By: Prabhu Shanmukham Ganesh

In 2012, San Francisco witnessed a 7.5% increase in violent crimes and a staggering 18.3% increase in property crimes.

The SFPD is widely considered one of the strongest agencies in city government, but it operates far under its mandated staffing levels. While the police have their hands full fighting crime in San Francisco, local residents can lend a hand by taking advantage of the latest public safety technology from AlertID.

Realizing the importance of using technology to fight crime, Keli Wilson developed AlertID, an online and mobile application that rapidly updates its users on local crime. And on June 13th, 2013, AlertID announced its availability in San Francisco.

A Virtual Neighborhood Watch

AlertID is designed to operate on two levels. First, it provides safety awareness software for the individual user. By relying both on the company’s pre-compiled information and user updates, AlertID provides a digital neighborhood beyond the neighborhood with local authorities as the primary source of information. By quickly uploading the dangerous developments on AlertID, public safety agencies can immediately notify users of sex offenders, crime incidents, severe weather, and emergency alerts. Likewise, registered users can also upload photos and information about dangerous locations. The app provides an option for users to add their friends and family. If they are in danger or lost, users can immediately send their profiles to authorities and neighbors to improve the search.

AlertID Broadcast System and Communicator

In addition to AlertID’s personalized individual features, it establishes software geared towards businesses and agencies: the AlertID Broadcast System and the AlertID Communicator. Safety companies utilize the broadcast system to customize their own virtual AlertID maps that are exclusive to customers. Working alongside the FBI, AlertID targets the most harmful crimes to society and is available to public safety agencies, so they can notify the public when other methods don’t work. In fact, the Governor of Nevada relies on ABS to send emergency alerts to his staff. Several police departments also use ABS, and they make their alerts available to all users.

While ABS broadcasts information through emergency alerts, the AlertID Communicator supplies chat rooms for employers and employees to communicate in the event of an emergency. However, businesses have found ways of improving their products and services without ABS or the Communicator. For example, real estate agents currently cite AlertID to market homes within safe communities, and new prospective homeowners refer to AlertID to learn more about a house. AlertID’s products are compatible with the iPhone, the iPad, and Android phones.

Tackling Crime With Technology

AlertID already has numerous supporters. Richard Perkins, a Homeland Security Commission member and former Chief of Police, believes it to be the “single most important tool for public safety.” The application relies on user submissions of data to frequently – and in mere nanoseconds – update neighborhood developments. In a new age of technology, AlertID takes advantage of mobile development to make cities safer. It can relay more than one million messages per second, acting as a last minute public announcement. The sheer speed of AlertID’s information transmission is likely to prevent some from falling victim to crime or natural disasters. Major police departments have used it to evacuate areas attacked by unpredicted fire, and AlertID will continue to be used in the future to prevent even more incidents.

Download AlertID Today

Although AlertID provides many safety awareness programs for its users, it remains completely free. You can download the app on your iPhone, iPad, Android, or PC via the app store. If you wish to operate AlertID’s other programs, make sure to visit the AlertID website.