In the United States, police make more than 20 million stops in any given year. While the vast majority of these stops are peaceful, highly visible cases of police misconduct have escalated tensions between the Black community and law enforcement. It’s why Bradley Lewis, founder and CEO of iWTNS (eyewitness), developed the application to allow users to be assisted with legal counsel on demand and in real time during a time of contention where law enforcement is involved.
Bradley Lewis
In 2019, the Stanford Open Policing Project took a look at nearly 100 million traffic stops from 2011 to 2017 across state agencies. What it found was that Black and Latino drivers were stopped more often than white drivers, based on less evidence of wrongdoing. With iWTNS, Lewis has created an opportunity for those who find themselves in these situations to receive quick, legal help.
With the push of a button this application has the capability to allow users to teleconference with a trusted legal professional while the traffic stop is occurring.
Lewis describes IWTNS as a “startup tech company created to protect people from the police violating our civil rights.” His excitement around the app stems from its ability to “level the playing field” with citizens of the Black community and law enforcement who he feels often misrepresent their badge.
All interactions between subscribers, legal professionals, and law enforcement are recorded using both video and audio.
Lewis expects that any violation on the part of officers will result in a suit against the offending officer and the department, brought on by the representing legal professional.
