Crime-Reporting App Lets You Officially Rat Out Your Neighbors Right From Your Smartphone - Polidicks

[QUOTE]West Virginia has launched a smartphone app that’s one part clever crowdsourcing and community engagement and one part sinister report-on-your-neighbor Big Brotherism. The Suspicious Activity Reporting Application is exactly what it sounds like. See something that looks like a violation of the law, no matter how insignificant? Snap a pic, tag it with GPS, and anonymously report it to the state. Parking illegally will never be the same. Developed as a project between the West Virginia Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and the West Virginia Intelligence Fusion Center (yes, West Virginia has an Intelligence Fusion Center), the app--available in both Apple iOS and Android flavors--is being touted by the state as an improved means of community policing. The authorities can’t be everywhere all the time, and the more information they have the better they can serve their citizens. But it’s easy to see how this could also spiral quickly into a mechanism for a lot of municipal and state waste, with police officers spending their hours checking out instances of dogs off the leash, neighbors parked in front of fire hydrants, and other trivial matters that don’t necessarily require police action. The fact that it allows tipsters to remain anonymous is also a bit troubling. No one wants to be known as the neighborhood snitch, but without any kind of accountability it seems like an easy avenue by which feuding neighbors or angry lovers or anyone else with a grudge can drag the state--needlessly and wastefully--into their disputes. Then again, it’s the next logical technological progression from the anonymous tip lines that already exist in many municipalities and states. And it certainly makes it easier to report true violations of the law or threats to the public welfare. Dialing up the local switchboard and trying to navigate the bureaucracy with a touchtone phone is an activity no one relishes. Though it goes without saying, the comments section below is wide open and ready to record your feelings on this, fellow citizens.[/QUOTE] Source: [url]http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2012-03/new-crime-reporting-app-lets-users-geotag-photos-violations-rat-their-neighbors[/url]

That's pretty awesome actually. If you aren't doing anything wrong, you have nothing to be afraid of with this anyway. Also, this will get spammed to shit with dumb, fake reports.

I am going to plant [I]so[/I] much fake evidence!

stop iSnitching!!

[QUOTE=trent_roolz;35186022]If you aren't doing anything wrong, you have nothing to be afraid of[/QUOTE] this is literally the worst mentality

most smartphones already have this app built into their hardware, you can usually access it by hitting the buttons 9, 1, 1, and then that green button (in that order)

[QUOTE=Big Blue;35186061]most smartphones already have this app built into their hardware, you can usually access it by hitting the buttons 9, 1, 1, and then that green button (in that order)[/QUOTE] Oh, is that what those buttons are for?

It's all nice and dandy until "report homosexual or otherwise deviant behavior" button pops up. [editline]18th March 2012[/editline] On the other side, there's ALWAYS some asshole who parks with half car already in the intersection or parks on a crossing, and in such case I probably would be tempted to use it myself.

Good. All those fumes from the meth labs are getting to me.

How about, you know Calling the police instead?

[QUOTE=Big Blue;35186061]most smartphones already have this app built into their hardware, you can usually access it by hitting the buttons 9, 1, 1, and then that green button (in that order)[/QUOTE] 911 is for emergencies, not small crimes.

[QUOTE=Glorbo;35186613]How about, you know Calling the police instead?[/QUOTE]It gives them photographic evidence of whatever is happening as it happens.

So now we can get rid of that whole due process thing and get straight in on the crimes after people inform on their neighbors. What could possibly go wrong?

[QUOTE=trent_roolz;35186022]That's pretty awesome actually. If you aren't doing anything wrong, you have nothing to be afraid of with this anyway. Also, this will get spammed to shit with dumb, fake reports.[/QUOTE] It's awesome because I can tell the police you have a metric ton of cocaine in your house and get a SWAT team busting down your door.

[QUOTE=Paramud;35186746]So now we can get rid of that whole due process thing and get straight in on the crimes after people inform on their neighbors. What could possibly go wrong?[/QUOTE]What?

[QUOTE=Paramud;35186746]So now we can get rid of that whole due process thing and get straight in on the crimes after people inform on their neighbors. What could possibly go wrong?[/QUOTE] How does this dismiss due process?

[QUOTE=SNNS-SEAN;35186760]It's awesome because I can tell the police you have a metric ton of cocaine in your house and get a SWAT team busting down your door.[/QUOTE]You could do that anyway, its not like that is only possible because of the app. I could call the police and say I heard arguing and gunfire from the house next door.

Does anyone read the OP anymore? It says right there that the cops go through the pictures submitted to see if it's a legitimate crime - it's just a way of informing the police, using photo evidence, much quicker.

[QUOTE=Doctor Zedacon;35186792]You could do that anyway, its not like that is only possible because of the app. I could call the police and say I heard arguing and gunfire from the house next door.[/QUOTE] Wow... this makes the app seem really fucking pointless now, because you can just call the cops with that phone no matter what the crime.

[QUOTE=SNNS-SEAN;35186850]Wow... this makes the app seem really fucking pointless now, because you can just call the cops with that phone no matter what the crime.[/QUOTE] This is different. It's arguably just as quick, but you can send picture evidence using the app so if your call ends up being fake, they don't dispatch a squad car to take care of someone's fake crime. Being anonymous, I can't imagine it's going to go very far, but it's a pretty good effort at reducing wasted time.

[QUOTE=Protocol7;35186806]Does anyone read the OP anymore?[/QUOTE] People read the articles before? [QUOTE=Protocol7;35186866]This is different. It's arguably just as quick, but you can send picture evidence using the app so if your call ends up being fake, they don't dispatch a squad car to take care of someone's fake crime.[/QUOTE] You can come up with a fake picture just as easily as a story, though.

[QUOTE=Paramud;35186869]You can come up with a fake picture just as easily as a story, though.[/QUOTE] That's not entirely true, though to be honest it's more likely with the app due to the anonymous process.

[quote]See something that looks like a violation of the law, no matter how insignificant? Snap a pic, tag it with GPS, and anonymously report it to the state.[/quote] I see nothing wrong with this, at all. If you do something wrong, it's still wrong, and if there [I]was[/I] a cop around you will get in trouble anyway. With this, there doesn't need to be a cop around for you to get in trouble, and you should be following the law in the first place anyway.

[QUOTE=Protocol7;35186897]That's not entirely true, though to be honest it's more likely with the app due to the anonymous process.[/QUOTE]Virtually every police force has anonymous tip-lines. [editline]18th March 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Paramud;35186869]People read the articles before? You can come up with a fake picture just as easily as a story, though.[/QUOTE]Not really, its a bit more difficult to come up with a fake photo than it is to just say "Yo, the guy across the street is breaking in to my neighbor's house." [editline]18th March 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=SNNS-SEAN;35186850]Wow... this makes the app seem really fucking pointless now, because you can just call the cops with that phone no matter what the crime.[/QUOTE]Yeah, but as I said earlier (and Protocol mentioned), this includes photographic evidence of a crime as it is happening.

[QUOTE=SNNS-SEAN;35186760]It's awesome because I can tell the police you have a metric ton of cocaine in your house and get a SWAT team busting down your door.[/QUOTE] This already exists, it's called [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swatting]swatting[/url]. It's also highly illegal and could get you in serious trouble if you get busted trying it.

Socially Awkward Penguin approves!

Snapped a photo of my penis, The crime? Being so damn big.

R.I.P 911

Do they include achievements?

Just make it possible to send fines to people abusing it for stupid shit.