Short reviews of apps and online platforms for safety, crime reporting and investigation.
Do you see something strange in your neighborhood and do you want others in the area to know that? An app has been launched in Las Vegas with the slogan: “AlertNest: Know Your Nest And Alert The Rest” “There are many community angels willing to help when they see these messages,” said Kep…
A new app allows users not only to find the quickest way to get to their destination, but the safest one. Safe & The City compiles data from local police as well as user submissions to alert users to which streets have had crimes and incidents of sexual harassment. The app vibrates when someone…
Imagine: just got home from a party and it looks like you’ve been burgled. The traces left by someone trying to break in are clearly visible. Major adrenaline rush. You’re going to track down that burglar! But how do you do that? Well, with the Sherlock “citizen investigation” app developed by…
A new app that claims to reveal whether you are too stoned to drive has been released. Just like drink driving, drug driving is illegal in many US states and the UK – but often only if there’s a certain amount of the substance detected in your system. In some US states, confusion has arisen as a…
For many women, catcalling and street harassment are an ugly part of daily life. Often these incidences also go unreported in Australia, leaving policy makers and the public in the dark about the pervasiveness of public harassment. Free To Be is an online tool made to counter this. Created by…
When police come across people with autism or emotional disabilities, it can be tough to know what they are dealing with. But, a St. Paul police officer is developing an app to make sure officers get the information they need, so an encounter doesn’t When police come across people with autism or…
Emergency communication matters. We help you communicate the right information to the right people when dialing 911 isn’t possible. Rescue immediately alerts your emergency contacts and sends a pinpoint with your exact location when you message via Text, Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp or your…
Acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams says a mobile app CSafe (iOS, Android) as a “dream come true” for the police service. The app, which has been described as a neighbourhood watch on steroids, allows the user to directly report crimes to police, as well as have a direct access to all…
Every once in a while, an idea comes along that’s so smart yet so simple that it’s hard to believe it’s not been done already. The best of these are often not new technologies, just a new way of using things we have already. Whoever invented the helmet probably thought the same thing the first…
The Noise App (iOS, Android) launched to help target nuisance noise Targeting Nuisance Noise for Appy Citizens: Mid & East Antrim Borough Council has launched its first free mobile app targeting nuisance noise, The Noise App, in partnership with the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the…
Blue Lights Discovery (iOS, Android) is the complete package for a digital investigator. A cost effective solution designed to provide enhanced intelligence and knowledge to your workforce. This next-generation training and resource solution, considered from concept to delivery around the…
The neighborhoods around D.C.’s Navy Yard Metro teem with “homeless crackheads” and “aggressive street youths.” Roving gangs shout insults at innocent pedestrians. Clusters of men on street corners catcall and panhandle. This is all documented to be true – at least if you believe the reports on…
In theory, cell phones have made it easier than ever to call for help in dangerous situations. But they’re still far from perfect. You can’t always reach for your phone, for one thing–and even if you could, in certain scenarios doing so might only escalate the danger. That’s why Dave Benoit and…
Nassau County is rolling out a new emergency smartphone app for school district officials that will alert police in the event of an active shooter. Once the “active shooter” icon is pressed on the app, a 911 call is initiated, text alerts are sent to police, the school alarm is triggered and…
Through a mobile safety app called SafeZone (iOS, Android, Windows), students, faculty, and staff can now connect directly with the Northeastern University Police Department to immediately report emergencies, request medical assistance, or simply stay in touch during late-hour work…
Punjab Safe City Authority (PSCA) in collaboration with Punjab Service Commission on Status of Women (PCSW) will launch Women Safety android application tomorrow. PSCA joined hands with PCSW and LUMS IT department in December 2016, for the application development. Women will be able to notify…
As a busy mom and realtor, Megan Bock admits it can be hard to stay off her phone while behind the wheel. “Am I getting a phone call or text from the school?” she asked. “Am I getting a phone call or text from a client that’s really urgent?” So when Marci Corry asked Bock to help beta-test her…
Bypass will help you get from A-B using the safest route. The ‘Red Call’ button will call the police and send a message to your allocated emergency contact. Enter your destination in the ‘End Location’ and ‘Start Location’ space by typing in your address, clicking on the map, or clicking on the…
We live in an age in which a whole lot of occurrences have become much digitalized and usually happen with the click of buttons. The perpetrators of crime are not left out of the digitalized (computer) age in which we live in. As a result of this, law enforcement agencies all over the world have…
Disguised as a calculator on smartphone screens, I Protect alerts contacts and a local human rights group if the user is arrested – Developers of the app hope it will help to counter abuses by security forces in Egypt. Photograph: Peter Andrews/Reuters For Egyptians, the risk of being snatched…
In times fraught with an incessantly rising rate of crime, here especially in Delhi, it is the elder or senior citizens who suffer the most. Thefts, burglaries and on other occasions, outright abandonment by their own, the elderly straddle with life’s unforeseen challenges. And therefore the…
Teachers in Porter County schools will soon have a cell phone app that will let them call police at the touch of a button if there’s a serious incident. Superintendent Richard Weigel says if there is a shooter or other danger teachers can press a button and a signal will go to all police in a…
New app BailOutBuddy (Android) goes to the rescue of motorists caught up in traffic offences Simon Njuguna is constantly on the road, moving from one county to another for business. He notes that most times it is difficult to avoid committing traffic offences owing to time constraints in…
Hubballi: Police have swung into action against helmetless motorists (Android). The Hubballi-Dharwad police commissionerate, which had earlier dealt with violators with kid gloves – giving roses and flowers to motorists who abided by the rules is now using a mobile app to impose traffic fines.…
York technology company Isotoma has completed a new version of a web app which aims to gather evidence related to Ukrainian war crimes. Corroborator collates evidence used in war crime disputes, building a narrative and sequence of events based on evidence files uploaded by journalists,…
A new tool called OpenOversight matches names and badge numbers with photos of police. But some fear it could put officers’ lives in danger. The ACLU of California released emails showed that Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram provided Geofeedia, a social media monitoring company used by several…
No parent thinks, “This can happen to me.” But as too many have learned, the hard way, it can. It may be a change in routine or a sleep-deprived and overloaded memory. Even the most conscientious and loving parent can forget a child out of sight in the back of the car, with a potentially fatal…
My Safetipin (Android, iOS, Windows) is a free app that helps you take decisions based on the areas you are visiting, and help you safely reach your destination. A location is scored depending on how safe women found it. The app will send you alerts as soon as you in an unsafe area. The safety…
The Smart 24×7 app (Android, iOS, Windows, Blackberry, Nokia X Ovi) comes with a panic button that brings instant help from the nearest police station, hospitals and fire service. The app is supported by Gurgaon Police, Jalandhar Police, Chandigarh Police, Jammu Police, Mohali Police and UP Fire…
Nirbhaya: Be Fearless app (Android), from the same makers as Himmat, comes with a single click distress signal. Users can stamp safe and unsafe areas just like the Safetipin app. The distress call will send an emergency message to your loved ones with your location, information and…
Parents are being warned there are now more than 200 types of “ghost apps” available for download to help kids hide photos and their activities online. The deception apps appear like innocuous or common icons, such as a calculator, but can be used to store photos, games or even other apps. And…
An online platform launched by the Chinese police to rescue abducted children, helped to rescue a two-year-old girl, some 32 hours after she was snatched from her parents. The girl went missing on Friday while she and her family were changing trains in Hengshui, a city in north China’s Hebei…
ThePhilippine National Police (PNP) launched the Bantay Krimen mobile application (Android, iOS), a community-based tool in promoting crime awareness, reporting, and prevention at the tip of everyone’s fingertips with the use of cellphones or tablets. The launching was led by PNP Chief, Director…
The Truth & Justice Podcast is dedicated to helping those who can no longer help themselves. Listeners unite to investigate cases of the wrongly convicted. What is The Truth & Justice Podcast all about? The name says it all. We are dedicated to the ongoing pursuit of truth and justice. Our…
The mobile app called “Kulluna Amn” (We are all security) enables citizens and expatriates to participate in maintaing security, said Public Security Director Lt. Gen. Othman Al-Muhrij. It’s now easier for citizens and expatriates to report crime thanks to an
Oh Crap! (iOS, Android) is a free app that was developed by a group of Iowa-based attorneys in 2015 to hold police more accountable. Oh Crap! Version 4.0 now offers a brand new chat feature called CrapChat, where users can post and receive notifications about community events as well as speed…
The app Protect & Swerve Companion is meant to help people record and share instances of police brutality. Roughly two years ago, 17-year-old Takhim Haque’s friends were coming home from a birthday party in Brooklyn when they were stopped by police officers who said they matched the description…
Some people are trying to eliminate bike theft once and for all. They’re developing an app to help people track lost bikes. It would connect bike communities locally, and eventually, across the country. One of the developers says this is a personal issue. Ricardo Pierre-Louis’ bike was stolen…
The Ministry of National Security’s “Stay Alert” app offers you Personal Safety at your fingertips. Stay Alert has several components: Alerts, which provide users with the latest news, alerts and tips from the police such as missing person updates, road blocks, and other information from the…
The Defender is a product for those concerned about personal protection and peace of mind. The Defender integrates elements of products and services found separately and elegantly combines them into one compact personal accessory. 1) Self-Defense Tool 2) Mobile Medical Alert Device 3) 24/7…
Android app helps Iranians avoid morality police checkpoints Gershad crowdsources intelligence on routes around potential public humiliation. Community mapping applications come in all shapes and sizes. There are apps to help drivers avoid speed traps, maneuver around traffic jams, and find…
Reportyis a suite of tools aiming to bridge the gap between people and the resources designed to help them. It is the 1st video emergency app launched by a country (Israel), used on a national scale, supporting a mobile application for Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android devices, as well as a…
As a driver, one of the things we fear the most is seeing those familiar red and blue lights flashing behind us or having a police flag us down. Nothing ruins your day more than getting a traffic ticket. That could be why apps like Waze and other traffic reporting apps have been so popular…
A paper from the Journal of Computer Science and Applied Mathematical Sciences explains an intelligent autonomous evacuation navigation (AEN) system manages to solve wayfinding problems during emergency evacuation, especially for those who are not familiar with the building. AEN system is…
Yelp is an American corporation headquartered in San Francisco, California. It develops, hosts and markets Yelp.com and the Yelp mobile app, which publish crowd-sourced reviews about local businesses, as well as the online reservation service SeatMe and online food-delivery service Eat24. The…
A game-changing app, which forces teenagers to rethink offensive remarks before posting them online, has been manufactured to stamp out the problem of online trolls. The sophisticated software, known as reThink (Android, iOS), is the brain child of tech whiz, Trisha Prabhu, 15, from Illinois,…
The migrant problem in Calais is out of control. We can’t solve the entire problem; but together we can make a big difference. Drivers have got to look out for one another. The Problem Jeffrey Scott had the idea for BF Intelligence whilst he attended a 2014 Innovate UK hosted event where the…
Right now, there are an estimated 51.2 million people forcibly displaced worldwide, families are torn apart every day due to conflict, famine and disaster. Syria’s civil war is the worst humanitarian disaster of our time, with an estimated 11 million-plus people currently displaced. A large…
The app is called Private Photo (Calculator%) and it’s just one of several apps in the App Store that act like a calculator app, but in reality are clever photo vaults that will easily fool any parent snooping around on their child’s smartphone. On the iPhone’s home screen, the app looks just…
Saddam Hossain Shahin, a young computer programmer has developed a software programme which can be a milestone in ensuring public safety. In case of emergency, his software called “Self Protect”, if installed in a smart phone, can inform law enforcing agencies automatically by providing their…
Police have been investigating a “new” crime of cyber-flashing after a commuter received an indecent image on her phone as she travelled to work. The victim received two pictures of an unknown man’s penis on her phone via Apple’s Airdrop sharing function. Lorraine Crighton-Smith, 34, said she…
CrimePush (iOS, Android) allow victims of human trafficking to upload evidence: photos, audio files, or text, as well as report crimes as they happen. Distress messaging - Allows users to send multiple, GPS-tagged distress messages with the push of a button to designated emergency contacts. An…
Ban Human Trafficking (iOS, Android) which uses a game to educate young people about trafficking and instructs them on how to recognize potentially dangerous situations. It also gives them an opportunity to report human trafficking when they encounter it. Human traffickers benefit from their…
This app could get you out of trouble one day – maybe even save your life! Designed for simplicity, speed, and ease of use, this app will get your request for help out there FAST. Send SMS and emails to pre-selected emergency contacts and post your location to Facebook and Twitter, all with the…
Introducing the Daniel Morcombe Foundation ‘Help Me’ App (iOS, Android). A great way to not only help keep kids safe, but assist people of all ages, from 7 to 97, covering all kinds of personal emergency situations! The ‘Help Me’ button sounds a warning and allows you to can send off an SMS text…
Press and hold your volume up or down button and shake your phone. That’s all you have to do to alert up to five contacts that you’re in serious distress. No fumbling with the lock screen, no waking up the display, no dialing necessary. If your designated contacts also have the Android…
SOS Assist (Android, Windows) applies to expatriates or business travelers who have an arrangement with SOS International a/s. To ensure the best possible standards of service and medical care for the traveler SOS International has appointed preferred providers in many countries. A preferred…
SOS One Click (iOS) can send emergency message through Text, Email, Twitter,Facebook and Sina Weibo to your family or friends, when you are in a emergency situation and need their help. You can also call emergency telephone with one button in the App.The emergency message content include map…
Colonel Khalid Nasser Al Razooqi, general director of smart services at the Dubai Police, said that they have created two applications for the Google Glass: one will allow officers to take photos of traffic violations, which will go instantly into the traffic system; the other application helps…
It’s being called a hate virus – kids going online to bully others -but there’s a way for parents to now figure out if their kids are part of the problem and if so, put a stop to it immediately. A University of Tampa graduate created the app “My Social Sitter” that is now used worldwide. The…
Fleek (iOS) or Fade; anonymous apps pose new kind of concern on UND campus A photo of a bag of marijuana with the caption “OG Kush on Fleek” was among various pictures of puppies and selfies Wednesday morning. All of the images were open to anyone with a smartphone through Fleek College Stories,…
The Hate Crime Network is a project offering a third party reporting mechanism for hate crime across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. Hate Crime is any crime or incident where the victim or a witness believes the person has been targeted because the perpetrator has a hostility towards…
Fightback (iOS, Android, Windows, Blackberry) A string of atrocities against women in Hyderabad and a nationwide campaign for women’s safety had spurred the twin-city police to launch several mobile applications as part of its citizen-friendly initiative. Now nearly two years after the…
The International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) designed Reporta (Google Android, Apple iOS) to empower journalists working in potentially dangerous conditions to quickly implement their security protocols with the touch of a button. Journalists around the world face increasingly hostile…
A police officer has invested thousands of pounds of his own money to develop a mobile app to help officers on the frontline. Paul Cooper, 30, from Greatford, was fed up of carrying text books around or rushing back to the station to log information on his computer that he decided to do…
There are 130,000 domestic violence cases in Singapore every year, but only 30% of them are reported. And most of those are dismissed in court due to lack of evidence. AWARE, Singapore’s leading gender equality advocacy group, wanted to find a solution. As Singapore has the highest smartphone…
GettingOut (iOS, Android) provides simple and reliable inmate communication services helping friends and family to stay connected. With our free mobile app, you can easily make deposits, send messages, manage your account and more, all on the go. Features: – See your inmate’s contacts – Send…
“A new smartphone-based app will make cumbersome ankle bracelets a relic for some Lafayette Parish offenders sentenced to a GPS tracking program. The Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office this week announced its adoption of Telmate Guardian (iOS, Android) that uses their cameras, microphones and GPS…
A local entrepreneur hopes to fight crime utilizing the same smartphone technology that allows people to get a ride home or find a date. After seeing the emails from the University of Cincinnati sent to his wife updating students about crime in the area, David Groomes decided that the answer to…
Each day, 160,000 students in the United States stay home for fear of being bullied, but a new app is looking to combat the issue and keep parents in the loop. “We’ve got something that can empower the child,” Michael Lissack, who is the creator of the No App (iOS), said. A new app aims to stop…
Though it seems like oversharing millennials have little regard for online privacy, researchers at the International Computer Science Institute and UC Berkeley say many high school students simply aren’t aware how much information is posted with their social media updates. The metadata that…
Bullying is a problem around the world. About 1 in 3 children say they’ve been bullied. While there have been strides made thanks to awareness of the problem, cyber-bullying is a growing problem which makes it harder than ever for victims. A new app adopted in schools across the U.S. is helping…
Yeti features local pictures and videos by showing the most recent posts from users around you. See what’s popular around you in the Trending feed or Peek into one of our awesome featured schools. From tweets to Yeets, students are sharing their stories of college life on many social-media…
Parking Douche No one likes crummy parking jobs. But drivers take it to another level in Russia in the category of naming & shaming. According to this video from online newspaper The Village, cars in Russia tend to anchor their wheels wherever they please – from sidewalks to front yards to…
The University of Maryland adds another layer of security on campus. Pat Warren reports students are now able to designate a personal guardian through a smartphone app. Walking the campus of the University of Maryland by yourself doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be alone. “The app is called…
In the wake of the large-scale and coordinated terrorist attacks in #Paris, many people are left wondering, how can we keep ourselves safe? While there is no sure-fire way to prevent every terrorist attack or actor with malicious intent, one thing is clear – early detection through heightened…
Spoke at press conference today – new 311 homeless app starts today. Exciting change! #mayoredlee #ishouldhavewornasuit – Erica Sandberg (@EricaJSandberg) October 8, 2015 Residents can now report homeless persons to the city government with a new addition to the 311 mobile phone app, announced…
An app that lets travelers can raise the alarm if they are in an emergency situation, anywhere in the world. Private detective Dick Steffens is currently developing the ‘ Travellers app’ : All important information will be shared with a control center of a security company and with at home, so…
Tumblr is a microblogging platform and social networking website founded by David Karp and owned by Yahoo! Inc. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to a short-form blog. Users can follow other users’ blogs, as well as make their blogs private. Much of the website’s…
As a parent, your options are very limited in respect to child-proofing the untamable beast that the internet is, especially if the services of a parental control apps are not availed. With the World Wide Web serving as an ocean filled with boundless information, allowing your teens to plunge…
Want to lose that pen and notepad during an investigation, too? With Field Contact ($2.99), photograph, investigate and e-mail all of your law enforcement contacts with ease. Search for information quickly by organizing people by aliases, race, birthday, age, state ID, social security number and…
People stopped and searched by police will be able to record them and instantly send the footage to lawyers by shaking their phone, using a new app designed to hold officers to account. – The Y-Stop app has been created as a response to police use of stop and search powers, and its creators say…
Highster Mobile Remotely spying on a mobile phone is untrod ground for most smartphone users. This particular software can let you secretly monitor any cell phone. It keeps track of incoming and outgoing text messages on the monitored phone and sends this information to your Online User Control…
In 2011, 352 people died of dengue fever in the Pakistani state of Punjab. The following year, no one died, and deaths have been minimal since then. The difference was made not by some groundbreaking treatment (there is none), but by Punjab state’s innovative use of simple technology; something…
Stop DWI (iOS, Android, Windows) From solving crimes to preventing them, technology has become integral in law enforcement’s efforts to keep people safe. Apps on mobile phones enable the community to connect with officials with just a few clicks of a button, and local departments are using it to…
iSpotACrime (iOS) is a free crime-fighting tool empowers citizens to become on-the-scene detectives gathering information as they witness a crime. Chock full of things people often forget in high-stress situations, it lets witnesses take a picture, type in a description and location as well as…
Police Pad (Android): This app from nattayb is a field-reporting tool allowing users to create an “event” with time and date recorded. Events are categorized into tabs such as New Call, On Scene, Interview, Arrest, Ticket, Statement, Car Accident, and Booked. Supporting information such as…
When it comes to reading citizens their rights, the Miranda Warning (iOS, and a different one on Android) ($.99) app not only replaces that paper copy, it lights up the words making it easy to read after dark. Need to brush up on your foreign language skills? One push of a button and the app…
For a quick refresher session, Police Codes ($.99) will list those digits you spent all that time learning in the academy. And if one happens to slip your mind, the guide gives you medical/fire codes, police 10 codes, police 11 codes and scanner color codes at your fingertips. Related…
Droid Law: BigTwit Software’s DroidLaw 2.0 allows officers to search sections of state criminal (penal) codes on their mobile devices. This saves valuable time, so officers don’t have to pull out the “old code book” and search for the right law or keyword. The app is a shell, and individual…
Smart Tools (Android): For those of you who enjoy the finer points of forensics, Android Boy’s Smart Tools is for you. It provides tools for length and angle, distance and height, sound and vibration, as well as a compass and metal detector. The app uses the camera for some of the tools (height,…
CopLogger ($.99) offers just that. It gives you a pocket-sized version of mobile computing terminals (MCT) found in police vehicles. The mini-MCT replicates many of the features including tracking calls from start to finish. Use it to track an entire day’s activity and archive or e-mail it.…
Smartphone App Interconnects Public Safety Personnel at Large-Scale Events BeOn provides interoperability and quicker, more efficient patient care The success of any event depends on the coordinated efforts of all parties involved, as well as the effectiveness of the communications equipment and…
Offender Locator (iOS) Offender Locator by ThinAir Wireless provides locational data from registered offender databases in all 50 states. The app’s GPS function allows officers to search for offenders via address, current location, offender name, or a name in your iPhone contacts. Offenders are…
U.S. Cop:“Resources any street officer could use. Over 2000 pages of useful Law Enforcement information including accident investigation formulas, training articles, pill identifier, case law resources, and more. Resources any street officer could use… * Accident investigation formulas; brake…
We live in a world where we are forced to pay for services that are unreliable, corrupt and brutal. We are taught from a young age that you pick up the phone and dial 911 at the first sign of trouble. But sadly, we increasingly see the responders to our pleas for help showing up and making…
Video Armor (iOS) turns your smartphone into a body worn video camera. Designed for police, law enforcement, and security teams, the app records high-quality, POV video that is automatically tagged with time, date, and GPS location data. Combined with a built-in area to add notes, Video Armor is…
The days of being helpless in cases of racial profiling could be on the way out if Mbye Njie has anything to do with it. According to The Huffington Post, the 34-year-old insurance salesman is developing an app called “Legal Equalizer” that aims to decrease unnecessary stops, searches and…
When Stanley Cup rioters rained chaos onto Vancouver’s downtown core in June 2011, holes were exposed in the capabilities of police trying to stop looting and arsons. Communication between police was so bad that teams deploying tear gas accidentally dispersed crowds into streets being cleared by…
Police Chief Thomas Wydra is looking to both the past and the future as a way to help combat crime. The past comes in the form of an app that shows what crime has occurred and where it happened. The future is a prediction, with software Wydra terms as “cutting-edge,” that can help the department…
The Family Tracker app (iOS, Android) installed on a minor’s Android phone was instrumental in providing police with the evidence needed to locate a missing child. The child’s mother had previously installed Family Tracker on her son’s phone so she could track him to make sure he was safe. One…
A new app that helps South Africans alert the nearest police using their GPS-enabled smartphones has been launched by Ever Africa – which is headed by the likes of former Mxit CEO Alan Knott Craig Jr. It’s like Uber for police. We’ve previously seen a couple of safety apps that attempt to tackle…
Citizens are turning to each other for help when disaster strikes by mapping their own observations about fires, floods, cyclones and more using an Australian-first app. Emergency AUS aggregates information from the wisdom of the crowd and 20 official sources nationwide, including the Country…
There are many times when we need instant help and by the time we search for help, it is too late. This is mainly because we are unaware about whom to approach and where exactly can we find that person. Even the law enforcement authorities find it difficult to reach for help in a very short…
Picture taken on October 2, 2010 shows women of the village of Kampala attending a meeting with Margot Wallström , the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Sexual Violence and Leïla Zerougui (both unseen), the Special Representative of the Secretary General in DRC in eastern…
Turn your iPhone into a dash cam to record your beautiful drives, trips to the race track or just our everyday commute. The CarCam app records high quality video with additional information like Speed in mph, km/h or knots maximum Speed Distance Acceleration, Braking and steering forces Maximum…
Vs justice journey_flyer from socialmediadna A new mobile app, Justice Journey, has been developed to help victims of crime and their families navigate the justice system. Attorney General Brad Hazzard said the free app made it easier and simpler to get information about the court process,…
Fancy yourself as a bit of a detective? Now you can directly help police solve crime with the use of a new tablet and mobile app. The innovative “Facewatch ID” application for tablet computers and Apple or Android smartphones will crack down on criminals by allowing people to view photos of the…
With Tactical Police Table you can draw up training scenarios, conduct after action reviews (AARs), and share it with your unit, ultra fast. Drop dozens of tactical icons on satellite maps, draw tactical plans on your own images, playback pause and rewind every drawing and icon placement in your…
For aspiring lawyer Christien Levine, police carding isn’t an abstract legal battle; as a racialized person of Caribbean descent, it’s something he’s had to deal with his whole life. So instead of selling his services as a criminal defence lawyer, he’s giving them away free in the form of a…
All members of the affirmative consent division are provided with a free copy of the we-consent” app. We-consent takes less than 20 seconds to use and creates a seven year encrypted record of a mutual “yes” available only to law enforcement, upon judicial order, or as evidence in a college or…
Stand at the corner of Fifth and Gillis streets in Kansas City today and you’ll see a deli tucked inside the first floor of an old brick building. But punch an app on your smartphone and it will take you back to the 1970s, when the Kansas City Mafia held gambling games on the building’s second…
When Emily May founded Hollaback in 2005, the organization’s mission was to fight street harassment. But as it grew – expanding to local chapters in 92 cities and 32 countries – May began to take an interest in fighting harassment in another public space. The Internet, which 77% of employers say…
After visiting Ferguson, Missouri recently, a pair of Georgetown students realized the need to access cellphone videos of police misconduct in the event a device is destroyed. With that in mind, Brandon Anderson and Joseph Gruenbaum set out to develop the SWAT app — software that sends your…
A new app (Android) will soon allow users who get pulled over for DUIs to record the interaction with police and alert a lawyer with the push of a button. Daniel Delgado, co-developer of Duey Dialer, says the app is nicknamed “attorney in your pocket.” Delgado says Colorado is a targeted state…
Charles Martin was clearing snow off his roof when he fell off a ladder outside his rural Indiana home, shattering his femur and his wrist. He had his cell phone with him, but because service was spotty he couldn’t get through to 911. He lay in the driveway for two hours, freezing and in pain,…
The confrontation between a homeless man and cops on Skid Row is an example of how more incidents with law enforcement are being recorded. A new phone app has been designed to catch every second of a police stop in case there is a question about the cops’ actions. The creator of the app says he…
InformaCam (Android) uses the built in sensors in modern smartphones as well wi-fi, bluetooth, and cell tower information to create a snapshot of the environment in which an image or video was captured. This validates the date, time and location of capture. Digital signatures and encryption…
A new app developed by the state of Maryland to help users avoid drunken driving is now available for free download in online Google and Apple stores. The app, called ENDUI (Android, Apple), lets users enter their gender and weight, the types of alcoholic drinks they’ve consumed and the…
What if live streaming, like those streams that run today on apps like Periscope or Meerkat, could be used to save lives? That’s the premise behind an app called Witness (iOS), which made its debut today at the TechCrunch Disrupt NY Hackathon. Built over the course of the weekend, developer…
It’s a great idea: A smartphone app that can prevent you from ever getting locked out of your house or apartment. But some locksmiths say it could have a darker side. They are raising questions about some new smartphone apps like Key Me (iOS and Android soon), which prevents you from ever losing…
During Thursday’s State of the Cities address, dealing with growth was a common theme across all cities of the Fargo-Moorhead metro area. The mayors were asked how they plan to handle parking in the future. North Dakota state law bans parking meters in any city, which means Fargo and West Fargo…
You watch or read the news, so you know the world can be a dangerous place. On the other hand, statistically, a lot of the serious dangers will never actually happen to you. So when a situation starts looking dangerous, you might hesitate to call the police until it’s too late. Instead of making…
“Find It, Fix It” is a smartphone app offering mobile users one more way to report selected issues to the City of Seattle. With Find It, Fix It, reporting an issue is as easy as snapping a photo with your smartphone, adding detailed information, and hitting submit.The map’s “drag and drop”…
I am squatting on the floor in Prabhavati Jaiswar’s home when she turns to me and says, “I don’t make tea very often, but would you like a cup?” The 37 year-old’s house, located in the Rajiv Gandhi Nagar colony of Dharavi, a sprawling slum located in the heart of Mumbai, has two parts. A wall,…
The Alibi smartphone app (Android) promises to be “a DVR for your life.” It records audio, video and location around the clock to provide proof of what happened whenever necessary. (Associated Press via CBC)[/caption]It’s the ultimate in “set it and forget it”, once started the alibi app always…
MyWitness (iOS, Android) has been designed for those times when you’re in danger, feel threatened or need help. Once installed MyWitness sits silently in the background of your phone ready to record details in such circumstances. The data you record is sent to a secure storage facility in the…
Weed smokers finally have their own version of Tinder thanks to a new dating app called High There. The idea behind the app is simple: Marijuana users aren’t always comfortable bringing up on dates that they enjoy smoking weed, so High There removes that worry by creating a place for like-minded…
Don’t know how you feel about someone in your life? By pairing a heart rate monitor with thepplkpr iOS app, you could soon find out. The app pairs up with any Bluetooth-enabled heart rate monitor to track your physical response around certain people in your life. Biofeedback from those devices…
A new smart phone app rolled out by the Royal Thai Police aimed at improving safety for holiday markers. Tourist police in Thailand have launched a new safety app. The mobile technology is aimed at improving safety of tourists. The app known as Tourist Buddy Application works via a smart-phone…
Stand at the corner of Fifth and Gillis streets in Kansas City today and you’ll see a deli tucked inside the first floor of an old brick building. But punch an app on your smartphone and it will take you back to the 1970s, when the Kansas City Mafia held gambling games on the building’s second…
Though the developers of the soon-to-be released “Driving While Black” smartphone application want motorists to download their product, there is a time when they definitely don’t want users searching for it. “Do not reach for your phone when you are talking to police,” stressed Melvin Oden-Orr,…
Friendica (formerly known as Friendika) is open source software that implements a distributed social network. Before it became Friendika, the project started initially as Mistpark, developed by Mike Macgirvin, a software developer who had worked on the original Netscape Navigator project, among…
For the first time, threat information that was previously seen only by senior government officials is being made available to the public – without compromising national security. TerrorView, a product from ConteGoView, Inc., uses proprietary technology and on-the-ground intelligence experts to…
Pulsepoint has been called a life-saving smartphone app. It connects potential rescuers with victims of sudden cardiac arrest. “My heart just quit,” said Rodney Druen, Cardiac Arrest Victim. Druen said he is a walking example of the lifesaving power of CPR. ”Brad — lives cross the road –“come…
The Goa Police launched a mobile application for helping citizens to reach out for instant help in times of emergency, easily access Goa Police, and to add to the overall vigilance in the state. A spokesperson of Goa police on Monday said that it is an effort to build a simple yet effective…
Turn your phone into a bodyguard: the Companion app virtually accompanies you on journeys and warns friends and family if you’re in trouble. Before setting off on a journey, users input a starting point and destination. A designated ‘companion’ can then track the phone’s GPS on a map. The free…
Protect your property from burglars – use this simple web app to run through our quick home security self-assessment and other interactive guides. One in four burglaries are crimes of opportunity, where the burglar enters through an unlocked door or window – and you are ten times more likely to…
The world’s first true crime unsolved social investigation site (not operational yet). There are 200,000 unsolved murders in America since 1980. Forty Percent of the homicides in the United States go unsolved. In 1960, that number was only 10 percent. Crime Locker is the nation’s largest…
The “Waze” app allows users to post the location of police and speed traps. Ethan Kyllo from Fargo, USA says: “I like it basically to get a heads up on traffic.” Ethan Kyllo of Fargo downloaded the Waze app recently to avoid delays during his trips to the Twin Cities. But he doesn’t just use it…
“Can the millions of people who have found or rekindled a passion for true crime, armchair sleuthing and internet investigation manage to enact real change? What if we gave them visualization tools, access to raw case data and files, and powerful evidence indexing – all for free?” In just a…
There are new efforts to try to track down missing kids faster. Now, Facebook is joining the effort. From here on out, when a child goes missing in your area, an AMBER Alert will appear in your news feed. The system is unique. Instead of sending out nationwide AMBER Alerts, the Facebook system…
A few months after the tragic December 2012 Nirbhaya incident in Delhi that shocked the nation, a small team of seven people brainstormed in their office in the national capital. They were developing an Android app that would make people feel safer. Pukar, the free Android app, is an initiative…
In times of disaster or crisis, people turn to Facebook to check on loved ones and get updates. It is in these moments that communication is most critical both for people in the affected areas and for their friends and families anxious for news. Facebook wants to provide a helpful tool that…
The makers of a new app hope it will help some kids block out the dark side of social media, cyber bullying. “Help stop cyber bullying, spammers, haters and more,” says the narrator of a promotional video for the new app called Censorgram. The makers of Censorgram said they want to completely…
FireChatis a proprietary mobile app, developed by Open Garden, which uses wireless mesh networking to enable smartphones to connect via BlueTooth, Wi-Fi, or Apple’s Multipeer Connectivity peer-to-peer without an internet connection. The app was first introduced in March 2014 (iTunes, Android).…
Emergency Smartphone live Stream project 999eye is being developed by West Midlands Fire Service. 999Eye has a number of UK services signed up to join us in a UK pilot currently aiming at Jan 2015. They have demonstrated the first release of the software (recently on the CCRSummit 2014 in The…
Xpire is a free iPhone app that lets you schedule self-destructing tweets as well as Facebook and Tumblr posts. After all, a tweet along the lines of “I’m at the mall, what’s poppin’?” does not need to live on for future generations. Or even the next day. After launching Xpire for the first time…
The next crime-fighting tool may be sitting in your pocket: UbnAppd (iTunes, Android). Capitol Hill residents concerned with local crime issues gathered this past Monday at Grim’s Provisions & Spirits for a public meeting. LGBTQ advocacy group Social Outreach Seattle (SOSea) and private company…
Tech-savvy students from Huddersfield have joined forces with West Yorkshire Police and the county’s Police and Crime Commissioner to design a new app which aims to keep fellow students safe as they start the new academic year: “Appy Student” (iTunes and Android) Under the unique venture, students…
In case of emergency this App immediately and silently alerts your personal network when you need it most. There are times when you need instant assistance from family, friends, neighbours or colleagues. Whether you notice something suspicious nearby, you need urgent medical attention or in case…
Introducing the Daniel Morcombe Foundation ‘Help Me’ App (iOS, Android). A great way to not only help keep kids safe, but assist people of all ages, from 7 to 97, covering all kinds of personal emergency situations! The ‘Help Me’ button sounds a warning and allows you to can send off an SMS text…
As we have seen, the violent crackdown on independent journalism in Ferguson is a sign of a worsening situation in much of America. More than ever, each citizen needs to become a member of the media and record everything that they see during encounters with the police.A new smartphone app called…
Niamh Pusey, aged 15 jaar, is enthousiastic about the game A new mobile game that helps young people stay safe online has been given the “thumbs-up” by youngsters in Burton. The “Kash Dash” app, which has been designed by the Office of Staffordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, features…
The sharing economy is a really exciting concept. The idea has been around for a decade now and popularised by internet startups like the accommodation sharing platform AirBnb and carpooling service by Uber. In South Africa, in the true spirit of Ubuntu, Springleap is a good example, enabling…
A new crime reporting smartphone app has become an addictive new habit for concerned citizens of Montevideo, Uruguay. But the crowdsourced data produced by CityCop might be creating more problems than it really solves. CityCop was downloaded more than 25,000 times in just the first few weeks…
Bellingcatis an online platform for citizen investigative journalism. Eliot Higgins, known online as Brown Moses, became a frequently consulted weapons expert in the Syrian conflict in just two years and without specialist knowledge, just sitting behind his computer in Leicester. As a result of…
LEEDIR, the Large Emergency Event Digital Information Repository, is a mobile app and web application that allows photo sharing and video sharing and enables citizens to submit pictures and videos directly to law enforcementand relief agencies during major occurrences including natural…
Zicom Electronic Security System Ltd has launched a women safety app Ziman for women due to immense increment in the crimes against women when a number of preventives has been taken and seem to be ineffective. The app uniquely provides 24X7 responsive services to the victims in danger by…
Patrocinium Systems has just announced the launch of ArcAngel, a mobile app and clouding system that aims to bridge the gap between civilians and first responders in the event of a threat or emergency. ArcAngelis a two-way communication system that uses GPS, data and sensor technology to allow…
Organizer Chokri Mahassineof Pukkelpop calls on all party flockers of 2014 to install the free app ‘I am OK’. This app allows you to inform your family, friends or loved ones and let them know you’re OK if you get into an incident or even a disaster. The app was launched three years ago, after…
Alert Cops allows you to send messages with your GPS location to emergency centres of the National Police and the Guardia Civil. It is also allows for digital interaction (called citizen-chat), which is especially useful for the hearing impaired. At this time, “Alert Cops” is only available in…
Canadian police are determined to cut down on sexting among teenagers. This week, Ontario Provincial Police launched the “Send This Instead” app (iOS en Android), for free. The app, according to Yahoo News, offers 57 “humorous and sarcastic retorts,” which serve as alternatives to things like…
A group of university computer geeks has created a mobile interactive mapping system to spring protesters out of police kettles. Only two months old, the Sukey.org idea faced and passed its first big test Jan. 29 of 2011, during student demonstrations around England, says spokesman Tim Hardy.…
The unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, is posing some new questions about law enforcement and the militarization of the police.” Three teenagers from Georgia have decided to take the issue into their own hands. Caleb Christian, 14, and his two sisters – Ima, 16, and Asha, 15 and a little help from…
The crimemap above displays a 90-day period of crime, as reported by the citizens of Guatemala (Alertos.org) In the past three months there have been 356 murders in Guatemala, 202 armed attacks, 44 drug deals, 11 kidnappings and six cases of “extortion via a mobile phone”. Guatemala is trying…
Last year, in the space of an hour, a paranoid schizophrenic in Manchester raped three sex workers and sexually assaulted another, before bragging to a friend that he’d had “the best night of his life.” The case was splashed across the tabloids but for many sex workers, violence isn’t…
With the Yazula app (iOS, Android, Windows) on your phone you will receive custom defined information automatically. How does Yazula work – The Yazula messages wait for you until you enter a geographic area. The moment your enter that region the information relevant to you is triggered and you…
Become one of Sherlock’s trusted Lieutenants by joining The Network and immersing yourself in the world of Sherlock Holmes. Building on the success of the iOS app Sherlock: The Network which achieved number 1 entertainment app in 37 countries was originally launched on 20th January as a premium…
VizSAFEis a social media platform that empowers ordinary citizens to play an active role in the well being of their communities by posting and sharing photos or videos from their smartphones. Today, with close to 2 billion smartphones in use worldwide, people are capturing compelling and…
The Welsh Police will receive a ‘whopping’ 837,000 pounds to build an app that will support eye witness reports. The money comes from the British governmental innovation fund. Remarkably, the app will only support uploading audio and video at a crime scene for cops and not for citizens to use.…
Women and girls in Nainital, India, will now be able to alert the police and family members, in times of distress, thanks to a new app called SOS Shouryaa launched by finance minister Indira Hriydesh on Independence Day at the Nainital police office. The app, launched on the android platform,…
It’s not like you can ask your attacker to hold on a minute while you let someone know that you’re in danger. Watch Over Me (iOS, Android) turns your device into emergency tool with just a shake. Even if your phone is locked, with one shake we turn on your phone’s alarm, and video camera, and…
A new, free crowdsourcing mobile app, Spottm, which will let victims of crime request help from members of the community around them, will be introduced by a new South African start-up early next year. The app lets people alert police or family members during an emergency situation, and report…
The Paradise Valley Police Department is expected to provideParadise Valley Town Council an overview of how Smart911works and how it can be a new tool likely to significantly improve police response times. Smart911 lets you fill out personal information on a secure website and if you ever need…
Imagine being in a dangerous situation, perhaps even the victim of a kidnapping, and having the ability to let your friends and family know that you are in trouble and where you are – even if you are on the move. Silent Bodyguard for iPhone and BlackBerry devices sends a silent SOS with the…
Install and configure this app on your phone and, if you are ever in trouble (feeling threatened, under attack, having a medical emergency, or any similar situation), simply shake your phone. That’s it! The app will periodically contact your emergency contacts and let them know you may be in…
SelfieCop is an app that automatically forwards photos taken on a child or teen’s phone to his or her parents. The aim is to make young people think more carefully about what they are snapping and sharing. TL;DR: it’s to prevent underage sexts. The app simply needs to be downloaded to a child’s…
Mental health among Britain’s youth is shockingly concerning. Suicide is the leading cause of death in men under the age of 35 in the UK, while it is estimated that 9.6% of young people aged 5-16 have a clinically recognised mental health condition. Anything that helps to better this situation is…
Draw up a crime scene? These and other activities can benefit greatly from having a floor plan, but who’s got time to draw one? You do. RoomScan for iOS creates floor plans just by tapping your phone or tablet against each wall. It’s not accurate down to the millimeter, but it does work — and…
RedPanicButton (iOS, Android) is offering accurate information to those who can help you, the Red Panic Button is basically a user centered Early Warning & Vulnerability Alert System (EWVAS), a one-to-many mode of communication, a uniquely developed mobile phone application that provides users…
Red Alert: Israel is a free app for both iOS andAndroid that provides real-time alerts when missiles or rockets are fired into Israel. It’s also become a specialized kind of social network. With the app, launched for iOS on June 29, Americans and people of other nations can follow the fighting…
PublicEye is an app that runs on every major smartphone and tablet. PublicEye provides collaboration, situational awareness, data fusion and many operational tools. Features include mapped objects such as 911 calls, real-time alerts, video surveillance and streaming, digital radio,…
One in five students gets harrassed or sexually assaulted. Each one is one too many states OnWatchOnCampus (iOS, Android) which is designed to keep you safe by giving you the tools to plan and inform your friends, Campus Police or local 911 should you need help. Choosing the individuals that you…
“Feeling unsettled? In an unsafe area? Simply launch the MyForce application and we’re with you.” – states the website of MyForce. When an alert is sent, MyForce’s 24/7 safety agents act instantly, pinpointing your exact location and tracking your whereabouts. There’s no need to tell where you…
Street harassment is one of the most pervasive forms of gender-based violence and one of the least legislated against. Comments from “You’d look good on me” to groping, flashing and assault are a daily, global reality for women and LGBTQ individuals. Butit is rarely reported, and it’s culturally…
Whether you’re traveling overseas on business, working remotely, in a parking garage with poor cellular coverage or sitting at your desk, Guardly Mobile (iOS, Android) alerts and connects you with your organization’s security operations instantly. Guardly administrators within your organization…
What is the speed limit on Spanish motorways? Do I need to wear a helmet when I cycle in Sweden? The free European Road Safety App Going Abroad (iOS, Android, Windows) contains all important road safety rules and some fun games. Download it before going abroad and save on roaming charges.…
Have you ever wanted to be a police sketch artist? Well, now you can use the flashface app (Android app or web app) and create sketches of criminals or yourself and your friends. It provides a large number of each facial components including eyes, nose, mouth, hair, head, eyebrows, glasses,…
Circle of 6 is a free app to connect with your friends to stay close, stay safe and prevent violence before it happens. The Circle of 6 app for iPhone and Android makes it quick and easy to reach the 6 friends you choose. Need help getting home? Need an interruption? Two touches lets your…
BART is launching a simple-to-use app available for iOS and Android devices that will allow riders to easily report crimes, suspicious items or activities on the BART system. Riders have been asking for a safe, silent and discreet way to communicate with BART when they are on a train or in a…
The MobilePatrol app approaches one millionth download (Apple iOS, Android) MobilePatrol was released as the first national public safety app to deliver important public safety information like emergency alerts, most wanted, sex offenders and recently incarcerated offenders from thousands of law…
Before the creation of this app, the makers of Peacekeeper saw two big problems with security in the United States. 1) Security – police, firefighters, ambulances – is bureaucratic, slow, and ineffective. The average wait time for an emergency is just over 10 minutes; but that number goes up fast…
Call Recorder Record your phone calls. Keep in mind that if you’re in a location that’snot considered a one-party consent state you’ll want to inform the caller of the recording. Free app Download:“AndroidiPhone:“iPhone GotYa! GotYa! takes a silent snapshot through the front facing camera of the…
Bebo was a social networking website launched in 2005. Bebo now calls itself “a company that dreams up ideas for fun social apps” and Joe Mbu, the man behind the Bebo relaunch, has confirmed that the site will not be returning as a social network but as a company that makes social apps. As of…
National coronation day Netherlands The 30APPril app wasn’t able to count the crowds (buzz meter)during the crownation of the new King, because telecom providers were afraid the app would overload their wireless systems. But the police did launch the 30APPrilapp for all festival venues during…
A new mobile app can get anyone with a smartphone involved in the search for a hit-and-run driver. The app was created as a part of the Medina Alert system, which was named after Jose Medina, a man who died in a hit-and-run accident on Lincoln Street in Denver. The system has already proven to…
Audioboo (now renamed to Audioboom) is a website and downloadable mobile application which allows users to record and share sound. Users of this application are restricted to recording three minutes of sound, unlike other applications which allow more recording time. This app may be used to…
Badoo is a place to meet new people in your area and around the world. It’s packed with users who want to chat, maybe even meet up, and share experiences, interests and friendship, share photos, maybe even date. You can also tell people about your interests and who you are, and play games that…
On this day, 1st of july in 1980, a famous trench coat-wearing character burst onto the scene promising to teach us all how to Take a Bite Out of Crime. Today McGruff the Crime Dog is helping to bite crime through a new social media app. The National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC), home to the…
Activists can now alert for help Political activists living under oppressive regimes, and journalists reporting from the front line, are among those who fear being kidnapped and tortured. And while little can be done to abolish this threat entirely, a new app has been launched that turns an…
In the Dutch City of Haarlem schools want to get rid of what they call a cyberbullying app:“Gossup. Students are bullied anonymously and even teachers are targeted. And GossUp is not the only app. Apps such as Secret, Whisper, Wut and YikYak are known for cyberbullying. But anonymous bullying…
Former police officer designs new mobile phone app that could save lives in emergencies: Criminal profiler Steve van Aperen, 50, has invented a new program to alert parents and friends with the touch of a button if a user is in danger or having a medical emergency. More than 600 people have…
Tinder was founded in 2012 and was first used at universities. In 2013 it won the Best Startup TechCrunch award and it has since gone viral. Tinder is a location based dating service (they call it “social discovery”) that connects people with similar interests and nearby locations. It uses…
Tag -You’re It (Apple, Android) is a safe alternative to Snapchat. They don’t disappear and it offers recipients the directions to your current location. You just send where you are and what you are doing to whomever you want so they can come meet you. Tag – You’re Itwas created by Pinchit,…
Kitestring is a “safecall service” that checks up on users when they are in a potentially uncomfortable situation (i.e. walking at night, on a blind date, etc.). Users tell kitestring where they are going and the expected duration of the trip. When the time amount the user has given Kitestring…
September is National Campus Safety Awareness Month, and as concern for safety on campus increases, colleges are turning to new applications, programs and other methods to protect students. Rave Guardian (iTunes, Android) partners with universities to provide the free app, which is offered to…
Citizens who play for local policeman? That is not the goal of Private Cop solution. With this app, which in 2013 was developed by a cop and an entrepreneur from Twente, residents do have a digital policing notebook in their hands. This enables them to inform their environment about suspicious…
One Love My Plan (iTunes, Android) was created by Mongoose Projects, and is tailored to identifying and tracking relationship and intimate partner violence. The app is designed for college-age women and their friends to relay personal accounts of partner violence. The app provides users with…
The old Wanted posters from the Wild West that had to be distributed with the stagecoach are now still used, but on a modern and digital bulletin board on the Internet. But being creative also helps. In 1984 the National Child Safety Council launched the first National Missing Children Milk…
Internet vigilante group Letzgo Hunting has been criticised for some of its efforts to expose paedophiles. What is this group and who’s behind it? Letzgo Hunting’s website currently just displays a sign saying “maintenance mode” with no details of this mysterious group’s activities. But on a…
Someone is murdered in Washington, DC every couple of days. If it’s someone famous (or rich), that news makes a splash. It’ll be on television and in the paper, paraded across websites and memorialized by the powerful. If the person isn’t famous, the news will be almost nowhere. In fact, it…
Foursquare was launched in 2009 with a limited availability in the United States. In 2010, Foursquare changed this policy and the network was opened to users worldwide. In March 2010 Foursquare knew 500,000 users worldwide. Foursquare is a web and mobile application that allows registered users…
Image: citizens work together with the police (the slide is entitled: “A 1000 eyes”) There are a growing number of WhatsApp vigilante groups that try to build a safer neighborhood ona local scale (part of the groups are also active on Twitter). WhatsApp enables users to exchange messages for…
Chatroulette is not yet as dangerous as the Russian roulette, simply because a webcam can’t spit bullets, but it is definitely not without risks. Chatroulette is a website that brings people together for random conversations via the webcam. Visitors usually start with a chat with any stranger…
Sending photos via Snap Chat can be dangerous. And with the launch of the app Snap Save it just became a tad more dangerous to send embarrassing photos because it enables the recipients of ‘Snaps’ to keep them without notifying the sender. Snap Chat is an application to send photos and videos…
A weblog, or blog for short “as SocialMediaDNA is a website that is updated regularly. Most of the time a blog is about stories that appear in reverse chronological order (newest on top, oldest at the bottom). The author(s), also called bloggers, provide a log of information they want to share…
4chan is a very popular internet forum with more than 1 billion messages and about 7 million visitors a day. 4chan was founded on October 1 2003 by the then 15-year-old Christopher Poole, known as “moot”. 4chan is mainly about posting and commenting on images. Users can produce completely…
This is an app by the New York Civil Liberties Union, aiming to document the stop-and-frisk practices carried out by the NYPD. As per the Fourth Amendment, cops can stop and search those they suspect of carrying out a crime. If the police suspect you are armed, dangerous, or are carrying drugs,…
KickOn is an app (iOS) to find parties near you and request an invite to join the party. Empower your social life and discover private, exclusive parties and events around you. Sydney investment banker and tech entrepreneur Charles Stewart launched KickOn, a new app they’re calling “Tinder for…
Virginia Tech Police say a new public safety app LiveSafe (iTunes, Android) is producing results after just three months of use. Italready has more than 1,700 subscribers. If the Live-Safe app would have been available on the Virginia Tech campus on April 16, 2007 (see our blog about the…
Turn your iPhone into a dash cam to record your beautiful drives, trips to the race track or just our everyday commute. CarCam records high quality video with additional information like: Speed in mph, km/h or knots maximum Speed Distance Acceleration, Braking and steering forces Maximum Forces…
As part of its initiative to become a citizen-friendly and responsive force, Hyderabad Police on Wednesday launched a mobile phone application to empower members of the public, improve their security and reach out to them at the time of distress. The app, `Hawk Eye’, seeks to turn common people…
So you rang in the New Year by drinking more than you had planned. Now it’s last call and you have to get home. There’s an app that can help you do that, one that safety officials hope will deter people from driving drunk by letting them easily summon a cab or call a friend to drive them home.…
Available on AndroidandiPhone Like iCarBlackBox, Witness Driving uses a video-recording function from the phone, accelerometer and GPS capability to capture accident data. The app’s main menu includes a large video-recording icon along with three smaller ones for managing recorded videos, a deep…
VithU, is an emergency App in India that, at the click of the power button of your smartphone 2 times consecutively begins sending out alert messages every 2 minutes to your contacts that you feed into the app as the designated receivers or guardians. The message says “I am in danger. I need…
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) police launched an SOS application “One-Click” (iOS) which aims to notify the police of possible emergency situations in schools in Peshawar. The app is being developed in the aftermath of the attack on Army Public School Peshawar on December 16 which led to the loss…
GroupMe is a mobile group messaging app owned by Microsoft. It was launched in May 2010 by the private company GroupMe. In August 2011, GroupMe delivered over 100 million messages each month andy June 2012, that number had jumped to 550 million. GroupMe has a web client as well as mobile apps…
Named ‘Himmat’ it is an initiative by Delhi Police for women safety in New Delhi. The application was launched specifically for women travelling alone late at night. Women can use its features to alert Delhi police in case of any threat. The Himmat app can be downloaded free of cost from the…
An app from Microsoft India to prevent crimes against women. That will enable people to summon help within minutes and create effective deterrents against such crimes. Guardian has a real-time tracking and intelligent SOS alert function, a call for help and recording the evidence of attack, this…
Lookout performs its guard-dogging by sending information to its website and processing it there. While this saves on device memory and end-runs the need for most updates, it does incur minor data usage. The basic functions that the program covers are scanning programs and downloads for malware;…
The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) plans to launch a smartphone app on Jan. 1 through which a sexual abuse victim on the subway train can ask for help from subway staff, in an effort to enhance the safety of female passengers. According to SMG, the app will also enable a third person, who…
YouTube is a website where users can publish movies and in return are exclusive multiplication and copyrights cedes. The slogan of this website is YouTube Broadcast Yourself. The uploader is the film of tags that allow a non-hierarchical classification possible. In February 2005, founded by…
In the Netherlands Police uses the internal Politie+, akind of Facebook for the police. In the USA a similar service was launced recently: Blueline Connect. If it were up to founder Bill Bratton, it will be used internationally as well. First two videos about Blue Line in which the essence of…
We’re all familiar with the photo “reconstructions” of offenders’ faces, created and publicised in the hope a member of the public will recognise the perpetrator and lead to a break in the case. Yet just how easy is it to recreate a stranger’s face from memory? The Open University has developed…
The Self Evident app is an example of an app that shows how citizens can create their own criminal investigation file, starting at the crime scene. It enables you to record, validate and secure the evidence. Either as a witness or victim you can create photos or videos, add a sound recording of…
Police street stops and searches of Missourians have increased exponentially – especially in the context of rallies, peaceful protests, and marches against excessive force and racial profiling. Thousands of innocent people are routinely stopped, searched, harassed, bullied into compliance, and…
Chandigarh Police of India recently launched its women safety application, “Raksha” and also announced to set up an ATM-like kiosk where women will be able to lodge their complaints. It’s a machine – An Instant Complaint Lodging Internet Kiosk (IClik). Women have to register themselves with the…
LifeShel KickStarter from Covalent on Vimeo. A startup company in Pittsburgh called Lifeshel is working on technology designed to enable people facing assault or other emergencies to contact police in the smartest and fastest way possible. Their first product is a smartphone case and…
ICE has created a smartphone app designed to seek the public’s help with fugitive and unknown suspect child predators. Launched in 2013, the app shares photos and details of suspects and asks the public to reply with tips on their whereabouts. It has a list of ICE’s current top 10 most wanted…
The app that turns your phone into a CCTV camera: Manything (iOS) livefeeds your home – and it’s already caught its third criminal. A burglar alarm is a powerful deterrent, but if a criminal isn’t scared off then you need as much information as possible to help catch them. Now an app is helping…
The foundation of the national SOS ALARM Emergency Service introduced the SOS Alarm app in 2014 that is aimed at saving lives in emergencies. The alarm-app calls on emergency workers (doctors, military personnel, first aiders, emergency response) in case of an emergency if they do happen to be…
Metro Vancouver Transit Police have released OnDuty, a new smartphone app designed to allow commuters to silently report crime, track crime hotspots and check alerts and most wanted lists. On Duty app aims to fight sex assaults on transit door tvnportal The OnDuty app is available for free on…
Ping4alerts! is an alert platform and mobile app. Homeland Security, Federal & State Emergency Management Agencies (FEMA), State Police Departments and State Fire Marshals from the US use ping4alerts! ping4alerts! is a local emergency alert app for public safety. When it comes to safety in your…
Neighborhood Crime Watch lets you quickly take pictures, spot the location of suspicious activity and share the details with your neighbors and law enforcement. You can save the watch details in your “log book” where you can review, edit and share them again. It also lets you export and import…
The Community Watch system provides a medium for residents within a community or sector area to be in communication with each other, to build a database of employees, suspicious activities and to share data with each other. An employee module is often used for verification of authorized…
Crash Sensor (Android) is a mobile application that protects you while driving. Constantly, it monitors the phone acceleration sensors in order to detect the sudden deceleration produced in a crash. In case of an accident an alarm will warn you that a crash has been detected and, if you don’t…
An interesting article in Bright talked about the popularity of Vineduringthe first reports during the Boston marathon bombings. Many people saw those images of the attack because at first it wasn’t on any TV channel, but only available in an ultrashort Vine video. As with many disasters and…
The Child ID app (Apple iOS, Android) was the first mobile application created by the FBI. You’re shopping at the mall with your children when one of them suddenly disappears. A quick search of the nearby area is unsuccessful. What do you do? Now there’s a free new tool from the FBI that can…
A new bracelet should make the world a little safer and protect women against robberies and rapes. In America, Britain and Canada bracelets like Safelet are already a great success. Not to be confused with the SafeletBracelet. The Safelet is a sleekly designed safety bracelet that is linked to…
Ask.FM “is an international social media service where users answer questions posed to them. The website was launched in 2013 and discredited by cases of cyberbullying, some of which led to suicide. The response of the site administrators was that since they did not have a report button, they…
AlertID AlertID is a free online service to help protect your family and neighborhood. AlertID is transforming public safety across the country and has proven to help reduce crime. AlertID uses proven technology to help citizens and federal, state, and local authorities share information about…
Download: Android, iOS. This is another app that can be used to record the behavior of cops, as well as that of TSA officials and military men and women. This app records the video discreetly, meaning there is no sign of a recording going on. It is then uploaded to openwatch.net where you can…
Live in Mexico’s largest city or plan on visiting sometime soon? The city’s police force has created an app that tracks your location, and lets you contact local beat cops at the press of a button. But if you’re concerned about giving the cops access to your data, keep it off your phone. Called…
iWatch of Harris County from the USA is a virtual crime watch that you and your neighbors can use to report behaviors and activities that make you feel uncomfortable or do not look right. Like traditional neighborhood crime watches, your awareness reported to the police can help solve crimes or…
Make use of many mobile phones and thus thousands of eyes and ears SafeCity is an easy way to collect information from the society using live streaming video. By using live streaming video everyone can now report unsafe and inappropriate situations. With existing social media: no purchase of an…
Everyone can store and list his personal favorites and easily retreve or share them from Del.icio.us, the social bookmarking service. One can favorite sites and tag them (adding identifiers) and add notes. Clustering topics with favorites on the same subject is easy. The added notes provide…
Launched in 2007, Nixle provides an open communication and engagement platform that connects public safety, municipalities, schools, businesses, residents and the communities they serve. Nixle enables real-time, two-way communication through text, email, voice messages, social media, and the…
When the Internet was still in its infancy, civilians started compiling details where and when a body was discovered, scars or tattoos, items of clothing or jewelry in homespun databases. Then organizations such as the Florida Unidentified Decedents Database and the National Unidentified and…
What is Citizen Net (Burgernet)? Citizen Netis a unique partnership between citizens, local authorities and police to improve security in the living and working environment. It uses a telephone network of residents and employees of businesses in from a certain municipality and connects them to…
The instant messaging program ICQ – launched in 1996 – grew quickly into a social medium with tens of millions of users around the world. ICQ, the programs that account for 90 percent of all instant-message users. Including criminals. Identity did not matter at that time. Back then you were just…
Wikipedia is a multilingual free internet encyclopedia open to everyone that is composed by numerous authors who do this voluntary. These can be scientists, hobbyists, students, experts and people with good general knowledge. Anyone can contribute to Wikipedia, anonymously. There is no limit to…
