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New app arrives in Tampa, aiming to keep community informed with help of artificial intelligence

New app arrives in Tampa, aiming to keep community informed with help of artificial intelligence

Yahoo04-06-2025
The Brief
Tampa police have reported a spike in recent street takeovers and racing.
St. Pete police have reported an uptick in youth gun violence.
The Citizen public safety app has expand its services to the Tampa Bay market.
TAMPA, Fla. - An app expansion using artifical intelligence and a dedicated team has arrived in Tampa, allowing neighbors to keep each other in the loop. It's called the Citizen app.
"If there's something you want to share with your community that can help keep your neighbors safe, you can certainly do that on Citizen," Juliana Pignataro, the director of distribution, said.
The backstory
The Citizen app has been making waves in major metropolitan areas for nearly a decade, including Orlando. The app has gotten feedback from residents to come to Tampa.
Now safety alerts, live video, and an array of other features are now available.
"Citizen has a 24/7 team with help from AI with multiple information streams, so anything posted from law enforcement, announcements from missing people, missing pets, severe weather to generate citizen alerts," she said.
Dig deeper
Earlier this year, Tampa police reported a decline in violent crimes like murder and robbery. But, they've seen an uptick in street takeovers and drag racing. St. Pete Police reported an increase in youth gun violence and car burglaries involving guns.
All are incidents that can be reported on the app.
The app also shares updates on severe weather and can be used as a tool during this hurricane season for damage and flooding.
"Our goal is to be as transparent as possible with people in the community so that people understand what's happening around them and have the information they need to stay safe and keep their loved ones safe," she said.
To learn more, click here.
The Source
The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13's Jennifer Kveglis.
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