In many colonized nations, the way police forces interact with certain citizen populations leaves a lot to be desired. Australia is sadly no exception. Since the 1992 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, at least 540 First Nations people have died while detained – a vastly disproportionate number.
This stark injustice is what has spurred Australia’s National Justice Project (NJP) to work with Thoughtworks on Copwatch – a cross-platform mobile app designed to help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and other communities susceptible to discriminatory policing, keep themselves safe and hold the police accountable. Users can tap into the app to educate themselves on their legal rights, send alerts to friends and family should they be stopped by police, and safely and legally record police interactions.
This way, the Copwatch app aims to reduce the likelihood of police brutality in the first place and to collect admissible evidence when it does occur. At Thoughtworks, we're proud to lend our technical and design skills to the NJP for this important project that has the potential to save First Nation lives – and bring justice for those taken.
For more information visit https://www.copwatch.org.au/