Self-Evident
Self Evident is a free app that records, validates and secures evidence. Designed primarily as a crime reporting app, it also lets you file a report for work, notify an adviser or business of a claim, send the media a news story or just secure the evidence in your private account.
The app is being promoted by MOPAC (London’s Mayo’s Office of Policing and Crime) and Victim Support to encourage the reporting of hate crime.
Its main features are set out below:
More reliable evidence
Evidence recorded with the app is more reliable because (a) it is recorded in real time and when the events are fresh in your mind, (b) a data log validating the time, place and file information is stored and corroborated independently, and (c) a copy is kept safe in your private account.
Safer communities
The app was first developed as a means to deter and reduce crime. You can send a crime report and evidence to the police. (In much of the UK, the app links automatically to the right police team.) As well as validating evidence, Self Evident guides users through videoing a witness statement, and locates and dates the incident in a secure and convenient report. By easing the path of victims and witnesses, the app offers a new approach to community safety and police-public engagement.
Simplifying life
The app also helps whenever evidence matters. You can use it to notify an insurer about a treasured purchase, to photograph the scene of a car accident, to video the damage a leaking roof is causing, to record the effects of an injury or the progress of recovery, to collect evidence about a dispute, to record a neighborhood noise that disrupts your sleep, or to detail the condition of an apartment as you move in. By independently validating and securing your evidence, the app avoids misunderstandings, dissolves disputes and, where necessary, can help prove a claim.
Security
Reports generated through the Self Evident app are secured to the private account you get at when you register the app. This is where you manage your files, keep and validate evidence and track when a report you send is accessed. And if it’s a report to the police, this is where you can give confidential feedback on their response.
Free App, Free Witness Reports
Self Evident is free to download. It is developed by a commercial company to be used (as a paid for version) to streamline and automate work tasks. However, you don’t have to use the paid version and witness reports to the police are always free.
Download Android Version Here
Download iOS Version Here
Summary
This is a straightforward app which uses the modern smartphone’s capabilities to input text, speech and photos (although for some reason not video) to make quick, accurate and contemporary notes of an offence. Its success will depend on uptake and it will need plenty of promotion to encourage people to use it.
However, it does seem a particularly useful app for people from minority groups who are often the targets of hate crime to have installed on their phone to ensure that evidence is quickly and safely recorded.
All innovation posts are kindly sponsored by Socrates 360 which provides a complete solution for staff, prisoners, probationers, etc. combining engaging content, simple set-up and an easy tracking system. Socrates 360 has no influence over editorial content.
