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Citizen, the vigilante justice app, has a plan to deploy private security forces, too
The same company that offered a bounty for the wrong arson suspect
This morning, The Verge published a story about how Citizen — an app that appears to encourage vigilante justice — encouraged its users to hunt down the wrong person and presumably bring them to justice, in the mistaken assumption that person had started the 1,158-acre Palisades wildfire in Los Angeles last week. 
The company offered a $30,000 bounty.
Now, we’re learning the same company is apparently planning to offer its own private security forces to users, according to a new report from Motherboard.
In fact, one Citizen-branded patrol car has already been spotted in the wild:
Few things make you feel like you live in a bleak dystopian reality like a Citizen App patrol car that looks like a cop car.
— brandon wenerd (@brandonwenerd) May 19, 2021
Spotted by @magggggiiieeeee on the 10. pic.twitter.com/B7ppqymXSd
Motherboard’s report goes further than that, though, digging through internal documents and speaking to former employees who describe a “privatized secondary emergency response network” that would respond to an app user’s request. So far, Citizen appears to have been contracting that work out, both to well-known private security provider Securitas and — in the picture above — Los Angeles Professional Security.
Citizen confirmed to Motherboard that it was at least internally testing a “personal rapid response service,” suggesting it might be as simple as an escort service users would summon if they’re afraid to walk home late at night.
But the app’s history — originally launched as Vigilante in 2016 — not to mention the idea that this company is apparently willing to encourage its users to hunt down suspects for money, suggest that this move could be... a little problematic? . .
Social networks and apps like Nextdoor and Amazon’s Ring Neighbors have already been roundly criticized for preying on people’s fears, encouraging them to report on suspicious activity in their neighborhood, normalizing surveillance, and unfairly targeting their neighbors based on their racial biases. Combine that with a company that might encourage users to take justice into their own hands, and that seems not great.
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Motherboard >
Leaked Emails Show Crime App Citizen Is Testing On-Demand Security Force
"Crime and neighborhood watch app Citizen has ambitions to deploy private security workers to the scene of disturbances at the request of app users, according to leaked internal Citizen documents and Citizen sources.
The plans mark a dramatic expansion of Citizen's purview. It is currently an app where users report "incidents" in their neighborhoods and, based on those reports and police scanner transcriptions, the app sends "real-time safety alerts" to users about crime and other incidents happening near where a user is located. It is essentially a mapping app that allows users to both report and learn about crime (or what users of the app perceive to be crime) in their neighborhood. The introduction of in-person, private security forces drastically alters the service, and potential impact, that Citizen may offer in the future, and provides more context as to why a Citizen-branded vehicle has been spotted driving around Los Angeles. The news comes after Citizen offered a $30,000 bounty against a person it falsely accused of starting a wildfire.
"The broad master plan was to create a privatized secondary emergency response network," one former Citizen employee told Motherboard. Motherboard granted multiple sources anonymity to protect them from retaliation from the company.
"It's been something discussed for a while but I personally never expected it to make it this far," another Citizen source told Motherboard.
. . .The email also names LAPS, or Los Angeles Professional Security. On Friday, Motherboard reported that Los Angeles Professional Security is linked to a Citizen-branded vehicle driving around Los Angeles. A Citizen spokesperson told Motherboard that the vehicle is part of a pilot program but declined to say exactly what that program consisted of. On its website, Los Angeles Professional Security describes itself as a "subscription law enforcement service." The internal Citizen email says the company is "an additional response partner." . .
Securitas did not respond to a request for comment. Los Angeles Professional Security acknowledged a request for comment but did not provide a response in time for publication.
Experts have criticized Citizen, saying the app may lead people to report things that aren't crime and may foster racism.
"Honestly Citizen as an app simply doesn't need to exist and it's more and more apparent as the months go on that leadership is just a bunch of scum," the former employee said.
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RELATED CONTENT
Citizen app told locals to "hunt" down a man for starting a California fire, offered reward – but had the wrong guy
The "personal safety network" app Citizen ignited a vigilante hunt for a man they identified as the suspect of a California brush fire that tore through Pacific Palisades over the weekend, burning 1,325 acres. The irresponsible app posted a photo of the so-called "suspect," started a live broadcast that asked listeners to "hunt this guy down," and "bring this guy to justice," and even offered $30,000 to anyone who caught the man. But after all that, Citizen had the wrong dude.
From Daily Dot:
Los Angeles police questioned the man and eliminated him as a suspect, the Los Angeles Times reports. In fact, the man in the photo wasn't who an LAPD officer in a helicopter had seen igniting fires.
In a statement to the Times, Citizen said that the photo being posted was an "error" and that they did not have "formal coordination with the appropriate agencies."
"We publicly posted the photo and offered a cash reward for information without formal coordination with the appropriate agencies. Once we realized this error, we immediately retracted the photo and reward offer. We are actively working to improve our internal processes to ensure this does not occur again. This was a mistake we are taking very seriously," Citizen told the Times.
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