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Did you know that on average Americans spend eight and a half-hours a day staring at some kind of screen? There's the computer at work, the plasma flat screen at home, and of course the screen on the cell phone. People spend so much time on their cell phone that we now use the terms "apps" to describe commercial applications like Amber Alerts, as opposed to the old days when "apps" meant onion rings and mozzarella sticks. One of the fastest growing set of cell phone apps have to do with public safety issues. But are these apps increasing or decreasing public safety?
The answer is that no one really knows. What is known is the fact that "law enforcement apps" for cell phones are hugely successful commercial enterprise. An increasing number of applications released for iPhone, BlackBerry and Android operating systems are related in some way to law enforcement and emergency situations.
"There is just so much useful evidence on the phone," Jonathan Zdziarski, an iPhone forensics expert who developed the Amber Alert application told the Detroit Free Press in a recent interview. But what some consider useful information could be considered a royal pain in the rear end, especially if you're a cop setting up speed traps. If you want to know where the cops are laying wait to write you up for doing 65 in a 45 mph zone just sign up for "Trapster."
That app will send you the location of the speed traps so you can avoid them. Like a lot of the new technology applications related to cell phones, Trapster isn't very accurate so cops aren't too concerned about people getting a heads up about a possible speed trap.
What does concern law enforcement professionals is that when a motorist is checking an Amber Alert or a Trapster warning they are not looking at the road. And Trapster is just one of a growing number of smartphone applications that has a law-enforcement bent. There's also Police Scanner, which allows average folk to listen in on emergency dispatch traffic. Another app is "Cannabis," which directs users to places to buy legal marijuana.
And there's even apps for liberal types like "Your Rights," which outlines what law enforcement can and can't do when interviewing suspects. In all, there are several hundred law enforcement related applications. Detroit Police Assistant Chief Ralph Godbee said the influx of such apps is no different than the proliferation of radars and speed guns.
"Every time technology makes an improvement, law enforcement gets a step ahead, and then people catch up," Godbee told the Free Press. "That's just a natural give-and-take with technology."
Some of the apps were designed specifically for law-enforcement professionals but then found an audience with crime buffs and wannabe's as well, said David Kyle, product manager at Juicy Development in Orem, Utah, who helped create Police Scanner.
The app streams the scanner activity of about 2,000 law-enforcement agencies. Among its competition is the newly released Police Radio. Both applications stream broadcasts from law enforcement agencies in real time nationwide. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites       
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