Is anyone aware of an app, specifically Android, but iOS users may be interested, that allows 1 click recording of a traffic stop? Automatic upload to DropBox or the like would be great.
Officers largely have dash cams recording traffic stops from their car. It would be handy to have one's phone sitting on the dash recording the driver and officer to prove or disprove citizen or official accusations.
I see several apps for recording travel. I'm looking for something that I can single tap an icon and place the phone on the dash bezel with the camera facing me as I'm pulling over or approaching a checkpoint. Kind of a CCW Eyewitness.

Don't get stopped... Problem solved.

I reserve the right to document my side of the stop if need arises. Not too much to ask in my opinion.

Sounds like you are expecting a problem... obey the laws and don't take an attitude if stopped.

Not aware of any app for that purpose, but then, I'm not a big "app" person to begin with.

If you find something be sure to share what it is.

__________________
Stay protected my friends.

Or I see they sell those dash cameras that people use to document their travels in cars, motorcycles etc. I bought a contor for uses when the family go on their zip line trips etc. but you can get the sucker cups for the windshields.

__________________
Psalm 23:4

Not on my android. takes at least 3 button pushes.

After reading WSJ articles on this sort of app a few years back, I have Bambuser installed for this purpose. However, I haven't figured out whether it's one-clickable (while it was the first app I sought out when I got a smartphone a few years back, I find that I just don't care all that much). What I like about Bambuser is that you can set it to keep recording/uploading even when it's supposedly turned off.

You might look into it.

__________________
Now go make God proud...

Nobody wants to be fumbling about with something while an officer is approaching during a traffic stop . . .

__________________
Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

U can always turn on video recorder and set it down next to u. It won't get any video but will pick up the sound

Just make sure you practice your answer to "Whatcha' got goin' on there?"

__________________
Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

It's not against the law

You might want to do a little research. Recording a third party without consent is illegal in several jurisdictions. Don't know about yours . . .

__________________
Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

My bad then

Fyi I personally would never do this but I just recommended something the OP asked for

I'm not making any kind of judgment about it either. I'm just pointing out that there may be more to it than originally considered.

__________________
Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

In most states filming police or other govt officials in a public place with/without their consent is perfectly legal, as long as the filming doesn't hinder the officers performance of duties.

With that said, I as a LEO I'm not against what the OP is suggesting but I'm suspicious of the intent.

I was stopped by a state trooper in an unmarked car last week. Kept my hands on the wheel & was polite and cooperative the whole time. No problem for either of us so I don't see the need for this, but don't have a problem w/it.

__________________
Old Cop
LEO (Ret.)

The operative word here is "most"

__________________
Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

If it's just the driver and the police officer, where does the third party come in?

It's a term of art. This isn't law school.

__________________
Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

I hope some of you have more regard for the 2nd amendment than you do for the first.

In case after case, courts have ruled that a police officer performing his/her duties has no expectation of privacy. A Federal Appeals court struck down an Illinois law restricting the filming of officers. The state appealed to the SCOTUS, who refused to hear the case, implying that they agree with the lower court ruling.

I have as much respect for police as anyone, but I know there are rogues out there. I tell my wife and daughter to start their phones recording if they are stopped. It only takes a second, and it is common sense.

__________________
Georgia On My Mind

There are at least a dozen states states where permission to record a conversation must be granted by all parties . . .

__________________
Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

Here in MA there was a court case over an arrest of a person for videotaping police during an incident on the street. The final ruling was that it was legal to video LEO in the performance of their duties if it didn't interfere. There is also a law to the effect that both parties must be aware that audio is being recorded. They don't have to give permission, they just have to know, whether it's a phone call or face to face.

Don't leos record everything during a stop?? (I honestly don't know) if they do I see it only fair that the civilian is "allowed to" also

Yes, and ten of those twelve states have an "expectation of privacy" provision to their all-party laws that courts have ruled do not apply to police officers in the public performance of their duties.

7 Rules for Recording Police - Reason.com

__________________
Georgia On My Mind

^^^interesting read thanks

Officers always say "if you aren't doing anything wrong then you shouldn't have anything to worry about", yet many (not all) love to get sensitive, defensive, and in many cases verbally and physically aggressive when it comes to recording their activities. Why should they mind being lawfully video taped or audio recorded? If they're not doing anything wrong then they should have nothing to worry about right?

__________________
M&P 15-22
1911

That story is 2 1/2 years old . . .

__________________
Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

Here we go again..... more "us vs. the cops".......

Now that dash cams are under $100.00 @ I am going to put them in all of my dump trucks ( I own Greensboro Sand & Gravel ) and my wife's car as well - - - Mine recently showed a State Trooper that I was using my cruise control and doing the speed limit when he originally claimed I was 15 MPH over.

I feel he made an honest mistake but it would have cost me points on my license, money out of my pocket and possible a raise in insurance. He was quite surprised that a dump truck had a dash cam that is wired to come on with the key and off 8 minutes after the key is turned off - - - it shows traffic in front of me, mirrors and the GPS with a large digital readout of the speed down to the tenth.

The new ones out there can have several feeds and record everything on all 4 sides - - - enough memory to keep about a month of records prior to recording over.

We are in the process of getting them in all county vehicles ( Sheriff Dept. . County dump trucks, Fire trucks etc.) We are also looking into body cams for all law enforcement - - - We do not want a situation where it is he said / she said.

We are promoting them to the employees that they are there to protect both them and the public.

Yes.

Can you provide a more recent link refuting the information in the article?

__________________
Georgia On My Mind

Nope. I don't care all that much about it, and my tinfoil hat keeps getting in the way of my keyboard. If we as a society decide we are going to continually combat the law of the land and the enforcement of the law, then we have no law. If we decide that the law is not binding upon us, and we are going to debate every single attempt at enforcement, then I am going to bunker down.

__________________
Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

Complete waste of time. Just another way to complicate things further. To each their own of course.

__________________
Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

For what it's worth, the lapel cam video taken by Albuquerque Police really changes trial work - defendants who can see what the jury is going to view often decide to take a plea rather than go to trial . . . and prosecutors sometime decide they don't want to take a case forward on seeing the video.

Anyhow, video recordings have played pretty serious roles in civil trials as well. Just another tool in the toolbox . . . video of a given event sure seems to help keep everyone honest.

__________________
Now go make God proud...

I see nothing wrong with recording a stop. Many police departments have dashboard cams and some officers are now wearing cameras. But there have been enough cases where the police cameras malfunctioned or weren't recording for whatever reason, that the police would probably appreciate having other video evidence they could subpoena if needed.

Video from citizens during a traffic stop I hadn't experienced.
What was popular in my area was certain "Citizens" would cell phone family members and friends that they were being stopped by the "Po Po" at a certain location. Then is wasn't long until the officer had a crowd present to add stress and confusion to the traffic stop.

I agree, if you're not doing anything wrong ...

__________________
Don

What's good for the goose is good for the gander,,,,keeps everybody honest and above board!

This is false.

Being able to prove the truth is never an indication of intent to commit a crime.

When I write it out like that, this should be clearly obvious to anyone reading. Recording an encounter with law enforcement is prudent; particularly in a society like ours in which the judiciary always rubber stamps the LE narrative.

My concern is when someone tapes another person, then selectively "edits" the recording to 'prove' something that is 180* away from the truth. I have been burned by the media before, who took certain clips of what I said, used them out of context and made it look like I was saying that certain areas of the city were beyond the gates of hell.

I personally don't care if I'm being recorded or not, I always assume that someone is taping me anyway (ever since the media incident). If you're going to record me though, be honest about it and when you show the tape, SHOW IT ALL. Not just what makes you look good or proves your point.

__________________
Don

If that were the case, there should be a lot more guilty verdicts.

__________________
Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

Darn, and I'm out of popcorn.

__________________
Don

Seriously? Are you a LEO or otherwise involved in the judiciary process in your 'society'?

I certainly cannot speak for every agency, dept, Sheriffs office, etc...but so far in my 22 yrs as a LEO, IME your statement is so far from the truth.

But in my 'society' the actions of LEOs are constantly being challenged internally (and externally) as Agencies these days try to avoid even the perception of impropriety of its officers and any possibility of litigation.

'Rubber stamping' officers statements as automatically true without any further facts is completely false and contrary to anything I have ever experienced.

Effective agencies do not let their relationship(s)/trust with the community crumble by rubber stamping anything. Those that do or have done, result in situations like Ferguson. Regardless of the outcome of that situation, I think we can all agree that the dept had a very poor relationship with that community.

As a matter of fact, I am. Shouldn't make a difference in the validity of what I have to say, but I suppose it does to some folks.

Well Sir, than my guess is that your area has some serious issues.

It's certainly not like that around here.

Of course if you're a defense attorney than your statement makes perfect sense

Well vimeo is an option, I believe that it uploads while recording, just have an account only for that and you would be good. Also if you are on android, if you are going to do this you should encrypt the device for obvious reasons. Uploading it only keeps it safe if the person doesn't have access to the account, which if they have your phone, they do.

What is with these 'if you aren't doing anything wrong' comments. I guess you all were okay with the NSA monitoring your internet traffic then? or recording your phone call metadata? We wouldn't be saying, gun registration is okay because you aren't doing anything wrong, why are we saying it with our private property and personhood? Also, I there are enough laws on the books you can easily break the law without realizing it, in short if they want to pull you over they can probably find a reason. So the whole, don't do anything illegal idea might be harder in practice than in theory.

Now, most cops are good people and I personally don't see much of an incentive to record interactions with police (I also haven't been pulled over since undergrad so no opporitunity to), what's the big deal. It's simply trying to provide documentation of the actual nature of the event. The worry about editing is two fold, first don't say things you know can be spun and second the nice thing about uploading to a web server is that changes to the files are documented by the file system, so its clear that it is edited. I agree with alot of the court rulings saying that cops do not have an expectation of privacy on duty and that taping them is okay, but I do think it is the right thing to inform them. I guess I'm an 'open carry' person when it comes to video recorders. I also think you may be surprised about what is covered under the privacy laws and what isn't, to the person who said record audio, in most cases recording audio is worse than recording video since the old wire tapping laws haven't been brought into the 21st century.

Now, why be suspicious of this inquiry. If he was to ask, 'what gun should I get for home protection' we wouldn't write back, don't do anything to make someone break into your house or the analogous for a carry gun. He wants a legal means to protect against a possible threat or injustice. I agree it's a statistically unlikely scenario but to each his own.

I certainly don't look at it that way, and I don't think that was the intent of the OP. I don't believe you, as an officer should look at it that way. As someone said, it is just a prudent thing to do. I have even thought about recording trips to the doc.

I haven't been pulled over in nearly thirty years, by the way.

__________________
Georgia On My Mind

Sorry that bothers you. I am thankful that a few citizens in our state decided to combat the (unconstitutional) state law that prohibited all concealed carry. It took a church secretary being beaten within an inch of her life, but she thought it was worth it. You bunker down.

__________________
I need ammo, not a ride.

Who said anything Muss about combatting the law of the land. First, recording someone isn't combatting them, actually most of the rulings mention it cannot interfere with the duties of the LEO. Second, too often exercising our constitutional rights gets confused with fighting the system. Refusing a search w/o a warrant, refusing letting the police into your house w/o a warrant, are rights given to us by the law of the land and they are there to dictate how the law should be enforced. Third, if those things are considered fighting the enforcement of the law, then you might as well give up your rights and let the government do whatever it sees fit. The system is designed to be challenged, that's why their are individual rights, checks and balances and due process. It's not tinfoil hat talk, it's founding father talk.

As a medical student, I think it would be great to have the doctor's visits recorded with the permission of the patient. If the patient and physician could access the video through a secure channel think of the possibilities, both the patient and I could review the tape later if there is a question, it provides the best form of documenting a patient history and it protects you and I from needless litigation. In fact we record our fake patient interactions for grading purposes, and the same could be used to access physician quality of care.