‘Peace of mind’: New app wants to bridge gap between people and police
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Curt Foster was inspired to create the BlueJay app after watching police shootings play out on television back in 2016.
“There were two police shootings that involved individuals who look like me and my son. And so I just thought, there’s got to be a way to prevent these terrible incidents from happening,” said Curt.
The high-profile shootings drew national attention and raised concerns about police protocol and racial profiling.
In Tulsa, Officer Betty Shelby fatally shot an unarmed Terence Crutcher , 40, during a traffic stop.
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“You hear about the whole term routine traffic stop. And after we started digging into this, there’s no such thing as a routine traffic stop. You know, every person that you pull over is different and everybody that you pull over is going to respond differently,” said Curt.
Hundreds of miles away, Philando Castile was 32 years old when he was shot and killed during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, by a St. Anthony, Minnesota, police officer.
Looking for a way to increase driver input during traffic stops led Curt to Philando’s mother, Valerie.
“I am just humbled and excited for all the people that have created something to try to eliminate the unnecessary loss of life in our community,” said Ms. Castile in an interview with KFOR.
Castile pointed out the problems that often come up during minor traffic stops.
“A lot of times people of color or the ones that are pulled over for non-public safety hazards [but] at the end of the day, everybody wants to go home,” she added.
In honor of her son, Ms. Castile has dedicated herself to helping families who have lost a loved one by gun violence through the founding of the Philando Castile Relief Foundation (PCRF).
Now in its final stages of development, the BlueJay app is a platform for people and police to connect in real time.
BlueJay Frequently Asked Questions
“The app will tell you anything you want the police officer to know [and] While they’re looking at your profile, you will get a profile with a humanizing picture of the police officer, their name, badge number, police department, and also why you’ve been pulled over,” said Curt.
Tackling the problem is a family affair, as all three founders are family members.
“The concept was birthed from people losing their lives in environments where no one saw that to be [the] result. And so in a traffic stop, we like to kind of say amongst our team… what does the best traffic stop look like? And what we found is technology and information and transparency unlocks what an optimal traffic stop looks like,” said James Foster, who serves as Chief Financial Officer, emphasizing accountability.
Learn more about the BlueJay app and how to download.
“This is a resource that not only can save lives, but also can open up a number of different solutions that you may not have realized that were available for you,” he added.
“It’s going to be the way that they can protect themselves, but it’s the way that they can show their own persona before they are profiled in a way that maybe they don’t want to be profiled.”
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Though the city of Oklahoma City reported three officer-involved shootings in 2023, none directly involved traffic stops.
That number was also down from 13 in 2022.
However, in 2022, 682 deaths happened at the hands of police during traffic stops nationwide, according to data aggregated in the police violence report.
Curt believes once the app goes live, it could help curb reduce unnecessary violence during traffic stops.
“We know that if you can provide all the information that you need, it will give you the peace of mind that your children, your husband, your grandparents, everybody is going to be safe doing a routine traffic stop,” he said.
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