New ACLU App Helps People Record and Report Police

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico has unveiled the Mobile Justice New Mexico app, a tool that lets New Mexicans use their smart phones to record police or Border Patrol encounters and file reports of law enforcement misconduct.

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The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico has unveiled the Mobile Justice New Mexico app, a tool that lets New Mexicans use their smart phones to record police or Border Patrol encounters and file reports of law enforcement misconduct.

The app is a project by the ACLU of New Mexico that aims to empower community members. The app is available for free download in both English and Spanish in the iTunes App Store and Android App Marketplace. Nine other state ACLU affiliates and the Washington D.C. affiliate also released versions of the app on Friday.

In a news release announcing the app, the ACLU noted U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents have killed at least 42 people since 2010.

"Border Patrol's discriminatory policing and troubling pattern of excessive use of force offends our values of fairness and justice," said Vicki Gaubeca, director of ACLU-NM's Regional Center for Border Rights in Las Cruces. "The Border Patrol is part of our nation's largest police force that claims extraordinary authority to patrol communities up to 100 miles from the border and beyond with a shocking lack of oversight and accountability. The Mobile Justice New Mexico app is one way that New Mexicans can hold agents responsible for the abuse and misconduct that has become all too common in our border communities."

The Mobile Justice New Mexico App has four basic functions, recording incidents, filing a report, alert nearby users when an incident is being filmed nearby and basic guidance on rights when recording law enforcement.

(c)2015 the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.)

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Caroline Cournoyer is GOVERNING's senior web editor.
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