By STEVEN DUBOIS 

 

PORTLAND, Oregon —Though the developers of the Driving While Black smart phone application want motorists to download their product, there is a time when they definitely don’t want users searching for it.

“Do not reach for your phone when you are talking to police,” stressed Melvin Oden-Orr, one of two lawyers creating the app.

Avoiding moves that could make police think you’re reaching for a gun is just one tip included in the app that educates drivers about how to safely deal with police during traffic stops.

Despite its attention-grabbing name, Oden-Orr said the app released in late December provides common sense advice to motorists of all races and outlines what civil rights you have during a stop. With the phone hopefully in a hands-free device, the app allows drivers to send an alert to friends and family that they have been pulled over. There’s also a recording function to document the interaction with an officer.

The app comes to market as protesters around the country keep attention on instances of deadly encounters with police in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York City. Similar apps also are aimed at helping people navigate interactions with police.

Three Georgia teenagers created Five-O, an app released last summer that lets people rate their interactions with law enforcement. Recently, American Civil Liberties Union affiliates in four states unveiled Mobile Justice, an app that allows users to take video of police encounters and upload the video to the ACLU. It’s modeled after Stop and Frisk Watch, an app released for New Yorkers in 2012.

“It’s obviously in the forefront of everybody’s mind; the police know they are being recorded and people in public know they can record,” said Sarah Rossi, director of advocacy and policy for the ACLU Missouri affiliate. I think the benefit of [Mobile Justice] specifically is it goes straight to the ACLU and we can review it for any due-process violations.’’

The apps also include a Know Your Rights section that informs people about their rights when contacted by police.

Attorney Mariann Hyland got the idea for Driving While Black after learning of an app for drivers suspected of drunken driving. She approached Oden-Orr in April, and the two worked on the app with software developer James Pritchett.

The term driving while black is common among African Americans. A 2013 Justice Department report based on a survey of those stopped by police in 2011 suggests blacks are more likely than whites to be pulled over and have their cars searched. Moreover, African Americans are much more likely to believe a traffic stop is not legitimate.