Recent community horror stories have sparked the debate around public safety through citizen engagement, and the role technology is playing here has come to the fore.
“With so many citizens witnessing and experiencing almost daily incidents in their city, imagine the sheer volume and content that can be generated,” adds Theis. “One of the best ways to garner this information is through crowdsourcing, which involves engaging and enabling citizens to actively take a part in the fight against crime and by reporting suspicious activities or crime or vandalism by reporting information in real-time and in a convenient and accessible way using their smartphones.”
Theis cautions that these platforms shouldn’t be mistaken for a security app, but rather they are about connecting individuals in real-time with their communities and syndicating information that enables individuals and communities to empower themselves when it comes to keeping themselves and their families safe.
“Having said that however, follow-me-home features and community channels are just a few aspects that can be incorporated here,” says Theis. “Think of the possibilities of correlating these citizen activities and reports with data from other systems, such as video surveillance, traffic monitoring or even security companies.
"Having such an integrated system, with the community at the centre, allows officials to gain a better understanding of what is happening at any moment, where their serves are required as well as trends that may emerge over time and work hand-in-hand with the community to eliminate crime.”
“Active citizenry, coupled with a strong purpose-built platform that brings together relevant parties, has real potential to change the status quo. It truly is the rise of crowdsourced safety,” concludes Theis.
