Pulled Over While Connected: Siri Can Quietly Video Record the Police

Just say, "Hey Siri, I'm getting pulled over."

One of the latest apps to hit the iOS 12 mobile highway is Shortcuts. With it, users can plot out a series of actions and trigger them by signaling the voice-assistant. One savvy user created an add-on called Police that can give drivers added security during traffic stops.

The brainchild of Redditer Robert Petersen of Arizona, Police was created to covertly record law enforcement officials to "keep everyone safe and honest."

“I have noticed in reading news articles and seeing reports on TV that in many cases you end up with police saying one thing happened and the citizen being pulled over saying another,” Petersen said to USA TODAY. “And how do you determine truth? Sometimes the police have body cams, sometimes not, and even when they do it’s not always released in a timely manner.”

How does the shortcut work?

Once Siri is alerted about the traffic stop, the program springs into action to pause any music that may be playing, turn down your screen brightness and puts your phone in Do Not Disturb mode. Siri then sends a text message to a designated emergency contact to let them know what’s happening.

Once users stop the recording, a copy of the video is sent to a specified contact, the brightness returns to normal, and Do Not Disturb is disabled, Petersen said.  (King 5 News, October 4, 2018)
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"Shortcuts" lets you create other voice activated shortcuts as well. You can run an app, or a series of apps, to accomplish whatever tasks you wish.