"The cost of justice is eternal vigilance." — Aaron Swartz
Preamble
We, the citizens, researchers, and builders of India, establish this archive in the spirit of Aaron Swartz's Bad Apple project — a public, searchable, verifiable record of police misconduct. We believe that sunlight is the strongest disinfectant, and that accountable institutions are the foundation of a free society.
This is not a mob. This is a public ledger of power.
Principles
1. Evidence Above Allegation
Every entry in this archive must link to verifiable primary evidence — video footage, audio recordings, official complaints, court orders, or journalistic investigation. We do not publish rumors. We publish receipts.
2. Naming With Precision
We name individual police personnel — name, badge number, station, district — so accountability cannot be diffused across "the system." A system is made of named individuals with choices. We track those choices.
3. Non-Violence, Non-Retaliation
This archive serves documentation and due process, not retribution. We do not incite violence, doxx families, or call for extra-legal action. Our goal is to make existing legal and administrative mechanisms work — by making the record undeniable.
4. Verifiability, Not Anonymity
Sources must be attributable. Where a submitter needs protection, we accept submissions through trusted intermediaries (journalists, lawyers, human rights organizations) who can vouch for provenance. Anonymous unverifiable submissions are not accepted.
5. Structured, Machine-Readable, Open
All data is structured in open formats (JSON, Markdown). The entire archive is deployable from a GitHub repository with zero proprietary dependencies. Anyone can fork, verify, and host their own mirror.
6. Statutory Compliant
We operate within the framework of Indian law — the Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), Police Act, and Right to Information Act, 2005. Documentation from RTI filings is expressly encouraged.
7. Video-First Evidence
Video is the most powerful accountability tool available to ordinary citizens. This archive centers video evidence — embedding verified clips with timestamp, location, and the named officer(s) visible in the footage. Every embedded video carries a link to the unedited original.
8. No Statute of Limitations on Public Memory
Incidents remain in the archive regardless of whether institutional action was taken. The public record is permanent. Expunged service records do not erase history.
9. Built in Public, by Consensus
This is not owned by any individual. The constitution, data schemas, and code are governed by the community. Changes to this constitution require documented consensus among active maintainers.
Structure of an Entry
Every incident record in data/incidents.json shall contain:
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
id | Yes | Unique identifier (e.g., DL-ND-2026-001) |
date | Yes | Date of incident (ISO 8601) |
location | Yes | District, city, state |
officers | Yes | Full name, badge number (if known), rank, station |
description | Yes | Concise factual summary |
evidence | Yes | Array of evidence: type (video/doc/audio), URL, description |
source | Yes | Who submitted/provided (journalist org, lawyer, RTI) |
legal_status | Yes | complaint_filed / fir / charge / convicted / pending |
category | Yes | excessive_force / illegal_detention / fabrication / extortion / other |
License
The constitution is CC0 1.0 Universal. The incident data is published under the Open Database License (ODbL). Code is MIT.
First drafted July 24, 2026. Inspired by Aaron Swartz's Bad Apple project and the ethical tradition of public-interest documentation.