NAACP Uses Technology to Fight Race Bias

(AP)  Combining its century-old mission of fighting for equality with the instantaneous reach of modern-day technology, the NAACP has launched a program that lets people use their cell phones to report incidents of police misconduct.

The "rapid response system" was officially launched Monday as part of the annual convention for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. This year, the organization is marking the centennial of its founding in New York City in 1909.

The system allows people who capture photos or video of incidents of alleged police misconduct on their cell phones to send it through a Web browser to the organization or upload it through a computer. A form will then be transmitted to the sender, who can use it to provide more information about an incident.

"Technology has basically put a video camera in the pocket of every child in this country over the age of 12 and most grown-ups as well," said Benjamin Jealous, president and CEO of the NAACP.

He said the information gathered would be used in several ways. Some video could be used immediately, to present footage for a situation the organization wants to highlight. Another purpose would be to compile a database of incidents that could show a history of discriminatory patterns and practices in particular law enforcement jurisdictions - information the group could take to the Justice Department.

The head of the Justice Department, Attorney General Eric Holder, praised the NAACP's dedication to championing equality but acknowledged the work left to be done.

"We must resist the temptation to conclude that our nation has fulfilled its promise of equality based on one moment or on one election," he said, in reference to Barack Obama being elected president.

"The efforts to harmonize our laws with our best ideals is not yet done," he said.

Monique Morris, the group's vice president of advocacy and research, said the ease of reporting an incident will help give a clearer picture of the prevalence of misconduct.

"What this database will provide is a more accurate account in real time of what's happening in our communities," she said.

[TheMasses0009]

The NAACP has become as corrupt as it claims the police are. Corruption knows no race.

[im_watching]

why is there so much bitterness & defensive attacks? Everyone with a cell phone is on equal ground with the same power. So take your pictures & report what you say goes on.
There are major discrepencies in sentencing. Whites get much more lenient sentences for the same crime.
I had a good lawyer & paid good money for my white son to get probation for possession, a second offence. The same day we saw 2 blacks get time for a smaller amount with less a record. whats that all about?

[GiveMeFreedom]

Hey NAACP, get the phone numbers of the cell phone users and call them all up. Then please tell them to take personal responsibility for their actions. Be a dad. Be a husband. Be a friend.

I know, everyone is a racist. What % of crime is black on black crime? So are the black victims racists too?

[steveoncbs]

May I use this hotline to report racial bias on the part of the NAACP? In response to the poster that said there is not much difference between the NAACP and the KKK, I disagree. The NAACP is subsidized by the US government.

[phwtb]

Racists are racists, regardless of their color. When you really think about it there is very little difference between the NAACP and the KKK.

GovernmentControl: for the comment about the prison population being 40% black, just tell them it isn't being a racists; it's simply being able to count.

* Black and Hispanic inmates together make up 62 percent of the prison population
o Approximately 46 percent of all prison inmates (excluding those whose race was not reported) were black; 36 percent, white; 16 percent, Hispanic; 1 percent, American Indian or Alaska Native; and 1 percent, Asian or Pacific Islander
* 46 percent of inmates were incarcerated for a violent offence

[im_watching]

Name one person that the NAACP has killed, lynched, tortured, beaten, terrorized, burned crosses, blown up churches, or raped?

[lloydbest1]

Same technology students in Tehran used to record police and military misconduct there. This isn't anything new and I am, in fact, surprised the NAACP waited this long to hit on the idea.

[gravyboat4000]

(yo, naacp...da popo, at the momo gone done used the lolo, even though the dude done yelled,"don't taze me bro".)

Can I use my phone to tell the NCAA that the BCS sucks to?

[GovernmentControl]

This is the same NAACP and Holder who have gone on record stating that the justice system is racist because 40% of the prison population is black, and convicted felons arent allowed to vote.

[marmaduke362]

I've also got a good idea. The NAACP should use their cell phones to go into the cities and take photos of the African American Youth dressed in their gang attire, go into the neighborhoods and snap pictures of the drive by shootings and drug sales, go into the cities and snap photos of the kids who are supposed to be in school but are not and are on the streets during school hours. They should go into the cities and snap photos of arrests out of stolen cars, burlaries, shootings, grafitti artists destroying public property. I can understand police misconduct, what a can't understand is the organization's desire to ignore the "advancement" part of their name while ignoring and getting their leaders like Sharpton, Jesse Jackson etc to move down into the cities with the gangbangers, robbers, burglars and walk the streets helping disarm the ones with firearms and take their drugs from them. Let's deal with the whole picture or not at all

[im_watching]

I agree we can also take pictures of the kids and adults from the burbs supplying the dope to the inner cities also coming into town as steady customers, and the johns riding the blocks looking for hookers. THE WHOLE PICTURE.

[GovernmentControl]

The obama/media comlex plays the race card again.

Yawn.