Do you find yourself in constant trouble with the law? Is the backseat of a police car your second home? Now you can alert family members, friends and lawyers about your next “incident” in real time with a touch of a single virtual button thanks to the Android app “I’m Getting Arrested.” Now available on the Android Market, the app quickly broadcasts a custom message to SMS numbers provided after entering a brief 160 character message.

“I’m Getting Arrested” was created by artist and technologist Jason Van Anden of Quadrant 2. His inspiration stemmed from an incident with a friend camped out in the Occupy Wall Street scene who reportedly came within “one nightstick swing” of being arrested. That led to Van Anden wondering how he would have known if his Wall Street-occupying friends had actually been detained.

“The next two nights I burnt the midnight oil,” he said. “It’s a technology that fits well with democracy.”

The app reportedly caught on with the Wall Street protesters, and in just two weeks after its release, the app saw more than 5,600 downloads across the globe. Most of these downloads took place within the United States followed by the United Arab Emirates and Belarus.

Thing is, Van Anden isn’t one of the protesters — he believes in the movement but would rather spend his time developing software for companies like Tiffany & Co. and Citibank. “I support what they’re doing,” he said. “I was glad that I was able to contribute something with my skill-set.”

“I’m Getting Arrested” is free and can be downloaded here. Based on feedback, users now want the ability to post to Twitter, grant access to the phone’s GPS for tracking, and the ability to lock the phone to prevent police snooping.

SOURCE via Brookly n Paper