OFF THE WIRE
"We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home."
- Edward R. Murrow
Veterans Against Police Abuse was founded on 17 September 2009 (Constitution Day) and is dedicated to ensuring the sacrifices of our Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, Airmen and patriotic citizens remain unblemished by the un-American stain of police abuse. Our organization is dedicated to strengthening the Constitutional rights of all American citizens through public education, creative enterprise and legislative reform. We will be developing a commercial application (free to all) which has potential to greatly increase the transparency of the police force while also funding our lobbying efforts for two different legal reforms. Our organization has no agenda other than that which has been stated. We have no political, religious, or ideoglocal viewpoint other than that contained in the Constitution of the United States. We exist simply to strengthen and reinforce our Bill of Rights through commercial endeavor and legal reform focused on the singular issue of police abuse.
Update: There is an outstanding application that does much of what we are interested in doing already (streaming video/audio and location in real time through a smartphone such as the iPhone). Go to Qik.com to download the Qik application. It's a free app and the service is free. Highly recommended for providing security against abuse and preserving the evidence!
The iTransparency initiative will produce an application for the iPhone and Blackberry devices harnessing the power of the device to transmit a combination of audio, video, still photos, GPS coordinates, and other information in a covert manner to a streaming server. The iPhone version is currently under development. In all versions users will be able to specify a "go live" time such that if the user has not "disarmed" the application within a specified time the application will then begin showing the streaming audio/video. Random internet surfers will be able to visit our website and will see a map of the U.S. with dots of real time active police encounters and an archive of captured police abuse. Users can click on a dot to listen/watch the encounter with the police officer. If location is supplied, media and bloggers can visit the public location and also record the incident. If the encounter shows police abuse, interested lawyers and media will be able to contact the individual. The iTransparency initiative will have the following benefits:
■Evidence of police abuse will be gathered using streaming technology so it cannot be tampered with or destroyed by an unscrupulous cop
■Abuse will hit the "new media" in real time allowing professional reporters and bloggers to report on stories while evidence is fresh and untampered with (nearby surveillance video, police records, etc) - the software will be designed with the journalist and blogger in mind
■While it is difficult to get civil rights lawyers to take on routine police abuse violations, this technology will provide an easy way for lawyers who specialize in police abuse to prosecute bad cops with solid evidence - the software will be designed with lawyers in mind
■Advertising on the website will help fund our legislative initiatives that aim to make digital transparency a requirement in all police encounters with the public and to make civil rights convictions cause for immediate banishment from all government employment permanently
Our iTransparency architecture will be open source so other device developers can stream encounters to our server where it can be viewed and archived by users. Through innovation we hope to bring a greater level of transparency to citizens while funding our legislative reform agenda to mandate government-provided transparency for all citizens including those unable to afford smart phone technology. We will present more information on our iTransparency initiative, our legislative agenda, and how you can help the VAPA in the near future.
Police Arrest Citizens For Recording Their Illegal Activity as "Illegal Wiretapping"
Axon technology seeks to provide "iTransparency"-like-device to honest cops
If you want to show your support, please register an account with us to receive our email newsletter. We thank those of you who have labored for our liberty whether veteran or not, and invite you to join us in our pursuits.
Police abuse doesn't require bruises or blood. It often comes in the form of unlawful arrest or an arrest for victimless or petty crimes charged only to justify the physical display of state sponsored power. The keys to police abuse are insecurity and a lack of respect for American freedom and principles. Police abuse is both cowardly and un-American.
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreaonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated."
- The Constitution of the United States
