Next Level Justice

In order to make community safety a reality, our local groups need access to technology solutions built with them in mind. We have designed and created a phone application that will be available on iPhone and Android phones to help coordinate responses to community issues that arise. The app can be used in any area of the globe as long as other community members within a  5-mile radius have also downloaded the app. We hope this tool will come in handy for groups who are currently organizing community safety response groups like this recent story in Oakland where a community group was able to defuse a situation and interrupt police intervention that would have surely cost a life. We know that individuals around the world are exploring alternatives to policing and we believe that with proper training and coordination this tool will help make those efforts successful. 

Policing of Black and Brown communities around the world had gotten to a point where we are regularly hearing about unjust shootings and unfair punishments given the crime committed (if a crime is even committed). Between 2014 and 2020, police in the United States killed at least 7680 people. Twenty-five percent of those killed were Black. The reality of this stat is that those who survive and have consciousness of the issue in Black skin are terrified daily of interacting with or coming into contact with police. This is especially true for masculine presenting Black people. The Black Lives Matter movement is global because colorism, stereotypes, and hatred are a constant part of daily life.

Our solution is simple, we will use technology via smartphone apps to put an alert system in the hands of every person who is fearful of being harassed, stopped, or arrested unjustly. The alert system will go out to nearby community members who also have the app and allow them to navigate to the users location. Once at the location they can record the incident via the app to create a record of what occurred. That video can be shared with the rest of the community or with select individuals. Once an incident is resolved the community member who requested help can send the all clear. We are using Amazon Web Server to host the application. It will be compatible on iPhone and Android devices. Once we roll out the smartphone app we will create a wearable version of the app for smart watches. 

We want to target those living in heavily policed urban areas who are being stopped, harassed, and arrested unjustly. There is a call for defunding police in many of these areas. This app is a means to help make those calls more realistic by creating a community safety tool that is designed for the purpose of helping communities show up for each other. Other apps that exist may delete footage, block shares, and do other things to discourage organizing. As a member of the Black community this app is very important to me. I felt anguish after the recent killings of Amaud Aubrey and George Floyd. It reminded me of my brother being pulled out of a car by an officer with guns pointed for no reason. Or myself being thrown up against a vehicle with my arm twisted and being told to "stop resisting" being I couldn't find my identification which turned out to be in my arm rest compartment. These incidents occur regularly and can leave us feeling powerless. When a community member arrived from a rally and asked me to build this app I felt that it was something tangible I could give the community to give back a sense of control in otherwise uncontrollable situations. By having advocates who are trained in deescalation take the time to show up and assist in situations where individuals feel as if they are endanger, I believe community safety can start to become a reality. 

Our problem and solution are aligned with the Challenge because it creates a public safety system within the communities being targeted by unfair policing. Instead of outsiders coming into communities that look different than the residents, this app gives individuals who live in the area, speak the same language, and in most cases -- because of the segregated nature of urban living-- share the same race. 

We have created working versions of the application on iPhone and Andriod devices. We have not yet put to apps into app stores. We are currently testing across different devices and in different areas of the country to work out any bugs and kinks. We have tested in Houston, TX, Spring, TX, and Oakland, CA so far. We have tested the app with 5 different individuals. 

Our solution is innovative because it was designed to meet a specific need of a person who returned from a protest and wanted an app to get in contact with their friends who were separated from them. The person relayed information about phone calls not working at protests due to jammed lines. This started the conversations with other community members about creating a community safety app and Safe Zone was born. I expect that it will have broad impact of offering a new way of approaching community safety with technology in mind created for the use of real people. Right now members are counting on things like phone trees, FB, Youtube, and other ways of spreading the word that aren't specifically designed for very real urgent situations. While those solutions can offer a half measure to get the job done, this solution will be built upon and added to with community safety in mind. We believe we are creating a tool that can grow with movements and help add resources to programs that are community based. 

Current - 0

1 year - 100,000

2 years - 1,000,000

We will measure our impact by the number of people who download the app, the number of organizations signed on to share the app, the number of trainings conducted by our team for community groups who are using the app, the number of visits to our website, and the number of people talking about the app on social media post launch. 

We have two people currently working for our organization part-time. 

Dione Friends has launched two successful smartphone apps with the ACLU of Texas. She is bringing her expertise to this project to create the vision, project manage, and promote the app through launch and after. Latisha Shahzad supports the app as a tester and on the legal and operations side to make sure that we are fully insured and that our terms and conditions are clear for users. We met while working as the Communications Director and Finance Director at the ACLU of Texas. We reconnected and formed Next Level Justice after the murder of George Floyd. The app idea came from a friend who attended a protest. We knew that we needed to see the app brought to life and decided to build it out using our skillsets. We are both Black women living in the south and have faced injustice and known family members who also faced a great deal of injustice. We want to create a tool that gives our community members and others facing similar situations around the world the ability to stand up to wrongs experienced by people who look like us. 

We believe in listening to and being led by Black women. We are intentional about reaching out to people who are must affected by the issues we wish to solve and take those conversations to heart. We will continue to include diverse perspectives and listen to those who use our app to make improvements and deliver a product that is truly transformational. 

We are applying to solve because we need help monetarily and from the
Solve community to refine our Smartphone application. We want the app to
be useful for as many people as possible. we also want to reach as many
people as possible with our solution.

• Financial - We hope to raise funds to promote the app and to fund the development
• Legal - We have partnered with a pro-bono legal team in the past but we would love to continue talking with legal experts through launch and beyond
• Public Relations - We have PR experience on our team but we would love to partner with branding and promotional experts
• Monitoring -We would love to work with additional testers who can help us monitor the use of the app and suggest updates and solutions
• Product distribution - We would like to work with someone who can help us with distribution and getting the product in front of the right people
• Technology - We would love to work with tech experts who can view our code for vulnerabilities.

I would like to partner with MIT faculty, initiatives, Solve members and anyone else who can help us refine our product.

We believe in healthy communities. In order to have healthy communities, we need safety to be prioritized by the people who live there. We belive our solutions promotes health and safety for communities around the world who are committed to organizing and using the tool.

Students and teachers can use our app to promote campus safety and to use in their communities. Students who live in Black and Brown neighborhoods are going to be witnesses to and targets of discrimination. This tool can be used along with proper training to keep those individuals safe and to educate them on how react to incidents they come across.

The Safe Zone app is created for and by Black women. We know how important is to have tech solutions made with our communities' needs in mind. We hope to put this tool in the hands of as many people as possible and the funds from this grant will help us do that through paid promotional materials.

We shared our app with a college president who was excited to see it used on his campus. He saw this as an opportunity to address assaults on campus. We hope this app can create an environment where women and girls can walk safely to class during the day or to social events.