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CrimePush.com: There's an app for that
Feb 13, 2012 (Inland Valley Daily Bulletin - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
With a smart phone in a hand, people can look up recipes, take vintage photographs, get directions, find places to eat, and play games with friends.
And earlier this month, CrimePush.com launched an app for iPhones and Andriods that promises people the ability to report crimes at the touch of a button.
"There are 100 million smart phone users," said Co-Founder and CEO Shayan Pahlevani. "We're not trying to replace 911, but it just makes sense to incorporate phone use with crime reporting."
CrimePush.com is a simple, easy, efficient and discrete method of alerting officials, said Pahlevani, who came up with the idea for the app last year.
"Someone broke into my car over Christmas," he said. "I thought it would be great if I could press a button to capture the incident and send it to the police."
"I spoke to a police officer who came (to take my report) and he said it was a good idea."
Ontario police Cpl. Bill Russell said he talked to his dispatch center after hearing about CrimePush.com.
"They called it the next generation 911 system," Russell said. "I think it is something we are going towards."
But at this point, very few agencies around the country have partnered with the state-of-the-art crime reporting method.
CrimePush.com is free on iTunes, but it is
not national -- yet.
The app is only utilized in Virginia and Washington, D.C., right now. But Pahlevani said law enforcement departments have called the company and expressed interest in learning more.
The app allows citizens to immediately report a crime to local authorities with details like location data, photos, video, audio and text description.
After downloading, the user must enter their first and last name, as well as their phone number and email address into the system.
"You do it the first time and it will be available every time after that," Pahlevani explained. "Then they will always have the information they need" making future reports instantaneous.
When reporting a crime, the user has nine options, including harassment, altercation, and sexual abuse. The user can then send a description of the incident.
"When you send a report, it will go to a 911 dispatch... based on GPS coordinates it will go to local law enforcement," Pahlevani said.
There are similar apps out there, and the idea is catching on, he added.
San Bernardino County sheriff's spokeswoman Jodi Miller said the department does not use a third party for crime reporting and all incidents are called in to dispatch.
"My fear with something like this is, how legitimate are the calls for service?," Miller said.
There are issues now with fake calls to 911, or accidents like a child playing with a phone or a hotel guest trying to call front desk.
"But with 911, we are going to call that number back to confirm there is a need there," Miller said.
Pahlevani said they are working on updates like facial recognition and pre-set messages to guarantee legitimacy.
CrimePush.com plans to eventually partner with high schools, law enforcement agencies, universities and international mobile carriers.
Pahlevani likened the product to insurance.
"Hopefully you never have to use it, but it's good to have around," he said.
Reach Lori via email or call her at 909-483-9378.
___ (c)2012 the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, Calif.) Visit the Inland
Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, Calif.) at www.dailybulletin.com Distributed by
MCT Information Services
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