a16z Podcast: How Three Teenagers Built the Five-O App for Police Transparency

TL;DR

The Five-O app helps citizens document and understand interactions with law enforcement through incident reports, officer reviews, community messages, location tools, and know-your-rights information. Teenagers Caleb, Emma, and Asha began developing it about six months before the a16z Podcast interview, motivated by media coverage and relatives’ negative experiences with police. Read on to see how they designed the app as a constructive, technology-based response.

Transcript

hello we are here on the a 16z podcast with the writers and makers of the 500 a p-- with us i have three awesome american teenagers and they unlike most of us when they watched what was happening in Ferguson most people like me sat there read about it got really upset got frustrated and then did nothing but these kids watched it saw what was going ... Read More

Key Insights

• 😀 The 500 app was born out of a desire to create a solution for the issues of police misconduct and lack of transparency.
• 😀 The app aims to empower citizens by giving them a voice and promoting customer service-like interactions with law enforcement.
• 🌱 Expansion plans include global availability, SMS functionality for areas without smartphones, and collaboration with skilled individuals.
• 😮 The teenagers visited Facebook during their time in Silicon Valley and were impressed by the positive and fun atmosphere at the company.
• 😀 The 500 app has garnered attention and interest from international users, indicating a potential worldwide need for such a platform.
• 😀 The teenagers prioritize improving and refining the app to ensure it is a solid product that effectively serves its purpose.
• 🤗 Funding support through GoFundMe and potential collaboration on open-source platforms like GitHub are avenues for growth and development.

Questions & Answers

Q: What is the Five-O app, and how does it promote police transparency?

Five-O is an app designed to let citizens document and evaluate interactions with law enforcement. Users can file incident reports, review officers by badge number, post community messages, and read reviews organized by county, ZIP code, and state.

Q: Who created the Five-O app?

The app was created by three American teenagers named Caleb, Emma, and Asha. They had worked with coding and technology since middle school and viewed technology as a way to solve community problems.

Q: What motivated Caleb, Emma, and Asha to develop Five-O?

They were motivated by a combination of media coverage about law enforcement and negative interactions experienced by family members. Their parents encouraged them to focus on solutions, so they brainstormed the app’s components on a whiteboard.

Q: Does Five-O portray all police officers negatively?

No. The creators said they have close family friends who are police officers and do not believe that all officers are corrupt or bad. They framed Five-O as a constructive tool for improving interactions and transparency rather than expressing hostility toward police.

Q: What technology was used to build the Five-O app?

Caleb said they used a cloud-based SDK program called Appery.io. The transcript identifies it as the primary tool used to architect the application.

Q: How do incident reports and officer reviews work in Five-O?

The incident-report feature guides users through logging what happened during an interaction. Users can also review police officers by badge number, creating records that other people can search and read.

Q: How can users find local information and their current location in Five-O?

Users can search reviews by county, ZIP code, and state to see descriptions, ratings, and reported interactions in an area. A GPS function can also display a traveler’s current address and show the location on a map.

Q: What information does Five-O provide about citizens’ rights?

Five-O includes a know-your-rights section for people who are unsure how to handle an interaction with law enforcement. The creators said this information is provided by the ACLU and made accessible within the app.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Three American teenagers developed the 500 app to address concerns about police misconduct and promote transparency.

• The app allows users to report incidents, review and rate police officers, access know your rights information, and find nearby law enforcement agencies.

• The teenagers are open to expanding the app globally and seeking assistance to enhance its features and usability.