Citizen, a Crime Alert App, Will Test a Rapid-Response Private Security Service in Chicago

Sophie Webster, Tech Times 22 March 2022, 10:03 am

Citizen, a crime alert app and security company, is scheduled to test an on-demand private security service in the city of Chicago as part of its partnership with the company Securitas.

Citizen to Test an On-Demand Security Service

The crime alert app will reportedly offer a check-in service in which security agents could follow up with the victim to make sure that they are safe. Users can also schedule private security at any time, according to Motherboard.

The app previously tested an on-demand security service in Los Angeles, California, with Citizen-branded cars. Security agents that worked for the crime alert app responded to calls from the employees.

According to Motherboard, those who used the service said that the response time was slow, which may have led the security company to take a different approach in Chicago.

Also Read: Crime-Tracking Apps Alert Users Of Nearby Danger In Real Time But Use Comes With Side Effects

Citizens provide "push alerts" to users based on the incident reports it puts together from the police scanners. Citizen also runs a subscription service that costs $20 a month. It connects users with security agents who can direct emergency services to their location and notify contacts if it is not safe for them to call 911 yet.

The move also suggests that Citizen is still interested in offering private security despite its questionable history, according to Engadget.

The company stated that it would not run its own on-demand force, but it is open to partnerships.

Apple and Google removed a previous version of the crime app, formerly called Vigilante, from their stores to encourage vigilantism.

Citizen Identified the Wrong Suspect for Arson

In 2021, The Verge reported that Citizen's CEO offered users a $30,000 bounty for tracking down an arson suspect,

The bounty was personally mandated by the CEO of the crime app, Andrew Frame, who saw it as an opportunity to exercise the app's capabilities and even offered to fund it with his own money.

Frame even offered to pay a $10,000 reward to the person who would catch the arsonist, and the bounty was eventually raised to $30,000.

However, the crime app identified the wrong person. The police apprehended the man but immediately released him due to the lack of evidence. The police later arrested another suspect in connection with the wildfires.

Citizen was first released under the name Vigilante in 2016, but it had a rocky start. The app was pulled out from Apple's App Store over concerns that it encouraged users to solve the crime themselves directly, which can be very dangerous.

The app was relaunched as Citizen in 2017, giving information transcribed from police and fire dispatch audio.

Users also have the option to livestream the incidents on the crime app with guidance never to approach a crime scene, interfere with any incident, or get in the way of police and their investigation.

The crime app now provides alerts in more than 30 cities. Citizen's website boasts that it has sent more than 4 billion alerts and has more than 7 million users in the United States.

The critics have said that the app creates false perceptions about the level of danger to its users, and it allows them to spread hate in the replies.