Just Say 'Hey Siri, I'm Getting Pulled Over' to Record Police Interactions

From Popular Mechanics

• An iOS shortcut called "I'm Getting Pulled Over" can automatically record your interactions with police on the spot.

• The app turns off any music playing and uses your camera to make a recording. It can send the recording, plus your location, to an emergency contact.

• While the shortcut has been around since 2018, it has recirculated following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last month.

The next time you get pulled over for speeding or committing any other kind of traffic infraction, you can use an iOS shortcut on your iPhone to covertly record your full interaction with the police. Not only will this help hold authorities accountable—sort of like a body cam—but it could also be necessary evidence in cases of misconduct or police brutality.

While the shortcut, called "I'm Getting Pulled Over," has been around since 2018, it's seen a resurgence over the last few weeks in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last month.

"This just...records things. That's perfectly Constitutional to record police, and if they are doing their jobs as they should be there's no problem for them," creator Robert Petersen wrote in a Twitter reply on Tuesday. "I’ll add that I’ve talked to some officers and none of them have had any issue with it at all."

To fire it up, all you have to do is say "Hey Siri, I'm getting pulled over," and your iPhone will initiate 18 different actions. The shortcut will immediately begin to record with your front-facing camera, dim your phone to zero percent brightness, pause any music or sounds playing in the background, turn off Do Not Disturb, and send your pinpointed location—plus the recording—to one of your emergency contacts.

If for some reason the cop in question doesn't like that you're recording—even though you're legally protected in doing so—the video is immediately backed up to your iCloud or DropBox account, so deleting the video from your iPhone won't destroy the record.

Of course, you need to install the shortcut first, and you should consider giving it a few test runs to ensure all of your permissions are set up in advance.

📲 How to Download

1. The iOS shortcut is separate from the native Siri app, so you should first install the Shortcuts iOS app. This is a new functionality for devices running iOS 12 or later, so make sure your software is up to date.

2. Next, download the I'm Getting Pulled Over shortcut.

3. Go to Settings > Shortcuts > and switch Allow Untrusted Shortcuts to On.

4. In the Shortcuts app, go to Gallery and scroll down until you see the I'm Getting Pulled Over shortcut.

5. Tap Add Untrusted Shortcut.

6. Select your emergency contact and then tap Done.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like there's an Android equivalent out there. But there are apps with similar concepts. For example, you could download the ACLU Blue app on the Google Play market.

That app allows you to record police officers and share the videos in a public forum on Twitter, and also includes helpful tips about your rights if you're stopped, the legality of recording authorities, and protest-related information.

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