Brooklyn Paper: Brooklyn-Based Start-Up Good Call Uses Tech To Ensure Legal Support At Arrest

PUBLISHED IN: BROOKLYN PAPER

At just 16 years old, Jelani Anglin found himself thrust into the justice system over a minor infraction, unsure of his rights, and facing an institution that offered little support for young Black men like him.

That experience never left him. Years later, it became the driving force behind Good Call NYC, a social justice start-up that ensures no one faces arrest without immediate legal representation through its 24/7 hotline.

“As a youth, I always understood what it meant to have police interaction. Growing up in Queens, you see it happen all the time, but I never forgot what it was to be arrested as a young Black man,” Anglin, CEO of Good Call, told Brooklyn Paper. “I was placed with a public defender right before I saw the judge, five or 10 minutes before I saw the judge, and that’s usually how it goes down.”

Founded in 2016, Good Call has now provided critical legal assistance to over 10,000 individuals from marginalized communities, reducing arrests and disrupting cycles of mass incarceration. The organization, which started in the Bronx and has since expanded citywide, handles between 1,000 and 2,000 calls annually.

The seed for Good Call was planted in Anglin’s adolescence, but it was his years of working as a community organizer with the AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations) in Washington, D.C., and Blue Ridge Labs, a Brooklyn-based startup incubator affiliated with the nonprofit Robin Hood, where he and his co-founders identified a significant gap in legal representation at the point of arrest.

Good Call’s 24/7 hotline, available in English and Spanish, connects individuals with attorneys immediately upon arrest.

“When we launched in one borough, we were pounding pavement — handing out cards, talking to people in the community, standing in front of central booking,” Anglin recalled.

One of the first users of the hotline was a young man arrested for allegedly stealing a backpack — the same charge leveled against Bronx teenager Kalief Browder, who spent three years on Rikers Island awaiting trial, ultimately leading to his death. Anglin said the assistance Good Call was able to provide this teen was a “validation point” for the start-up on its journey.

“This is an instance where this young man’s mother was able to call our hotline number, one of our lawyers was able to actually speak to the arresting officer, and they were able to figure out that they put him in a biased lineup, and they brought this up in court, the young man’s charges were dropped,” he said. “So, when we transcended from there, we decided to go citywide.”

“We have a network of attorneys that are now working 24 hours a day, seven days a week, receiving calls on the hotline, and their main job is to provide support for individuals that are in need,” he said.

Now, Good Call has been recognized for its impact. At the 2025 Brooklyn Org Spark Breakfast last month, the organization was one of five nonprofits honored for their outstanding contributions to the community and received a $100,000 grant for its efforts in advancing racial justice.

Beyond the hotline, Good Call has expanded its mission with three pillars: technological innovation, community engagement and policy advocacy. The organization developed an internship program for youth from alternative incarceration programs, equipping them with civic engagement, soft skills, and basic tech training. According to Anglin, many interns later join Good Call’s outreach team, spreading awareness about legal rights.

On the policy front, Good Call is working with the Right to Remain Silent Coalition to codify early access to counsel in New York and beyond. “We want to see the day where, across the country, there’s legislation that ensures when someone is arrested, they have the right to an attorney at that point of arrest,” Anglin said.

“When you think about it, in the grand scheme of things, you see a lot of work around that endpoint, but nobody talks about the entryway,” he said. “There’s a lot of talk about bail reform and working on parole violations, and those are all important. But how do folks enter the system? Many times, they’re fighting the system with one hand tied behind their back because they don’t have access to a lawyer. They’re saying things that are incriminating, and then they’re placed with legal representation. If we’re talking about closing the pipeline of incarceration, we have to look at the entryway, and that’s what we’re doing on the advocacy front.”

Anglin said that the recent $100,000 Spark Prize will “make a big difference” in Good Call’s services. “It will help us onboard more attorneys, host more ‘know your rights’ events, and provide more opportunities for system-impacted youth.”

But despite its success, Good Call remains reliant on foundation grants and individual donations. “The $100,000 was great, but we need ongoing support to continue this work,” Anglin noted.

Looking ahead, Good Call aims to expand nationally, particularly in legal deserts where public defenders are scarce. “We’re building out hotline technology that other jurisdictions can use,” Anglin said. “We don’t want to be the gatekeeper—we want to provide tools so that others can replicate this model.”

Ensuring security and confidentiality, Good Call’s hotline directs callers immediately to attorneys, protecting conversations under attorney-client privilege.

“Freedom isn’t a privilege; it’s a right,” Anglin said. “We are a Black-led, community-centered tech company, and we’re committed to dismantling systemic oppression through community-driven solutions.”

Good Call’s hotline can be reached by dialing 1-833-346-6322, while individual donations can be made through Good Call’s website.