I am not sure it could work, people probably won't bother reacting to the help call or at the other extreme, a mob without control will form, but it is interesting because it is capturing both the gamification and isolation trends of our current time.

In an Ingress word, they should create leader boards to find out who is the best vigilante in a given city.

To their benefit I should add they are trying to tackle, maybe awkwardly, a complex issue.