The crime reporting line charity Crimestoppers is supporting a mobile-based personal safety service. PanicGuard enables a user’s smartphone to act as a personal alarm, which when activated, signals an alert for help to a Crimestoppers-supported Alarm Receiving Centre (“ARC”).
The ARC responds – calling the user to verify their situation. If there is no answer after three calls or if the evidence suggests a threat to life, the ARC at once contacts police in the local area to respond to the incident.
The PanicGuard service provides the ARC with a host of vital information in this process – including the user’s profile details from their PanicGuard subscription, the location (and the user’s movements using GPS), as well as video and audio uploaded from the phone. All of these elements can be useful to the ARC and the police, in the short-term, and if necessary, in the event of police action.
An anonymous user of the service, who was being stalked by her husband after they separated, also backed PanicGuard, stating that she now feels safer when she leaves her house.
She said: “I use PanicGuard every morning when I go to work or pick up the kids from school or whenever I leave the house. Thanks to video evidence from PanicGuard, which was passed onto the police, I managed to prove that I was being harassed and got a restraining order on my husband. PanicGuard has never failed me.”
Isabel Cross, Head of Campaigns and Communications at Crimestoppers said: “As an independent crime-fighting charity, we are always encouraged to hear of new and innovative ways that aim to keep individuals and our communities safe.
“PanicGuard is a service that could act as the security blanket you feel you need when travelling alone or in a situation you do not feel comfortable in.”
Mikkel Dissing, Managing Director for PanicGuard said: “PanicGuard wants to offer the best safety and security solution possible for it users and as fast as possible. We ensure that help is never further than a shake away.
For more information on PanicGuard’s service or to sign up call 0845 600 8450 or visit www.panicguard.com. To visit Crimestoppers’ page on Panic Guard, go to www.crimestoppers-uk.org/panicguard
About the product
PanicGuard is an invention of the UK company, PanicGuard Limited, founded by Mikkel Dissing, formerly founder and CEO of Rawflow Limited. More information on the company and team members can be found at www.panicguard.com
The PanicGuard service also enables a user to pre-select a number of emergency contacts, who will each receive an alert when the phone alarm is activated. By way of SMS and email that contact can easily access the user’s location and themselves view the video and listen to the audio uploaded. We believe that users may also want the comfort in knowing that friends or family are kept in touch and can add support.
A limited version of PanicGuard is available as a free app to download and give a sense of the service available.
