Police scanner apps surpassed Facebook and Instagram in the App Store, as Americans continue to protest the death of George Floyd – an unarmed black man who was killed while in police custody.
Data shows these type of apps were downloaded 213,000 times just over the past weekend and as of Tuesday, 5-0 Radio Pro Scanner is the number one paid app.
Police scanner apps let users listen in on live police calls, allowing them to hear updates on their whereabouts – and appear to have become essentials for protesters across the US.
Floyd was killed on May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota when Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck until he lost consciousness – autopsies have since deemed the death a homicide.
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Data shows these type of apps were downloaded 213,000 times just over the past weekend and as of Tuesday, 5-0 Radio Pro Scanner is the number one paid app
The download data was compiled by app store intelligence firm Apptopia, which found police scanner apps saw a 125 percent increase this past weekend compared to the prior weekend.
Allen Wong, 5-0 Radio’s developer, told Vice: ‘This weekend was the largest spike overall in 5-0 Radio listeners in the 10+ year history of this app.
‘And there’s no indication that the spike is ending anytime soon.
‘For the past four days, the numbers of users have almost doubled the previous day.’
‘I just checked the reports and the number of users downloading the app have ramped up tonight compared to all the previous nights.’
The live broadcast on 5-0 Radio is uploaded by other users who record the chatter from a radio scanner and upload the files to a computer, which can be shared in the app. Citizen, which is a community safety app for real-time alerts and live video, also saw an increase in downloads the past weekend
Vice found thousands of people tuned into the police broadcasts via 5-0 Radio from Chicago to Philadelphia to New York City.
‘Make arrests,’ a NYPD police officer said on one of the feeds referring to an area of Brooklyn on Sunday.
The live broadcast on 5-0 Radio is uploaded by other users who record the chatter from a radio scanner and upload the files to a computer, which can be shared in the app.
The app then takes all of the feeds and displays them according to place or department.
Other apps that have topped the chars include Scanner Radio – Fire and Police Scanner, Police Scanner, 5-0 Radio Police Scanner, Police Scanner Radio & Fire and Police Scanner +.
The Police Scanner app was downloaded 19,000 times on Friday, then another 24,000 times on Saturday and more than 35,700 downloads occurred on Sunday.
Scanner Radio – Fire and Police Scanner app had the most daily active users throughout the weekend, with up to nearly 45,000 users activating it to listen in on police chatter.
That was followed by Police Scanner, whose daily user count ranged from 38,000 to more than 40,000, according to Apptopia’s report.
Encrypted messaging app Signal and Citizen, which is a community safety app for real-time alerts and live video, also saw an increase in downloads the past weekend.
Other apps that have topped the chars include Scanner Radio – Fire and Police Scanner, Police Scanner, 5-0 Radio Police Scanner, Police Scanner Radio & Fire and Police Scanner +. The Police Scanner app was downloaded 19,000 times on Friday, then another 24,000 times on Saturday and more than 35,700 downloads occurred on Sunday
Floyd was killed on May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota when Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck until he lost consciousness – autopsies have since deemed the death a homicide. Americans have since taken to the streets to protest his death and police brutality
Signal was downloaded nearly 37,000 times and Citizen 48,000 times
Both of the apps hit record highs for single-day downloads in the US, with nearly 24,000 downloads for Citizen and 15,000 for Signal.
As unrest spread across dozens of American cities Friday, Trump gave the bold order to ready the Army for deployment to Minneapolis.
The get-ready orders were sent verbally Friday, after Trump asked Esper to come up with rapid deployment options if the Minneapolis protests continued to spiral out of control, according to a senior Pentagon official who was on the call.
The last time the White House invoked these powers was in 1992 during the riots in Los Angeles that followed the Rodney King trial.
Thousands of New Yorkers have also taken to the streets to protest the death of Floyd, along with police officer brutality.
New York City has mandated a 8pm curfew, as Monday brought more loot across the city with crowds vandalizing businesses.
Since the rioting began in New York City, more than 700 people have been arrested, according to NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea on Tuesday morning.