Turning Tragedy into Action
While at work in the Spring of 2011 I fell off of a ladder, injured myself and had to go on workers comp. While I was recovering one day I received a devastating phone call from a family member. Our 18-year-old nephew was shot and killed while playing basketball with friends. A young man with a mask and a gun ran him down and shot him in the back in the middle of the street as he was running. After hearing this I went online and searched the local news and saw a photo of him lying on the ground. I knew it was him. A few days went by and rumor was that the people who actually saw it would not tell the police for fear of retaliation. Keep it mind this happened on a small island of 50,000 people where everyone knows everyone.
I was born in Dallas, TX and raised in the heart of South Central Los Angeles, I’m no stranger to crime. Where I grew up, crime was rampant, protection was light, and citizens were too afraid to come forward. And this same behavior exists all over the world. Living in the Caribbean with my husband, remnant fears from my childhood brought an automatic sense of awareness and the will to fight for change. I believe that by freeing citizens from the fear of retaliation, we might be able to catch some of our most violent offenders. The death of my nephew lit the fire to get me to finally do something.
Feeling hopeless and not being able to fly because of my health, I couldn't stand not being able to at least go to the funeral. I asked myself “What can I do?” and asked Google a few questions because Google is my best friend and knows all the answers. I needed to know how to create an app. I realized that the problem that needed to be solved was: How can I get the community to talk to the police and assist them with more information? I realized that developing better communication between the two groups while remaining anonymous was the goal. So, I asked myself, how can I use technology to attain this goal?
All of my questions were answered by asking a few questions to my bff Google, who gave me all of the answers. Next, I interviewed a few developers, story-boarded the app concept, bootstrapped the project and was able to fund two platforms. And thus, the iGotem app was born and uploaded to the iTunes store by September 2011!
iGot’em will empower citizens, reduce crime and allow users to combat crime within their communities by uploading a recorded incident to the nearest law enforcement office. The application will notify law enforcement of the date, time, and location of the crime in progress. The combination of this information along with images taken by users will allow accurate reporting while protecting the identity of the user.
This took me three months from start to finish. I have no degrees in technology and am not able to code. All I have is pure passion and a desire to help others. I can make a difference in the way we use technology to help our everyday lives. Maybe I am the next “female” Steve Jobs J. And if I can do it, then I know you can too.
