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On October 26, 2020, police killed Walter Wallace Jr. in West Philadelphia, as his mother stood on the sidewalk, pleading for his life. Over the next few days, the neighborhood erupted in protest and my phone lit up with alerts from Citizen, a public safety app. Writers for the app monitor and transcribe police scanner chatter, which is then converted into push notifications. There was a break-in at Rite Aid, a burglary at a nearby liquor store, a dumpster fire one block over, a trash fire 900 feet away.

As local news has been decimated by budget cuts and layoffs, apps like Citizen and Nextdoor have ascended to fill the void. Citizen in particular has increasingly positioned itself as a news organization. "We act fast, break news, and give people the immediate information they need to stay safe," reads an overview on the company's LinkedIn profile. Citizen often ranks higher than The New York Times among news apps in the Apple store.

In theory, the platform democratizes reporting; it allows anyone with a smartphone to post comments and videos to a neighborhood network. But in practice, these alerts and the neighborhood commentary attached to them often read like police stenography and amplify existing biases. Users are bombarded by discordant notifications of violence, devoid of meaningful context.

Last November, I deleted Citizen from my phone, grossed out by the tenor of the push alerts. But in March, curious about a nearby apartment fire, I downloaded the app again. This time, when I created an account, I was prompted to sign up for a new feature, Citizen Protect. For just $19.99 a month, a virtual safety agent would track me whenever I left my house. If I said my chosen safe word, the safety agent would start a video chat and, if necessary, send my exact location to a 911 call center. The service promised me that help from Citizen's community of users would always be close at hand. "Live monitoring," the ad said, "means you never have to walk alone." (At this point, it seems Citizen Protect is currently only being promoted to some Citizen users. A Citizen spokesperson told me they were aiming to fully launch in mid-June but that they could not comment further at this time.)

As an illustration of what the app would look like in action, I was shown a faux, promotional push alert for a lost dog. More than a thousand people had been alerted about the dog, the screenshot suggested, and 475 people were looking for it.

It is not difficult to imagine the many ways such a system could go wrong, particularly in a neighborhood like West Philadelphia, where in 1985 the city's police bombed its own citizens, members of the Black separatist organization, MOVE. The bombing killed nearly a dozen people and destroyed more than 60 homes along two city blocks. In May of last year, during protests over George Floyd's murder, Philadelphia police drove an armored vehicle into the mostly Black neighborhood and teargassed residents, while the next day, a violent mob of White men roamed Fishtown largely unimpeded. An app like Citizen Protect is aimed at my demographic: I am a White woman, living in a gentrifying neighborhood, who sometimes goes running after dark. If I felt ambiguously threatened by a fellow jogger a Black man, for the sake of argument and alerted my Citizen safety agent and the broader Citizen community, what would happen to him?

I signed up for a free trial of Citizen Protect in order to test out some of the features. What I learned did little to inspire faith that the app would protect everyone equally.

In many ways, Citizen's new Protect feature marks a return to the company's roots. Citizen began as a crime-fighting app called Vigilante that launched in 2016. An ad for Vigilante shows a woman being followed and then assaulted under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. She calls 911 and her call is transcribed by a Vigilante operator listening in on the police scanner. An alert "Suspicious Man Following Woman" is received by a guy playing chess, a rideshare driver, and a man working in a bodega. These three men arrive just in time, conveniently in concert with the police, and two of them shove a camera in the attacker's face just as the perpetrator is knocking the woman to the ground.

The New York Police Department condemned the app, which was subsequently removed from the Apple store. It relaunched the following year as Citizen, a more innocuous app for the professional bystander. (According to The New York Times, the NYPD spokesperson who condemned Vigilante now works for Citizen.)

Citizen's new Protect service features safety agents who, according to one recent job listing, "triage the level of severity of each call and make appropriate assessments of necessary next steps." The agents are required to "offer support and guidance in real-time to any user who feels unsafe." The job qualifications are minimal customer service experience is a priority and experience working as a first responder is a plus.

Citizen connects you to a safety agent call center when you click a button that reads "Get Help." The first agent I spoke with told me that she was able to monitor my exact location, pace, phone battery, and presumably had I connected my phone to, say, an Apple Watch or Fitbit my heart rate. Another safety agent, Erin, told me that if I added emergency contacts, they would be able to alert those people if I were ever in trouble. "Let's say you got into a car accident," said the safety agent, "if you asked us to contact 911 and your emergency contact contacts even if we had to hang up the phone because 911 had arrived and you were being stabilized we could then reach out to your contact, to let them know what's going on."

As cities face a rise in murder rates and budget shortfalls, this Uber-for-private-security feature feels like an ominous sign of what's to come during the post-pandemic recovery. Covid-19 killed nearly 600,000 people in the United States over the past year, while the government put down uprisings for racial justice across the nation with a heavily militarized police force. The post-pandemic landscape feels both hopeful and post-apocalyptic. What has become clear over the last year is that safety in this country is just an illusion. How much would you be willing to pay for that illusion, though? To some, $19.99 a month might seem reasonable.

A feature like Citizen Protect strikes me as mass surveillance disguised as a public good, poised to funnel generalized fear into something more nefarious. It will almost certainly lead to unnecessary police stops and, inevitably, to police violence. It will likely encourage vigilantes like George Zimmerman, who killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in 2012.

In the wake of the 1918 pandemic and World War I, the U.S. moved into the Roaring 20s, a period characterized as much by debauchery and cultural development as it was by income inequality and punitive policing. The Pinkertons, a private detective agency known for strike-breaking, and for serving as a goon squad for the wealthy, were omnipresent. If we are now entering our own Roaring 20s, it seems a new kind of Pinkerton is coming with them.

* * *

Rebecca McCarthy is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia. She's on Twitter @reemccarthy.

This article was originally published on Undark. Read the original article.

Excerpt from:
As neighborhood watch apps ascend, so do the threats they pose - Salon

NEWARK, NJ A key toward achieving racial equality in communities could come through means of reform in policing and public safety, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka highlighted during a panel discussion with former President Barack Obama.

Baraka was joined on Wednesday by the former U.S. president and community leaders across the nation to participate in a conversation hosted by My Brother's Keeper Alliance, aimed to share ideas and best practices to continue to center racial equity," the activism the country has seen since George Floyd was killed, and the need to revamp public safety.

The virtual discussion came just a year after the tragic death of Floyd, when a viral video of former Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin was seen kneeling on his neck which led to his death. Protests and rallies erupted nationwide in the following weeks, including Newark, as calls rang out for social justice and policing reform.

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During Wednesday's discussion,Baraka notedthat measures for reformhavealready been undertaken in his city for years through a consent decree agreement.

[The consent decree] was a good thing for our city, and we began to push to begin putting reforms in place in our police department, immediately, Baraka said.

Under the consent decree, an agreement which Newark police and the U.S. Department of Justice entered into in 2016, it served as a shift for the citys authorities to improve their quality of policing through various facets of training and reforms.

Since Newark police entered into the agreement, they have reported several improvements in their policing efforts.

In a quarterly consent decree report, it highlighted that city police and its monitoring team have made considerable efforts to establish remote auditing capabilities while pandemic-related restrictions on in-person meetings remained in place.

The report also highlighted a decision from the police earlier this year to issue body cameras for all plainclothes officers after Det. Rod Simpkins shot and killed a man minutes into New Years Day - an incident investigators said was difficult to assess due to a lack of footage from the scene.

Last year, the city moved nearly $12 million of its public safety budget into a newly-created Office of Violence Prevention as a means to impede hate activity and violence within Newark. The plan is to close the Newark Police Departments 1st Precinct by Dec. 31 and transition the building into a museum chronicling local activism in Newark and positive police changes. It will also hold a trauma center for health recovery and healing, and workforce development.

Newark police also established two Community Service Officers in each of the city's seven precincts. Officers are responsible for addressing the needs within the neighborhoods they serve.

In order to quell more incidents of violent crimes, the mayor pointed to notable changes made under the consent decree and by bringing police and community together.

Making sure that police are part of the larger public safety strategy as opposed to the only public safety strategy, he said. It doesnt mean we dont have any mistakes or problems But we are continuing to get better because we are working together collaboratively to make sure we reimagine what public safety looks like.

However, as the unjust killings of Black people in the country persist, Obama explained that the work of communities nationwide hasnt necessarily solved the issue of racial injustice just yet.

Touching on the death of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old unarmed African-American from Miami who was fatally shot by George Zimmerman during an altercation, the former president said he hopes to see proven efforts in the public addressing racial injustice come to fruition.

We have seen people come together to not just talk about the problem, but to try and come up with concrete solutions and implement those solutions, Obama said. What I have consistently drawn inspiration from is to see how the process hasnt been static but has continually evolved with people learning from what works and what doesnt work, pushing the envelopes of what is possible and challenging all of us to see how we can do better.

Here is the original post:
Newark Mayor Highlights Transformation of Public Safety During Panel With Barack Obama - TAPinto.net

In the past year, several local organizations have created an avenue for activism following George Floyd's death.

Some have evolved since then, turning from protests to full-fledged efforts to give back to the community.

Their efforts originally born from something tragic have turned into something beautiful, creating a path toward healing.

The latest news from around North Texas.

The organization Not My Son was essentially born out of the tear gas that flew almost a year ago at Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, as protestors clashed with police days after Floyds death.

It was the straw that broke Americas back, said founder, Tramonica Brown.

His death was the catalyst that brought her and so many protestors to the streets of Dallas in the summer of 2020. She formed the organization in June when she witnessed protestors being shot with rubber bullets and tear gas during last summers protests.

I didnt want to see anybodys babies get hurt with rubber bullets, said Brown, who is both a mother and an educator. It originally started with a group of teachers. No one protects more, I think, than moms and teachers.

She said Not My Son helped create a safe space of meaningful conversation between activists and city leaders, law enforcement and lawmakers. Their first conversation rally brought together close to 1,000 people.

We challenged everybody to know who their city council member was. A lot of the fight that we want to change happens right here, Brown said during our interview outside Dallas City Hall. A lot of people march and dont know what the cause is. So we wanted to make sure that people understood what youre marching for.

The name for the organization comes from the fear she said she feels for her own son and other Black children being racially profiled by police or discriminated against for the color of their skin.

Tramonica Brown and her son, who helped inspire the name of the Not My Son organization.

I dont want it to be my son. I dont want it to be anybodys son, she said. The Black man is the one who is the most under attack.Its unfortunate but its the reality.

Her son was only two years old when the killing of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman gripped the nation in 2012.

It just really broke me. I was a young mother, I was in college. It just hit me that theres nothing I can really do. I can strive to live a better life and do better and achieve better, but at any moment my son can still be taken, she said.

But what started with protests, evolved into something else. Over time, as volunteers and supporters showed up by the hundreds, their mission started to transform.

Growth is beautiful, Brown said.

She recalls the feeling last summer of wanting to do more. A lightbulb moment occurred during one of their marches.

Instead of marching them through downtown, we marched through South Dallas. I think that was a breakthrough in the immediate growth of Not My Son. People were in tears. Its amazing how many people have not been down Martin Luther King Boulevard but go to Fair Park. It showed a clear divide of what it looks like, she said. I said, What do we do? And people said, We just want to help.'"

So they started feeding the hungry and cleaning up neighborhoods. They created tutoring programs for kids and became a saving grace for 600 families during the winter storm in February.

Through the year, Brown said some volunteers have come and gone. But she was able to find true allyship through groups like Say Their Names, who brought an impactful exhibit to Dallas featuring the names of Black lives lost due to racism.

"To be an ally is not to be afraid to use your privilege for the better good. To me, allyship is doing your part when you know you can," she said. Its a marathon. So protesting is a way to garner the attention. Now that we have the attention, what are we going to do with it?

This year, Brown said their next goal is to take communities back. She shared concern over some residents in South Dallas being forced from their homes to make way for more development.

If its going to be a building of success, it needs to be around those people who live in that neighborhood, not just shove them out to put more in," she explained. "Were not going to be able to take them back unless youre teaching financial literacy for you to own something. Making sure that our grandmothers are paying their taxes and that they are not getting their land sanctioned because they have $40,000 in taxes that has to be paid in 30 days."

Despite the new efforts to give back to the community, Brown said activism through protest when injustices occur will still be a big part of her focus.

Not My Son definitely turned into a community-based organization. Don't think for a second that we wont protest, because we will," she said.

Teresa Nguyen has been on her own journey of allyship.

Last June, she created an avenue for others to join her on that journey, called the Umbrella Project.

My heart was heavy to do something, she said.

She gathered up and distributed bright yellow umbrellas as a way to protect protestors from rubber bullets and tear gas during last years marches, an inspiration she drew from demonstrations in Hong Kong in 2014.

But it took on a different meaning once the group joined forces with Mothers Against Police Brutality, which requested the names of Black and Brown lives lost be painted on the umbrellas.

Then, what started with just a few dozen umbrellas, grew into 500. Each umbrella had a different name painted in bold, black paint by local artists and volunteers.

It just kept growing, Nguyen said. It breaks my heart. It just became more real."

The movement expanded beyond Dallas, traveling to Juneteenth celebrations in Tulsa, OK., and more protests in Portland, Ore. The umbrellas were a staple in some protests to show the gravity of the fear and pain people were feeling during the movement.

It became something a lot a lot more extraordinary, said Nguyen.

Nguyen herself learned even more about the meaning of allyship, as anti-Asian hate crimes took a grip on America in the year since the pandemic began.

"I try to take it one day at a time. Sometimes its one step at a time or one breath at a time -- trying to feel like you belong even though you were born and raised here, she said. You cant just sit back. Its so important to speak up and be a part of each others lives."

Looking forward into 2021, both groups are focusing on growth and the power of a collective as their fight for justice continues.

I feel like last year was the setup, Brown said. And this year is just having those tough conversations and opening up the door and really factoring in -- what are you going to do?

Both organizations have some big projects coming up in the next week.

Not My Son is organizing a clean-up and feeding of the homeless on May 29. They are in need of volunteers. See the flyer below or click here for more details.

The Umbrella Project is also bringing back the umbrellas in a touching art display starting June 4. For more information, follow their Instagram page.

Excerpt from:
Activists Turn Tragedy Into Transformation and Healing One Year After George Floyd's Death - NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

George Zimmerman was found not guiltyof murdering Trayvon Martin. For many, including myself, this is a fact that is hard to swallow. Yet considering the broad scope of Floridas state laws governing self-defense, we should not be surprised by the verdict.

Why do so many people feel that Zimmerman is guilty? Because they want to hold him accountable. A large body of psychological research has found evidence that people engage in a phenomenon called motivated reasoning.Instead of looking at a body of evidence and then reaching a conclusion based on facts, people often have a conclusion they want to reach and change the facts to fit that goal. People wanted Zimmerman to be guilty, and so they fit the facts of the case to that conclusion.

Many rejected the verdict because they wanted the jury to find him guilty. When it didnt, they assumed the jury got it wrong. We see what we want to see, and we ignore evidence that gets in our way.

Motivated reasoning has been at the core of this case from the start. Ironically, Zimmerman has quoteda passage from James Loewens Lies My Teacher Told Me,which says, People have a right to their own opinions, but not to their own facts. Evidence must be located, not created, and opinions not backed by evidence cannot be given much weight. This quote exemplifies the problems of motivated reasoning in this case: Zimmerman concluded that Martin was suspicious without any evidence, and then found facts (e.g., Martin wearing a hoodie) to back up his foregone conclusion.

But this display of motivated reasoning has distracted us from the bigger picture: it puts the focus on Zimmerman, when we should be focused on the law. Yet Zimmerman is only one part of the system that failed Trayvon Martin. Yes, Zimmerman shouldnt have stalked Martin based on his race. Yes, Zimmerman shouldnt have continued to follow Martin when the police told him not to. Yes, Zimmerman shouldnt have engaged Martin in a fight that eventually led to the young mans death. Zimmermans actions were problematic at best, and malicious at worst. But the jury found no compelling evidence that he did not act in accordance with the law.

Its psychologically easier for us to blame the jury than it is for us to blame the law. Research suggests that we find it aversive to recognize failures within our own system. We dont want to see the flaws with our government, so we justifyand bolster the status quoeven when it fails and disadvantages us. In this case, both lawmakers and citizens alike need to try to overcome this predilection, because recognizing that a law is unfair is the first step to fixing it.

Lets not make the same mistake that Zimmerman did and find facts to support our conclusions. In this case, the facts are that George Zimmerman is not guilty, at least in a legal sense. Its Floridas laws that are guilty and need to be changed.

Read the original post:
George Zimmerman: A Case Study in Motivated Reasoning ...

George Zimmerman, the ex-neighborhood watch volunteer who was acquitted at trial in the killing of Trayvon Martin in Florida in 2012, is suing Martin's parents, prosecutors and others claiming false evidence was used at the trial.

The lawsuit, which was filed in Florida state court and seeks $100 million in damages, also claims defamation by Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump, according to a Wednesday news release from Zimmerman's attorney, Larry Klayman.

Klayman, the founder of the conservative group Freedom Watch, said the suit is a result of newly discovered evidence in a new book and film by director Joel Gilbert, called "The Trayvon Hoax: Unmasking the Witness Fraud that Divided America."

The book claims the key witness in Zimmerman's 2013 murder trial, Rachel Jeantel, was an imposter and fake witness, Klayman said. Jeantel had testified that she was on the phone with Martin moments before he was killed but the book claims Jeantel was not on the phone with Martin and lied repeatedly to cause Zimmerman's arrest, Klayman said.

According to Klayman, Gilbert claims Jeantel was substituted for the real phone witness when that person "refused to bear false witness against Zimmerman."

In a statement Wednesday, Jeantel's attorney, Rod Vareen, called Zimmerman's lawsuit "frivolous."

"My client is done speaking about George Zimmerman and her involvement in the case. Her testimony at trial was accurate and her relationship with Trayvon Martin was however she defined it," Vareen said.

Zimmerman was acquitted in the shooting of Martin, who was from Miami Gardens and visiting his father in Sanford at the time, on the grounds of self-defense. He had been facing a possible life sentence.

The lawsuit names Martin's parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, along with Crump, the prosecutors in Zimmerman's trial and others, who "are alleged to either have known about or should have known about the witness fraud, obstructed justice, or lied repeatedly under oath in order to cover up their knowledge of the witness fraud."

Crump released a statement Wednesday on behalf of himself, Fulton and Tracy Martin, calling the suit "unfounded and reckless."

"This plaintiff continues to display a callous disregard for everyone but himself, revictimizing individuals whose lives were shattered by his own misguided actions. He would have us believe that he is the innocent victim of a deep conspiracy, despite the complete lack of any credible evidence to support his outlandish claims," Crump's statement read.

Klayman, Zimmerman and the filmmaker Gilbert had been scheduled to hold a press conference at Coral Gables Art Cinema Thursday to discuss the case, but the theater said they canceled the event after discovering the details of it.

Originally posted here:
George Zimmerman Sues Trayvon Martins Parents, Others for ...