"Companion" To See You Safely Home

• NCJ Number: 249566
• Journal: Techbeat Dated: November/December 2015 Pages: 10-12
• Author(s): Becky Lewis
• Date Published: December 2015
• Length: 3 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2014-IJ-CX-K004
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Report (Technical); Report (Technical Assistance); Report (Grant Sponsored)

Annotation

This article describes a cell phone app that enables users to contact a selected "companion" to monitor their location and detect incapacitation at selected times and under conditions that may pose a safety risk, such as walking home alone at night.

Abstract

The selected "companion" can trace the location and movement of the friend's cell phone so as to determine whether he/she has unexpectedly stopped, has been suddenly diverted from his/her announced route or location, or is moving rapidly as if to escape danger. The "companion's" phone will periodically automatically ring the cell phone of the friend to ask if he/she is "OK." If the friend does not reply to the query within a certain amount of time, his/her phone will be activated to make a loud siren sound to draw attention. Other possible uses of the app are to keep parents informed of the locations of their children and to maintain contact with sick or elderly persons who live alone.