This Week in Startups E1117 The Next Unicorns E20: Citizen CEO Andrew Frame on creating a safer world through access to public data, reforming policing via transparency & more
Sep 30, 2020
Andrew Frame, CEO of Citizen, a safety app revolutionizing public data access, dives into how transparency can reshape policing. He discusses the importance of real-time crime alerts and their potential to enhance community safety and accountability. Frame advocates for community-based solutions, highlighting the Cure Violence movement's approach to violence as a contagious issue. He explores the balance between privacy and sharing safety data while addressing the challenges and innovations in public safety technology, including body cams and live video systems.
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Citizen App Overview
- Citizen provides real-time crime alerts primarily in major cities like New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
- It uses police scanners and user reports to provide information on incidents.
Alert Radius Expansion
- Initially, Citizen alerts were limited to a quarter-mile radius around the incident, but now include wider areas.
- The initial limitation was arbitrary and now uses ML for dynamic optimization.
Initial Resistance to Citizen
- Law enforcement initially resisted Citizen due to fears of misuse and lack of training of users, seeing it as a potential threat.
- Andrew Frame was even followed by the FBI due to the perceived threat of the app.