A new smartphone App, researched by the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and developed jointly with the force, will be free for download in the Apple App Store before the Olympic Games begin. Designed to share real time information with the police and people in the City of London, the App offers day-to-day useful features about the City of London force. Anyone installing it on their smartphone will get access to information on:
Street level crime information, navigable maps showing police stations, London Underground transport links and many other points of interest
Links to the latest City of London Police news and live @CityPolice twitter feed, plus the force’s website
Useful information about the City of London Police, including its community policing teams and role as police service lead for tackling economic crime
Information on how to be prepared in the event of an emergency
There is also an additional key feature that will help the City of London Police to assess and monitor crowd density during large scale events – but it only works when people who have installed the App agree to share their location data.
When the force ‘switches’ on this crowd sourcing capability during big events or gatherings, people with the App installed receive a message asking if they are prepared to opt into the service.
People who agree will share their location. This information is used anonymously by the City of London Police to provide greater clarity on the movement of crowds during events and will allow the force to send relevant warning and informing messages to people through the App, on twitter and through the force website.
City of London Police Assistant Commissioner Frank Armstrong says: ‘This App is packed with useful features and is also about helping to keep people safe. It is an excellent way for people to learn more about the force. It will also help the City of London Police to monitor crowds during large events and to keep people informed. This really is about police and the public working together for our mutual benefit. I have no doubt it will prove to be a valuable tool to guide our policing response during events, or emergencies – but we can only do this with the public’s trust and help.’
The App has been developed as part of a four year European project called Socionical by three partners (German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI); ETH Zurich and LSE). Socionical is funded by the European Union and aims to help scientists and policy makers better understand how the applied use of new technology can benefit society.
Prof. Eve Mitleton-Kelly, from the LSE, has been involved with the App since its inception. She said: ‘This is a tremendous breakthrough in the use of technology that can be of real and practical benefit to society. It was initially designed to be used for safe evacuation following a major incident, but has proved its worth in peaceful but crowded events by making them more enjoyable.”.
Sgt Rebecca Walker, from the City of London Police’s Emergency Planning department, has been working with the (LSE) Socionical Project. She said: ‘We have taken into account people’s concern about legal data protection and privacy issues. Personal mobile numbers are not collected and the data is sent anonymously. We’re certainly not tracking individuals – we are purely assessing crowd density and movement. We want people to feel safe and comfortable when using the App in the City and to know they’re helping the police – and in turn that we can help them. The App also had to meet stringent EU regulations on privacy.’
A version of the App for Android smartphones is being developed and will be introduced soon. The App will be available soon in the Apple App Store. You can follow us on Twitter @CityPolice where we will announce when the App is downloadable.
