WHY COVERT ALERT?

On a warm spring night one of the originators of Covert Alert had taken his mother out for drinks at a local bar. When his mother left and was about to get into her BMW, two gentlemen wearing hoodies approached her rapidly with the intent of stealing her car and who knows what else. Her son was right there and immediately went after the two. He caused such a disturbance they fled and his mother was safe. But her fear afterward was still with her and many people, whether they want to admit it or not, have experienced similar incidences.

Many times our staff and customers have asked us “why Covert Alert”? The simple answer is, Covert Alert gives individuals a voice, covertly, that they have never had the opportunity to use until now. Diversity makes up our society and it is the core reason Covert Alert originated and is being expanded in so many ways.

Three individuals began development of Covert Alert for iOS in mid 2014. These three individuals, myself included, believed and had experienced crimes of all types against individuals who were not weaker, but didn’t have the voice to defend themselves. These crimes involved:

• Hate.

• Racial profiling.

• Sexual assault.

• Sexual harassment.

• Domestic violence.

• Physical violence.

• And although not in many cases a crime, bullying.

Voice activation was the key to Covert Alert. Holding your phone and pushing a button was the most obvious way a perp would realize what you were doing. Holding your phone in someone’s face to video them would get you killed. Your action had to be Covert, and recording the entire incident without anyone knowing was the only way to give everyone a voice. This is why Covert Alert was developed.

Sending your alert to a call center is as laughable as for every website you visit to have a loud video play automatically. OMG who wants that, it’s a nuisance that we can all do without in life. Covert Alert has developed a system that sends the alert to the most important people in your life so they know exactly where you are. They may alert authorities directly and be assured you receive the attention needed. In addition, Covert Alert will soon release it’s own system that will not only alert 911 officials, but all first responders of the situation you are in, if you choose. You may just want to record the events covertly for future use. We leave that totally up to you.

It is important to know the following real data released by the U.S. Department of Justice – Federal Bureau of Investigation released in the fall of 2018 for the 2017 year for hate crimes alone as follows:

• • 59.6% of the victims were targeted because of the offenders bias against race/ethnicity/ancestry.
• • 20.6% were victimized because of bias against religion.
• • 15.8% were targeted because of bias against sexual orientation.
• • 1.9% were targeted because of bias against disability.
• • 1.6% were victims of gender-identity bias.
• • .06% were victims of gender bias.

These were just crimes reported. How many went unreported because the individuals involved didn’t feel they could tell anyone? It is a very sad commentary on what is happening to many individuals in our society. Covert Alert releases that voice that needs to be heard. It is a cause that everyone should embrace because there is a lot of bad out there in many different groups and Covert Alert will help bring that to the forefront and create change.

I think I’ve made my point why we created Covert Alert. We are a company made up of many diverse individuals that believe everyone should have a voice, one way or the other. We have more exciting news that will be released with each new writing. To everyone needing a voice, stay connected & protected, covertly!