December 3, 2009
Increasingly, police agencies are using social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook to connect with the public on a wide variety of issues. Now several agencies are releasing their own iPhone applications as a means of combating crime and fighting community disorder. The most recent and notable example of this has been carried out by the City of Boston which has just released its “Citizens Connect” mobile application.
The City has noted the purpose of the app is to allow residents and visitors to Boston to report public disorder crimes and nuisances such as graffiti, broken street lights and potholes. Boston is to be applauded for their creativity and the interface of the program is nice. From the city’s perspective, it can be a useful tool to empower citizens to improve the quality of life in a neighborhood–an important factor in crime reduction. Citizens can submit photos and GPS coordinates for any of their complaints, assisting the city when following up on the matter.
A few questions remain about this technology, however. Will the application in anyway speed up the city’s response to neighborhood problems? In other words, in a typical month, the City of New York receives nearly 4,000 reports of dangerous road conditions such as potholes. But as a New Yorker if having a pothole telephone hotline has sped up their repair and you are likely to get an unenthusiastic response.
Another question has been raised by James Gunter of The Crime Map, who points out that missteps by law enforcement may actually be leading to further citizen isolation through municipal self-innovation. Gunter’s point is that as each city creates and releases its own iPhone ap, with the best of innovative intentions, citizens may get overwhelmed by the possibilities. For example a person who lives in one city, works in another and shops in a third might need three separate applications to engage with three separate municipalities. Gunter calls wisely for the use of open source/existing tools whenever possible.
Boston deserves create for their enthusiasm and innovative use of technology. There are many other areas to which this system could be expanded, including the reporting of additional criminal activities and perhaps even emergency/911 Tweeting. As location-based devices, such as the iPhone proliferate, the GPS data provided by citizens should allow cities to respond to crime and disorder with greater efficiency than previously possible (i.e. the graffiti is at the corner of 3rd and Main Streets vice the problem is at these exact GPS coordinates).
The rapid roll-out of these technologies makes this a particularly interesting time for cities and local governments looking to more efficiently provide community service to their citizens. It won’t be long, however, before the same types of technologies will be exploited by criminals as the latest form of crimeware are released. Stay tuned…
More information on the story may be found at NPR-National Public Radio (US).
