Controversial crime alert app Citizen has opened up its to everybody within the US. The Protect plan, which just about 100,000 customers have beta examined, gives around-the-clock entry to “Citizen’s team of highly trained Protect Agents,” CEO Andrew Frame .

Those brokers can name 911 for you in case you’re in a state of affairs wherein contacting emergency companies straight may not be protected. “If you share your location with Citizen Protect, Agents can live monitor your location, provide first responders, and help them arrive more quickly by guiding them to your exact location,” Frame wrote. “Protect Agents will always continue to monitor you while you wait for help to arrive.”

The brokers can notify your emergency contacts and preserve them up to date in case you’re in hassle. Frame stated they’ll additionally information you to a protected place or assist close by when wanted, or chat with you for peace of thoughts. The service can even alert different Citizen customers within the space in case your situation warrants doing so. “Harnessing the power of Citizen’s safety network through Protect-generated alerts has helped dozens of families reunite with their missing loved ones and pets,” Frame wrote.

Users can connect with a Protect agent and chat through video, audio or textual content after tapping a button on the Citizen app’s house display. The iOS model of the app contains an non-compulsory Protect Mode, which gives different methods to hyperlink up with an agent (Citizen plans to carry “additional functionality” to Android quickly). You can change on a characteristic that shows a immediate to connect with an agent while you shake your gadget a few instances.

If you choose to make use of the Distress Detection characteristic, Citizen will monitor your gadget’s audio with “AI-powered technology which identifies sounds that indicate trouble, like a scream for example.” If the app picks up an audible misery sign, it will ask if you would like to be linked to an agent. If 10 seconds cross with out you responding to the immediate, Citizen will join you to an agent robotically.

Citizen began out in 2016 as an app known as Vigilante that aimed to alert customers about crimes and emergencies. Apple swiftly kicked it from the App Store over vigilantism considerations. Vigilante was rebranded a number of months later with .

The app hit headlines once more in May, when Citizen for data that led to the arrest of an individual who it claimed began a wildfire. Citizen recognized the flawed particular person, and police arrested another person in reference to the alleged crime.

The identical month, a Citizen-branded safety automobile was noticed in Los Angeles amid reviews that the corporate was an on-demand non-public safety power. The firm later stated it would not begin its personal such service, nevertheless it with non-public safety corporations.

Having swift entry to help brokers is not inherently a foul thought, however Citizen’s historical past may dissuade some from taking out a Protect subscription. It’s price noting there are different methods to discreetly name 911 and ship a message with location updates to your emergency contacts, such because the iPhone’s Emergency SOS operate.