“Hey Siri, I’m getting pulled over”: The iPhone shortcut that lets you record police encounters
Amid worldwide protests against police brutality, an iPhone shortcut that allows people to record their encounters with authorities has gained traction.
The shortcut, which must first be installed on the device, is activated by saying: “Hey Siri, I’m getting pulled over”. It will then pause any music, dim the brightness of the phone, turn on the Do Not Disturb mode, open the device’s front camera to start a video recording, and send your location in a message to a predesignated contact.
Once the recording stops, it will send a copy of the video to the predesignated contact and give you the option to upload the clip to iCloud Drive or Dropbox.
The “I’m getting pulled over” shortcut was created by Robert Petersen in 2018.
Petersen said the feature could be “a very huge help” for those experiencing “improper police interaction”.
“I just wanted a way for anyone to have proof of their version of events in the unlikely scenario that something unexpected happens during a police interaction,” he told CBS News in October 2018.
“And if one in 10,000 people find my shortcut useful at all I’d be glad.”
Petersen recommended putting the phone on a dashboard mount when using the function.
The feature has been brought back into the spotlight on social media amid protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
Taking pictures or videos of police carrying out duties in any public place is legal in Australia and New Zealand.
Here’s how to install the shortcut on your iPhone device:
- Download the Shortcuts app.
- Open this link in the Safari web browser.
- Once it opens, scroll down and select “Add Untrusted Shortcut”.
- Select a contact whom you would like to send your location and video recording to.