles that
suggest it transmits while you’re recording.

>The app features a large red “Record” button in the middle of the screen.
When it’s pressed, the video is recorded on the phone and a duplicate copy is
transmitted simultaneously to the ACLU server.

~~~
dandare
Only available in the US. I am really surprised that such obvious use case is
not covered by tens of apps already. I would certainly pay few bucks for such
app if the servers were out of reach from corrupt poluce departments and
governments.

~~~
throwaway9d0291
Aside from the US, the kinds of places where you'd want and be able to use
this aren't the kinds of places that have fast enough internet for it to be
possible.

~~~
nicoburns
You'd be surprised how much of the world has fast mobile internet.

------
maliker
Note that this shortcut was built by someone who is a lawyer and had only
minor experience with "scripts for macOS in the past". It's great to see Apple
building technologies for this audience on the iPhone like they have with
Automator on macOS.

~~~
gdubs
In the early days of personal computing, things like AppleScript, HyperCard,
and Basic, were used by the typical computer user. Computer users were rather
self-selected, had invested a lot of money to own a computer, and generally
bought into the promise of computing as a “bicycle for the mind.” The iPhone
opened the floodgates, bringing TONS of people to computing for the first
time, and it resulted in a shift from computing as a creation medium, to one
of consumption. It’s interesting to see it start to come full circle. It’s
taken about a decade, but something that used to be mainstream in computing
(programming your machine to do something interesting interesting / useful) is
on the cusp of becoming mainstream once more.

~~~
Illniyar
The iPhone is responsible for many things but "bringing tons of people to
computing for the first time" is probably not one of them.

The vast majority of iPhone users have a computer, it was even more prevalent
in 2007 when the first iPhone came out, and was a luxury gadget that was
mostly purchased by technology minded and wealthy people - a group who were
vastly more likely to own home computers.

~~~
alwillis
I see plenty of young people with iPhones who aren’t wealthy and because I
work in education, I can tell you many of them don’t have computers at home.
If there’s a computer at home, it may not have broadband. The iPhone is their
computer.

If a kid needs a traditional computer after school lets out and they live in
an urban area, they go to a library or to a community center.

I was surprised to see Mac Pros at the main branch of the Boston Public
Library this summer for young people to use for media production, for example.

~~~
emptyfile
"Young poor people" buying 1000$ phones is a strictly American phenomenon.

~~~
cprecioso
I'm from Spain and I can 100% confirm it is not only in America.

------
CryoLogic
More accountability for police can't hurt. In other private professions bad
accountability results in loss of job, so I don't think many can complain
about this.

A cool feature, maybe given attention due to the hot political climate around
cop shootings. But useful nonetheless.

~~~
a_wild_dandan
I think all police should wear body cameras. Police misconduct declines.
Civilian misconduct declines. Cameras are a potential source of powerful
evidence. Everyone wins.

~~~
CocaKoala
Police DO wear body cameras! For example, there was a shooting in Albuquerque,
with five police officers present, and all five officers were wearing cameras.

Unfortunately, all five cameras malfunctioned at exactly the same time and
none of them captured footage of the shooting [1].

What a crazy, unlikely circumstance.

[1]:
[https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180624/18081640105/anoth...](https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180624/18081640105/another-
police-accountability-miracle-five-officers-zero-body-cam-footage-one-dead-
body.shtml)

~~~
zik
It seems only reasonable that in such cases not only are the police guilty by
default of whatever they're accused of, they're also guilty of destroying
evidence and should be charged accordingly.

~~~
jonnycoder
Only if you can prove the malfeasance.

~~~
zik
When all five body cameras "happened" to fail at the same time I don't think
anyone can really doubt the malfeasance.

~~~
aptwebapps
Yeah, but who did it? All five of them, one of them, another cop not at the
scene but with access to the system? Contractors with system access? It's not
enough to be sure that a crime happened. Which isn't to say there shouldn't be
an investigation or measures taken to make it harder to happen.

And to be more careful, what's the failure rate on those cameras and how many
incidents happen a year where it would look suspicious if all cameras fail? If
the numbers are high enough we might just have selection bias.

~~~
r00fus
The officers should be on the hook for their video feed.

------
Karupan
Genuine question: is getting pulled over in the US really that hazardous that
people have to record it in case things go wrong?

~~~
i_cant_speel
I've been pulled over maybe 5 times over the years (headlight out, expired
license plate sticker) and I have yet to have a bad experience with them. They
have always been friendly and I've never actually gotten a ticket, even on a
time where I didn't have up to date proof of insurance in my car.

People just don't usually write about the 99.9% of occurrences when nothing
eventful happens. And many of the people who _do_ have issues with the police
provoked them by intentionally being difficult and/or rude.

~~~
ndnxhs
I'm sure the 99% of interactions are perfectly fine but the number of bad
interactions in the US seems way way above any other western country.

There are numerous news stories about Australians gettting shot by police
while traveling to America but virtually none from within Australia. Last
police shooting I remember in Australia was when the person was running at the
police with a knife.

~~~
weberc2
I genuinely wonder if the US has more violent criminals or something. Perhaps
worse mental health or drug rehab services. Unfortunately it’s such a
politicized issue I don’t hope to get good answers in the near term.

~~~
gmueckl
The other thing that makes me wonder is the fact that police officers are
rarely teamed up in the US. A lone cop is bound to be more nervous and ready
to reach for a weapon than when he is covered by a partner standing 5m behind
with a hand on his gun holster (which is e.g. German procedure).

~~~
weberc2
This seems like an interesting prospect. I wish the U.S. kept better data so
we could more easily see if there is a correlation.

------
dba7dba
I would like to introduce to you a really unique youtube channel called
"PoliceActivity".

It currently has about 1.2 million subscribers, with about 600 videos.

The channel basically shows police bodycam footage from various US law
enforcement agencies, mostly local police/sheriff departments. The videos are
not edited, other than to show perspectives from different officers at the
same scene, and etc. There are some footage taken by police cruiser dashcam
and also cameras mounted on police helicopters. Most are 10 - 30 minutes long.
After watching some on the channel, you might even think some of the videos
are too boring. But you know both good/bad are included.

Some of the footage show police beating on already arrested suspect, letting
loose K9 dog on handcuffed suspect, police (I believe Chicago PD) planting
fake drug evidence, swatting, etc. BUT, such cases are rare among the nearly
600 videos uploaded onto the channel so far.

Many videos do include active shooting incidents (some justified, some not)
and might be a bit intense. But this channel is a really unique window into
what Police encounter everyday. I highly recommend it.

------
Zarath
I've never seen the horrors of post-modernity summed up so well in a single
headline.

------
meddlepal
Won't this be illegal in states that require both parties to consent to
recording?

~~~
k_sh
"...the First Amendment protects the right to record [police/gov't officials
carrying out their duties in public places] regardless of whether the
police/officials consent. This constitutional right would override any state
or federal laws that would otherwise prohibit such recording."

[http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/recording-police-officers-
an...](http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/recording-police-officers-and-public-
officials)

~~~
gammateam
if you're rich enough for appeals court

and that motivates me

------
mxuribe
At least in the U.S. the fear with this type of thing is twofold:

* It instantly triggers an antagonistic mood for the entire encounter with police. It should not of course; police should always be under legal scrutiny considering how much power (and weaponry) they have access to...But police get aggravated when the laws are applied to them, so if they see something like this app, they tend to respond negatively and in a hostile manner (by hostile, not necessarily using force, merely that their biases begin to manifest). So, what might have started out as a mild case could be exacerbated by simply using this shortcut.

* Also, reaching for a phone, that police might "mistaken" for a gun, could almost instantly trigger a police officer to draw - and of course worse, set off - their firearm.

Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of this shortcut...but i don't think it is
enough. In fact, I think car makers should just sell cameras and recording
equipment in their cars for this purpose - as added features! i think built-in
devices - to protect US! - would go a long way. Of course, what this says
about society - that i would even consider offering a feature for a car that
monitors our own police - is a saddening state of affairs.

------
agumonkey
I've been waiting for smartphone to have similar facilities for situations
like these.

\- police brutality \- mugging \- robbery

Basically evidence recording / storing / uploading and possibly pinging
trustworthy people or nearby strangers to alert them.

------
wmblaettler
I've often thought about the use of Facebook Live video in this situation. If
I have done nothing wrong it would only be minimally embarrassing to have
friends and family see the encounter, on the other hand to have a silent
witness with redundant friends, family and a preserved recording of it would
be useful in the case of abuse of power or worse. Of course along with this
thought, I've done mental exercises of how to address an officer with respect
and how to not make sudden moves which would cause increased concern.

------
victor106
I love Siri Shortcuts.

Apple gets criticized on HN quite a bit and some of it is warranted but Siri
Shortcuts feels like the return of the old Apple.

One thing though about this Shortcut it does not automatically send anything
to your recipients. It asks you got confirmation before it does.

------
alphabettsy
About 90% of my experience with police has been profesional and unremarkable.

The other times should’ve been recorded and discipline may have been
appropriate even though I was not harmed.

~~~
anonytrary
> About 90% of my experience with police has been profesional and
> unremarkable.

I chuckled when I realized how big your sample size must have been for you to
come up with that number. I'm not one to talk, I think the number for me is
80% ;)

~~~
SmellyGeekBoy
Where on Earth do you people live!? I've had numerous interactions with the
British police over the years (even one in my misspent youth where I was
undoubtedly on the wrong side of the law) and they've been nothing but polite
and professional.

~~~
anonytrary
I live in the US. My worst encounter with the police:

> I'm 16.

> Two guys break into my house.

> I call the police, distraught, terrified while they are breaking into my
> house.

> Guys get cold feet and run away.

> Several police officers arrive with K-9 unit and investigate the broken
> glass window.

> Police see a nerf gun in the room.

> Police claim this isn't a case because I "probably shot the window with my
> nerf gun and got scared that my parents would ground me for breaking the
> window, so I called the police out of confusion".

This is America. Where idiots who don't know elementary physics are given guns
in order to protect us. Where lawmakers who think Jesus exists and is looking
down on us from the heavens decide what is and isn't legal. Welcome to my
country. To be fair, most of the other encounters I've had with police have
been professional. So, that's how I arrive at 80%.

------
man-and-laptop
Off topic: If the article doesn't show even after you disable the adblocker,
turn on the Reader mode.

------
qrbLPHiKpiux
This is what Workflow changed to?

~~~
moltar
Yes, but it’s way more powerful and integrated now.

~~~
adtac
Unfortunately it requires Siri to be enabled even if the shortcut itself
doesn't use it (like when I want to trigger it with touch).

I've disabled Siri on my phone and watch because I never use it and there's a
massive battery improvement when I disable it; the old Workflow app used to
work without Siri, but Shourtcut requires it apparently :(

~~~
applecrazy
Interesting comment on the battery impact of Siri. Did you notice improvements
when you turned off Siri entirely or just the "Hey Siri" functionality? I find
it quite odd that Siri would take up battery even when not running (given that
"Hey Siri" is disabled).

~~~
adtac
I haven't tried partially disabling Siri (always completed disabled it or
fully enabled everything), but I thought the "Hey Siri" feature worked only
when plugged in? Maybe I'm confusing it with a different feature.

~~~
r00fus
That was an iOS9 limitation.

~~~
selectodude
That was a phone limitation. The iPhone 7 had the hardware for always on
listening.

~~~
notvplez
My 6S+ supports this as well.

------
compelledToken
Siri, I just landed in New Zealand.

    
    
      * changes passcode to a random 256 character alpha-numeric string, locking you out of the phone *
    

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18112734](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18112734)

or maybe...

Siri, they're forcing me to use face unlock.

    
    
      * erases data and performs a factory reset *
    

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18112732](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18112732)

~~~
Razengan
That news about New Zealand and people’s experiences in other “first world”
countries... How is this still called the “Free World” anymore?

(Not an attempt at some Reddit’y snark. This is increasingly feeling
dystopian.)

~~~
gmueckl
When I started to write this post, I had no intention of creating this
rambling essay that might well come straight from a comspiracy nutjob. It is
certainly not well supported by any facts that I have readily available. But I
really need to vent, so here it is anyway:

I too get the perception (through media!) that the world is becoming more
dystopian. But I think that there may be more to that than meets the eye.

I am seriously starting to wonder if social media and internet based media in
general have a big part in that.

This is not a single issue IMO. There are several aspects to it: people get
offer a much wider spectrum of sources of information and generally tend to
prefer thise that have slants more in line with their own views. Also, bad
news is more sensational and spreads wider and faster than good news. This
lead to a bias in what is reported. Thirdly, and most damning, social media is
not only supporting these bubbles that people build around themselves. They
are being exploited by actors who post material that is designed to undermine
our perception and our opinions. This is apparantly done in subtle ways. Some
internet shitstorms are apparently engineered using bots to shape public views
on certain topics. This seems to be done to subtly, slowly and purposefully
undermine public opinion and steer it towards extreme views.

There was a recent study undertaken of s sample of Twitter messages to Rian
Johnson about Star Wars VIII. A substantial fraction of the negative comments
were apparently manufactured using bots. This activity appears to be linked to
a political motivation, but I do not know how the study reaches that
conclusion. But if it is true, it is quite disturbing.

When creating the world wide web, the idealists among us wanted to bring the
world closer together and make it more connected and peaceful. I get the
suspicion that these good intentions instead bring us closer to an age of
renewed nationalism, intolerance and totalitarianism, which is created by
maliciously exploring the very freedoms we wanted for everyone.

------
jhabdas
Just get rid of the police or make them more corrupt so they can be bribed
better.

------
throwaway5250
Can you imagine the s___storm if they had named this function "Siri I'm
getting mugged"?

Wouldn't just "Siri start recording" make more sense?

~~~
djrogers
Because of the nature of Siri Shortcuts, you actually get to decide what to
say for this - it’s not up to the app developer. I’m sure he chose it because
it made for a good headline though.

~~~
samstave
I would call it "Siri pay attention"

~~~
craftyguy
"Siri, help help I'm being repressed"

~~~
samstave
Issuing voice commands to some trollop in the cloud should be no basis for a
system of oligarchy...

