7 Tips for Reporting Live Via Your Phone From Anywhere
Know your rights. Go wide. No flash. WIRED spoke with the ACLU's Peter Bibring about what people need to know before they start livestreaming.
WIRED spoke with Peter Bibring—director of police practices for the ACLU of California and an architect of Mobile Justice, a free app that allows users to transmit live video of police encounters directly to the ACLU—about what people need to know before they start livestreaming.
520 Design01Recording is good; livestreaming is better.
Rather than shoot video of an event and store it on your mobile device—which could be confiscated or destroyed—you should livestream it to make sure the footage is secure (it’s usually stored on your platform’s server automatically) as well as instantly viewable.
520 Design02Know your rights.
Filming the police is not only legal—it’s constitutionally protected. Any bystander has the right to film police activity so long as they’re not interfering with an officer’s ability to do their job.
520 Design03Make no sudden movements.
Don’t reach quickly into your pocket or bag to take out your phone. An officer might perceive that as reaching for a weapon.
520 Design04Go wide.
Hold your phone horizontally (in landscape mode) to capture as much of the scene as you can.
520 Design05Don’t use flashes or lights.
Shining a light or a flash on a police encounter can be considered interference. Even if the scene is dark, you’ll still pick up audio.
520 Design06Watch the scene, not the screen.
Keep an eye on what’s happening both in and around the scene so that you can adjust your angle or position as needed.
520 Design07And if you’re the subject of the police investigation ...
Start recording and put your phone down. If you’re in a car and you get pulled over, that means in the console or on the dashboard. If you’re out and about, that means in your pocket. You’ll pick up audio, and sometimes that’s all you need to back up your story.
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