The world felt the shockwave when the IOS 12 update came out for apple devices on Sept 17. There are a couple new changes, such as faster app loading time and the way notifications get stacked, but a major difference is a new app called “Shortcuts”.
With this app anyone can create a “shortcut” to do a series of actions with a voice command. They can create a routine for a certain time of day, save and share pictures, or perform more serious tasks. Robert Peterson, an apple fan and programming novice, created a shortcut called “police”. This in particular has received a lot of attention because it acts as a body camera for civilians.
The whole premise of this shortcut is to gather evidence and provide clarity for situations that occur between police and civilians. While some speculate police shootings are higher in the U.S. than anywhere else, The Economist has an answer. According to Economist.com, there were 458 public death shootings in a year, while countries such as Germany, Britain, and Japan had less than 10 deaths combined.
While this is a staggering statistic, there is some logic behind it. There are 88.8 guns per 100 people in the U.S..The closest country to this staggering statistic is Yemen with 54.8 per 100 people.
Peterson stated that he created the shortcut not only because of a previous experience, but also as a response to issues with police-civilian encounters. “It seemed to me that if you’re getting pulled over it couldn’t hurt to have a recording of the incident,” Petersen said. He went on to say, “The police these days in many places have body cams, so this could be the civilian equivalent.”
Sheridan Culp, a senior at PVHS, stated how she felt this could impact the perception of these encounters. “I feel like it’s a lot of he said, she said.” Culp then commented on media discrimination. “Yeah, there is discrimination against police officers, especially by (the) media. Obviously there are examples [of police brutality], but that’s such a small percent and so many police officers are good people.”
On the other side of these interactions are police. Deputy police officer Chad Weipert commented on the app. Weipert stated, “I don’t have any issues with it as long as it doesn’t interfere with the traffic stop or the investigations into it.”
For some people the new app “Shortcut” can provide easier ways to complete tasks such as waking up and shutting things down. For others it could provide much needed perspective on police-civilian interactions which have been controversially disputed for quite some time.
