An iPhone user created an Apple Shortcuts function in 2018 that allows users to document their interactions with police officers and notify someone they know, and the shortcut has recently gained a lot of attention.
A bunch of people and news outlets are passing around an old version of my ‘Getting Pulled Over’ Shortcut.
Current version is here:https://t.co/P3rKxJKNKm
Current versions will always be posted at:https://t.co/gFrOSdBV6W#Siri #Police #Shortcuts
— Robert Petersen (@Sonikku_a2) June 16, 2020
“Getting Pulled Over By Police” is a function of the iPhone app Shortcuts, which allows users to program their phone to do multiple actions after a single voice prompt. Robert Petersen created the function and hopes the tools will be useful to some, per Fox 29. (RELATED: ‘Leave No Rock Unturned’: FBI And Department Of Justice Will Review Death Of Robert Fuller)
Petersen described the features of the shortcut in a Reddit post. When the user says “Hey Siri, I’m getting pulled over,” the iPhone will automatically pause music, dim the brightness and turn on “do not disturb” mode. The phone then sends a message to a pre-assigned contact that the person is being pulled over, as well as a location of the incident.
The front camera is then turned on and begins recording the incident. Once the recording is turned off, a copy is sent to the contact assigned, the volume and brightness is returned to normal, “do not disturb” mode is turned off and the shortcut gives you an option of how to download the video for yourself.
“(It) just seemed a good idea to empower the individual citizen to have a record over what happens during a stop to remove any ‘he said/she said’ scenarios,” said Petersen to Fox 29, “I honestly didn’t think the idea would prove as popular as it has, the response has been extreme[ly] positive and more than a bit overwhelming!”