In the face of recent police abuse and social inequality demonstrations, many people are searching for new ways to keep themselves safe when dealing with the police. Now, a new workaround allows iPhone cameras to start recording simultaneously with up to 18 other actions with Siri's help--useful when you're getting pulled over.
A policeman pulls over a car caught for speeding during a city-wide police action to catch people for speeding and other traffic infringements on April 16, 2013 in Berlin, Germany. Police launched a city-wide effort that included stationary speed cameras, police cars with video equipment and police teams with radar guns in order to raise public awareness for respecting traffic laws.
Siri dims your phone, pauses your music, and starts recording
Many iPhone users use this shortcut on devices to document interactions amid Black Lives Matter protests with police officers and other violent incidents recorded on phone cameras.
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Robert Petersen first published the shortcut in 2018. Since then, Petersen has revised the software to get more coverage after the Black Lives Matter demonstrations around the United States.
Apple claims that anyone can edit a shortcut made to match his own needs, which is one example of this "police" feature. And while monitoring police encounters does not deter brutality and racial profiling, it does, however, help gather evidence in the event something does go wrong. Indeed, it is not appropriate to report every police incident, but there is no excuse not to report it all.
How to use it?
If you want to use the software, you may have to do some stuff first. Most notably, the software is a shortcut to Apple technology, which was introduced in iOS 12 and not an app you can download from the App Store.
You have to first ensure that iOS is at least modified to iOS 12 to get the stuff up and running. Download the Shortcuts app, which you can find on the App store. Visit this link from the built-in Safari browser on your mobile device to configure the shortcut.
You do need to ensure that your phone can load unverified shortcuts and allow the software access to your location. Go to Settings > Shortcuts and switch on "Enable Untrusted Shortcuts." You will also be provided with a link to the place that you can see here. Please be careful as other browsers won't work.
Once you're done, you should be good to go, although we recommend that you first give this shortcut a dry run, as you have some permissions to work correctly.
Try saying, "Hey Siri, I'm being pulled over." Then your phone's front-facing camera starts to record, stops the music you can hear, turns the phone down's luminosity, and triggers "do not disturb" mode. You will also have to authorize some permissions manually when using it (such as transmitting your video).
The configuration also will send a message to a predetermined contact saying that you are overwritten, the recorded video, and your location.
There is still no clear Android version of the software at the moment. However, similar applications are available on the Play Store to discreetly record video footage of the police.
As Business Insider noted in 2018, Petersen said the technology is exactly the same as other police officers' body cameras.
"It seemed to me that if you're getting pulled over it couldn't hurt to have a recording of the incident," said Petersen. "The police these days in many places have body cams, so this could be the civilian equivalent."
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