These Teenagers Have a Genius Response to Ferguson’s Police Problems
Amid the ongoing turmoil in Ferguson, sparked earlier this month by officer Darren Wilson shooting the unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown, three amazing teenagers have developed a brilliant tool to help combat police brutality.
The invention is called Five-O, and it’s an app created by Georgia siblings Ima, Asha, and Caleb Christian. It functions essentially as a Yelp for the cops, allowing users to details their encounters with officers and rate their behavior. Five-O launched today, and is available on both Apple and Android.
“We’d like to know which regions in the US provide horrible law enforcement services as well as highlight the agencies that are highly rated by their citizens,” Ima Christian said in a statement. “In addition to putting more power into the hands of citizens when interacting with law enforcement, we believe that highly-rated police departments should be used as models for those that fail at providing quality law enforcement services.”
The app also allows users to quickly find police stations nearby, and provides an index of information should you wish to commend or report a police officer. And the kicker? The Christians are still in middle school and high school. The three co-founded an app development company, Pinetart, after they found a mutual love for coding.
It’s a smart move, and a step towards increasing police accountability. Rate the police, and help them do a better job for all communities.
