Latest news with #privateSecurity
News24
28-07-2025
- Business
- News24
‘Uber for security': SaferCity Panic App offers fast access to emergency response
The SaferCity Panic App includes panic assistance, real-time tracking, crime reporting, crime hotspot alerts, and support for gender-based violence victims. The app funds local CPF structures with a portion of subscriptions, boosting resources like cameras and patrols to enhance safety. Deployed in Gauteng's Soweto, SaferCity has significantly reduced incidents like cellphone tower vandalism while providing fast, direct access to emergency responders. A leading safety and technology solutions provider aims to make South Africa safer through its innovative application. SaferCity Panic App is a unique technology platform that seeks to unite private security, law enforcement, community police forums, and to provide emergency response, intelligence, and networking. Launched in 2023, the app is designed to empower users with a tool that allows them to swiftly request medical and emergency assistance and report crime. SaferCity CEO Theo Pouroullis described the app as 'an Uber for security', as it allows its customers to have access to the nearest emergency responder in the event they find themselves in a distressing situation. 'For example, we had an incident where a client of ours had a contractor who was fixing a gate on the client's property, and the contractor grinded off two of his fingers. Our client pressed the panic button and the ambulance was there within 15 minutes,' said Pouroullis. He said the app was not only limited to medical emergencies but extended to other features. Pouroullis said the app includes a funding mechanism for local CPFs where a fraction of every subscription is donated to the CPF structures. 'At a cost of R4.35/user per month, some 10 000 users for a specific area could enable the CPF to receive R43 500 per month in funding. This covers the development of the Joint Operations Command Centre of the CPF for the Gauteng province and, in certain areas, the acquisition of additional cameras to monitor flagged vehicles using licence plate recognition cameras and tamper devices for electrical infrastructure,' he said. Pouroullis said there were three devices that accompany the app, which include a smartwatch that allows clients to push the panic or SOS button. READ | No arrests: Boy, 14, among seven dead after bloody Cape Flats weekend Recently, Pouroullis said they rescued a client who was kidnapped during a hijacking in Gauteng's East Rand after they received an alert. 'There was a vehicle that was hijacked, and they took the driver to an illegal mining area on the East Rand. Our guys were able to intercept (the criminals), and we caught one suspect. The other two fled. It was in the middle of the night. But we rescued the driver. It was an express kidnapping that took place,' he said. The Gauteng CPF board chairperson, TJ Masilela, said the partnership with SaferCity has yielded success over the past year, and they have seen a decrease in some crime categories. Masilela said: SaferCity was deployed in the 14 Soweto police stations, and within six months, we saw a decrease in the number of damage to infrastructure of cellphone towers. We used to get over 30 reports per week related to damage to the infrastructure of towers, but that has decreased to less than five per week because of this app. He said CPF members found the app convenient as it gave communities direct access to emergency responders.
News24
04-07-2025
- News24
Two killed in shootout, 2 arrested as KZN police foil cash-in-transit heist
Two people were killed in a shootout with KwaZulu-Natal police, and two others were arrested on Thursday evening. The shootout occurred when police foiled a cash-in-transit robbery in Sinyameni. According to police spokesperson Brigadier Jay Naicker, officers received intelligence about a planned heist, and an operation was immediately put into place. The identified area was monitored. 'A Mercedes-Benz vehicle with four occupants was spotted and tactically approached by police. As the police officers approached the vehicle, they came under fire from the suspects,' he said. 'Following a shootout, two suspects were fatally wounded, while two were apprehended. Two unlicensed firearms, as well as ammunition, were recovered from the scene.' The two arrested men, both in their 40s, have been charged with unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition. Preliminary investigations have revealed that one of the arrested men is a former private security company employee. They are expected to appear in the Msinga Magistrate's Court soon.
Daily Mail
26-06-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Brighton's bin mafia exposed: Threats to stab people. A suicide. Even a STONING... all from the people in charge of rubbish collection. Now the Mail names the two bully boys accused of presiding over a culture of fear
One of the first things you notice about the impressive, detached house in a tree-lined street in the heart of Brighton are the CCTV cameras. It's not the only safeguard. At night, lights come on if anyone approaches the property. Inside is an alarm with a panic button linked to a private security firm. The owner is on its 'emergency response' list, which carries out regular patrols around her address.
Bloomberg
20-06-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Israel Says Iran Is Hacking Private Security Cameras
Iran is tapping into private security cameras in Israel to gather real-time intelligence about its adversary, exposing a recurrent problem with the devices that has emerged in other global conflicts. Bloomberg's Michael Shepard reports. (Source: Bloomberg)
Daily Mail
20-06-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Wife of ‘Minnesota assassin' in hiding after police say she knew nothing of plot despite fleeing toward border with $10,000 and two handguns
Vance Boelter's spooked wife has remained in hiding - as the accused assassin's defiant family were tight-lipped concerning her whereabouts, telling a reporter to 'piss off.' Shaken mom-of-five Jenny, 51, rang pals only to say she was in a 'safe' location but wouldn't reveal where she was. She fled the family's bucolic farmhouse home in Green Isle, Minnesota, last Saturday morning after Boelter hinted that he had done something monstrous in a 6.18am text. 'Dad went to war last night,' wrote her 57-year-old husband. 'There's gonna be some people coming to the house armed and trigger happy and I don't want you guys around.' As news broke that Boelter had allegedly gunned down two lawmakers and their spouses in Minneapolis, Jenny was pulled over driving through Onamia, 90 miles north. She had their youngest children in the car along with their passports, $10,000 in cash and two handguns, according to federal court filings. Jenny, president of the couple's private security firm, consented to a voluntary search of her electronic devices but wasn't arrested in the 10am traffic stop. Vance Boelter, 57, was apprehended by law enforcement on Sunday night after he evaded capture for an entire day. Shortly after going on the run, he sent Jenny a text saying, 'Dad went to war last night' and advised her to get out of the house There's nothing in her husband's charging documents to suggest she had advance knowledge of his alleged plot to slaughter dozens of Democrat lawmakers and pro-abortion activists. Friends told that Jenny was in such a hurry she left the family's three dogs behind. 'Jenny called and asked if we could feed the dogs and that's what we've been doing,' said neighbor Kevin Effertz, 64. 'She said she was in a safe place and that's all she would say. She hasn't said when she's coming back.' Jenny has not commented publicly since Boelter was captured Sunday evening and charged with multiple counts of murder and stalking. Her brother Jason Doskocil, 54, had a blunt message for when we asked about her whereabouts. 'I'm sorry, we are not going to talk to nobody - so piss off,' he replied. The Boelters' four-bed, $520,000 farmhouse, nestling between rolling meadows and dense woodland, was deserted Tuesday. Sheriff's deputies arrived mid-afternoon to check on the property but there was no sign of Jenny or her five kids, Grace, Faith, Hope, David and Joy. Neighbors placed 'keep out' signs at the foot of the 200-yard driveway to keep trespassers away from the 125-year-old home purchased two years ago. A dumpster was overflowing with trash, but the place looked otherwise untouched. A black Ford Explorer SUV similar to the one Boelter drove on the night of the slayings was one of four vehicles parked outside. The Boelter's are believed to have purchased a fleet of such vehicles for their private security firm, Praetorian Guard, which was registered with the state but didn't appear to have any clients. Boelter was captured Sunday evening following the biggest ever manhunt in the state of Minnesota. He had first dressed as a cop and donned a terrifying latex mask to shoot State Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette shortly before 2am Saturday. The pair were left in critical condition but are expected to survive the shooting on the doorstep of their Champlin, Minnesota home. The 'assassin', who wrote a chilling hit list targeting Democrats and pro-choice activists, first arrived at Senator John Hoffmans' home and gunned down both him (right) and his wife Yvette (center) - both are expected to survive He then arrived at the home of Speaker Melissa Hortman and fatally shot her, and her husband Mark and injured their Golden Retriever which had to be euthanized. Police arrived on the scene shortly after, engaging the 'assassin' in a gun fight before he fled on foot Boelter then headed to a second lawmaker's residence in Brooklyn Park, pumping multiple bullets into former State House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, killing both. The lunatic had drawn up a chilling assassination list of 45 targets including Democrat lawmakers, abortion providers and pro-choice activists, it's alleged. But his murder spree was halted in its tracks when police intercepted him leaving the Hortman's' home and engaged him in a firefight. The gunman fled on foot, leaving behind three AK-47 assault rifles and a 9mm handgun, triggering a massive hunt spanning multiple states and law enforcement agencies. The search narrowed Sunday night to woodland and swampy farmland one mile away from the Boelter residence. Officers first found an abandoned Buick that he had bought off a stranger he met in the street in a madcap scheme to escape. When the fugitive was spotted on a trail cam cops set up a square-mile perimeter deploying drones, dogs and helicopters to flush him out. Neighbor Wendy Thomas eventually spotted Boelter ducking down beside a culvert and flagged SWAT teams who took the alleged shooter alive. Boelter appeared in federal court for the first time Monday afternoon where prosecutors revealed he went to the homes of two other legislators on the night of the shootings. One was on vacation and the second had police protection, so he decided to move on to his next target. Boelter cried poverty, claiming he couldn't afford a private lawyer because he only had a part-time job bringing in $540 a week. But the court heard he owned a home, seven cars, and had $20,000 to $30,000 in his bank account. Boelter was held without bail. He could face the death penalty if he's found guilty of first-degree murder.
