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A comment on Leaked emails show crime app Citizen is testing on-demand security force. Parent comment

Re:Leaked emails show crime app Citizen is testing on-demand... by Spooky23 on Friday May 21, 2021 @03:27PM (#27238771)
Most of this is perceived bullshit. As the gap between working class and affluent people widens, you have a layer of professionals with money looking for stuff to do.

Those folks have a tendency to want to separate themselves from the dirty masses. (Ie gated community) It’s what you did after you sell the family factory business in Ohio and move to Florida or wherever.

Building security theatre was accelerated driven by 9/11 paranoia and federal standards.

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Re:Leaked emails show crime app Citizen is testing on-demand... by xeromal on Friday May 21, 2021 @03:54PM (#27239104)
Security is absolutely necessary in down towns. In LA, it is out of control. You can't even go inside a 711 without being harassed until they hired guards.
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Re:Leaked emails show crime app Citizen is testing on-demand... by adjkant on Saturday May 22, 2021 @12:48AM (#27243592)
Not my experience at all in the downtowns of NYC, Boston, Seattle, and SF. DTLA is a very unique downtown due to many factors specific to LA (mainly car culture taking away practical significance from the city center + the housing sprawl) and that doesn't generalize to most actual cities.
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Re:Leaked emails show crime app Citizen is testing on-demand... by WarOnPrivacy on Saturday May 22, 2021 @11:30AM (#27247457)
> Security is absolutely necessary in down towns. In LA, it is out of control. You can't even go inside a 711 without being harassed until they hired guards.

At which point the need was filled. No dystopic community mercenary forces were necessary.

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Re:Leaked emails show crime app Citizen is testing on-demand... by xeromal on Saturday May 22, 2021 @11:33AM (#27247491)
I think the idea of the citizen security force is for communities that don't have the money to afford security guards like the large buildings that can.
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Re:Leaked emails show crime app Citizen is testing on-demand... by WarOnPrivacy on Saturday May 22, 2021 @11:43AM (#27247584)
Currently, Citizen offers a subscription product called 'Protect', which costs $19.99 per month. Protect sends a user's location to a Citizen employee when it's turned on, can stream video to a 'Protect agent' when activated using a safeword, and is pitched to users as a 'digital bodyguard'. Protect also advertises 'Instant emergency response to your exact location'

This seems like the idea is to supply a rent-a-thug to individuals, on-demand.

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Re:Leaked emails show crime app Citizen is testing on-demand... by xeromal on Saturday May 22, 2021 @11:45AM (#27247595)
Exactly, before Citizen I don't think anyone could pay 19.99 a month to have a thug come watch them.
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Re:Leaked emails show crime app Citizen is testing on-demand... by WarOnPrivacy on Saturday May 22, 2021 @11:55AM (#27247695)
> before Citizen I don't think anyone could pay 19.99 a month to have a thug come watch them.

Really? How much is a case of beer now?

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Re:Leaked emails show crime app Citizen is testing on-demand... by WarOnPrivacy on Saturday May 22, 2021 @11:56AM (#27247715)
recap:

[you] I think this is for communities

[me] nope. not communities

[you] exactly

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Re:Leaked emails show crime app Citizen is testing on-demand... by jollybean on Friday May 21, 2021 @10:00PM (#27242544)
It's 'very true' and 'BS' at the same time.

There are some very sketchy urban places in the US with legit serious security problems.

There are vast burbs in the US which are actually really safe but have anxious, overzealous citizens.

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Re:Leaked emails show crime app Citizen is testing on-demand... by courtf on Friday May 21, 2021 @04:21PM (#27239413)
These arbitrary checkpoints also generate a steady stream of trivial "security incidents" just by existing, which for the paranoid owners is taken as evidence for their necessity, and they double down.
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