Mobiles phones in responsible hands to deter crime
Posted by Judy Breck on January 3, 2008
The government of Liberia has begun a program of giving mobile phones with a free police-calling feature to prominent people in neighborhoods and villages. The report in cellular-news explains:
Liberia’s government has started giving away specially programmed mobile phones to villages so that they can report crimes to the local police. The government project aims to give up to 10 phones to prominent people in each of 400 neighborhoods in and around the capital city, Monrovia.
Crime has become endemic in the country following the demobilization of militia groups which formed during the civil wars of the 1990’s. Most of the young adults who gave up their arms have not found replacement jobs and turned to violent crime. Liberia currently has an approximate 85% unemployment rate, the second highest in the world (The highest is 90% on the tiny island nation of Nauru).
Mobile communication in the hands of responsible people is a new 21st century public safety method. The principle of providing mobile information and communication to responsible adults is an important one underlying the Defywire Mobile Guardian.
