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 downloaded TrackerAssist this month, including safety-conscious mums and dads, women and even elderly people with medical illnesses.
The program has already been used to save a woman suffering a medical illness and a lost hiker had friends contact authorities when they activated the program while in the wilderness. Crime-fighting apps have boomed recently but Mr van Aperen said his program had a hi-tech twist. Once an alert has been sent the user?s phone becomes an active location beacon meaning the person in danger can be tracked within minutes. Mr van Aperen, who was trained by the FBI said he designed the app after seeing how technology could help police. ?What we have found in testing is people ring up to see if you are OK; if you don?t respond they know something is wrong,?? Mr van Aperen said. ?It is not a substitute for calling authorities. ?It is an app we hope people will never have to use, but if they have it, they can.??
Victoria Police do not back any crime-apps but spokesman Mark Bayly said new technologies were revolutionising police work. ?We are always looking at law enforcement best practice apps around the world and are often approached by third parties for app development,?? he said. ?Our social media platforms are proving successful in crime resolution. We?ve had people turn themselves in when they?ve seen their photo or CCTV vision on Facebook.??
You can use TrackerAssist to:
- Send an emergency alert when you need help
- Call authorities at the press of one button
- Pinpoint your current location
- Send your location to a friend
- Make a report of a crime or take notes
- Act as a medic alert
- Help authorities or family to locate you if lost
- Identify your location if stranded due to a car breakdown
- Provide location details to authorities in an accident
- Notify friends/family that you have arrived safely
- Send a map of where you need to be picked up from
- Take pictures
- Notify friends of your location when meeting them
- Share your location using Email, Facebook, Twitter or SMS
Sources: Herald Sun