It is general knowledge that when you see or experience a crime or an emergency the natural response is to call 911. If your landlord is a bastard and you are sick of their lies, you call 311 and report their a**. Well things are changing my friends. With camera phones abound in the city, you can now record a crime on your cellphone and send an SMS to 911.
From the Gothamist:
The mayor's "criminal justice coordinator" John Feinblatt told the Times, "This is absolutely brand new for law enforcement, and it’s absolutely new for a call center like 311, but by no means is it new technology. So what we’re going to do is take applications that already exist in the industry and adapt them to 911 and 311." Feinblatt and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly both pointed to the incident where Thao Nguyen took a cellphone picture of Dan Hoyt pleasuring himself on a subway, posted it on the Internet, all leading to Hoyt's arrest (this wasn't his first offense, either!). Others have used cellphones to try to nab wrongdoers as well. Civil rights attorney Norman Siegel tells the Post he thinks would be "no civil liberties objections" if the photographs are of "criminal behavior."
And New Yorkers would be able to log quality of life issues the same way to 311. How very reminiscent of Andrew Rasiej's "We Fix NYC" pothole tracking! But we don't recommend you email 311 every time when you see that poop on the street because that'll get old.
Sounds like a foolproof system on the surface though the second thought that popped in my head was how many skilled photoshoppers I know. Wouldn't it be possible to manipulate a video or image before sending it off to 311 or 911. It could wreak havoc for those with grudges held against them. Of course that is just a side effect and anyone can find a loophole in a system like this. I almost feel like going to East New York with a cellphone camera strapped to my head, though I think I'll stick to crime fighting in the city.
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