SEATTLE — A western Washington company has launched a new tool called "Police Window," which allows the public to rate interactions with police officers.
Recent Black Lives Matter protests across the country have honed in on distrust between police and the citizens they serve.
HBSI Capitol and Police Window CEO Michael Brown said this is something he is hoping to change.
Brown said as the country focuses on police brutality, news cameras are often missing important smaller interactions between police and the public, both good and bad.
"I actually believe generally that chiefs want their departments to be run well and I think there's a lot of hidden information [and] if that was surfaced, it could be improved and in a really positive way that helps the citizens, helps the departments and helps the officers even," said Brown.
According to Brown, Police Window will provide transparency, making police interactions public data.
"If a department is really serious about improving policing in their precinct and in their cities, then they should want feedback from citizens and they should encourage feedback from citizens," said Brown. "Ideally, they encourage their officers to solicit feedback from citizens so it goes into a system and they can make a continuous improvement process."
So far, Brown has started working with community leaders in Seattle's Rainier Beach neighborhood. He hopes to reach out to other communities and police departments soon to let them know the tool is also available to them.
"If every citizen just took it as their civic duty, anytime [they] interact with an officer, [they] put information into the system. So if we could get there, then we have transparency on the information, and then we can share that information really with the people who make decisions," said Brown.
Police Window is available on Android for download. It will be available on the iPhone on July 15.
HBSI Capitol will also launch an app called "Diversity Window" on Tuesday. This app will keep track of gender and racial diversity within private and public companies.