An App Concept
Taze Maze
The core function of tazemaze.com is to expose regional law enforcement abuses and/or attitudes more than provide practical information to drivers. The overuse of tasers, while a complex issue, reflects a shift in the relationship between the expectations of law officers and private citizens. This product will provide a user with information that is both novel and useful while opening up a dialog regarding the misuse of tasers.
There are areas where a person is more likely, for instance, to be pulled over if they are from out of state or of a certain ethnicity. This info is, theoretically, available and I think it would be helpful to have a graphical display of who does what where.
In the same way Richard Florida's book "Rise of the Creative Class" caused Urban Planers to re-examine the city structure and demographics in attempt to draw businesses and workers to metropolitan areas, this app may force law enforcement to reconsider their methods or at the very least, financial hurt those areas with the highest incidence of unnecessary violence towards citizens.
The social, interactive trip-planing utility will target users who are sensitive to, or merely curious about, the abuses of law enforcement. While notions exist regarding regional biases, this digital application will allow the user to see more specific information regarding the abuses perpetrated by law enforcement and at the very least, the likelihood that in the advent of being pulled over, that they will "tasered" be police officers.
As a travel utility, tazemaze.com will be accessed via a web browser or mobile device such as an iPhone or Nintendo DS. The encyclopedic characteristics of the application are the use of a mapping application such as Google Earth and the news aggregation. When a person is tasered and it is reported, the interactive map will display electrical bolts and a user will be able to click on a bolt and learn more about the event from the news source. These graphics will allow a user to see a high level view of regions that are most likely to use these weapons and to drill down as needed.
The trip planning feature would then suggest alternate routes if possible and, if not possible, reminders during the user's travels. Users will be able to add relevant info which will be displayed for users in that region to see. The initial trip could be planned on a desktop or laptop computer and then delivered to the user via a mobile device such as an cell phone, GPS, satellite radio, or portable gaming system. The spatial characteristics would be flexible enough to accommodate a variety of interfaces and technologies. As the number of users increases, policy changes may take effect as towns and regions fear being dubbed "Taze Zones."
Ultimately, the product will be a combination or things like the GreenPeace site, http://archive.greenpeace.org/wmd/ Yelp.com, Twitter, and Trapster's app, http://www.trapster.com, for mobile devices with the goal going beyond simple evasion of law enforcement towards actually affecting a change in policy.
