THE CITIZEN APP PLUGS USERS INTO HOUSTON CRIME.
The Citizen app has transformed the way we see our city, in all its sweaty, seedy luster.
Part police scanner, part dystopian time suck, the app shows users, in real time, all of the burdens of living in a major city, with all the crime that entails.
I spoke with a Citizen spokesperson recently to get the lowdown on the app, which launched in 2017 in New York City. It didn’t arrive in Houston until April 2020, just in time for lockdown, when we were all stuck at home — and on our smartphones.
According to Citizen, more than 100,000 Houstonians have downloaded the app, joining the 7 million people who use it in more than 20 markets. New cities are added all the time. Switch your app view to “global” sometime and witness a world full of fire, police lights and crime, much of it caught on shaky, pixelated videos.
As Houstonians began using Citizen, they would tell me it was a perfect ad for not living inside the Loop. Others said it made them appreciate residing in the burbs, where things seem tamer.
Bing bing goes the Citizen app on a hazy, lazy Saturday afternoon in the middle of the fourth-largest city in America.
A man is menacing bystanders with a tire iron off South Wayside. There’s a car fire in Webster, complete with a grainy video from an ancient iPhone. A home invasion in Alief.
Bing bing. It’s Saturday night and the bars just closed. For the next few hours, the city swells with a boozy energy.
A group of women is reportedly fighting inside an IHOP. There’s an illegal street race on U.S. 59. A carjacking on the southwest side.
Daniel Glover and his wife recently moved into Montrose and learned about the app through Nextdoor, that other app that every busybody Gladys Kravitz in your neighborhood uses.
“I find it beneficial but some of the reports that come in are quite puzzling,” Glover said. “I think I am definitely more aware of crime incidents in Houston that I blithely ignored before.”
The crimes sometimes end up being of the shocking variety that will make headlines, like a deadly shooting at a Midtown club in January. Most are the type that don’t end up with a TV reporter standing grimly outside the scene, like the heist of 200 bottles of wine from a Total Wine location on a Monday afternoon. Though it might be a decent clickbait web headline on a slow news day.
Do you realize how many dumpster fires happen in Houston on any given day? It’s a lot. There are plenty of incidents with unusual weapons, like the swordsman on the loose in the Near Northside, or the woman recently wielding a tire iron at a Taco Bell north of Hobby Airport. The fella in Fifth Ward carrying a chain saw. The assault with a baseball bat and spear in Montrose. A woman once was assaulted with tacos at a Jack in the Box location.
According to Citizen, a team of analysts reviews publicly available information from first responder agencies. Many have media and law enforcement backgrounds, which informs how they filter information. Houston’s 911 communications are screened and, in some cases, you can hear recordings of dispatch calls on the incident entry.
Citizen has even received feedback from first responders who sometimes use the app to learn more about an incident before they arrive on the scene. The app sends users safety alerts by monitoring 911 activity and cross-referencing with the location of the user’s location. The app allows user-generated content, like photos and video from the scene, and a chat feature.
Sarah Cruise, a single mom who lives in the Heights enclave of Norhill, told me that while the app can be enthralling at times — like listening to a police scanner — it’s also increased her situational awareness.
“It has helped me remind myself to be more cautious,” Cruise said. “I think it helps my anxiety more than hurts. I’m reminded my fears aren’t unfounded and I’m not crazy, and that gives me the bravery to go on.”
Also, the curious amount of dumpster fires are entertaining.
“Houston has literal, not figurative, dumpster fires,” Cruise laughed.