Beaver County Times
One day, Aliquippa resident Carlton Vreen was getting a rental car from the airport to go to a prayer breakfast.
While on route, and wearing dress attire, Vreen said he was pulled over by state troopers. He said he was racially profiled as a drug dealer.
Vreen said on another occasion he was coming home from the airport and he was pulled over again, in broad daylight, and, as he went to get the officer his identification, the officer pulled a gun on him.
“I stared down the barrel of a gun. So, I’ve had some bad experiences,” he said.
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Vreen said instead of feeling bitter over his past experiences, he decided to “get better,” and look to address the dangers of traffic stops for both motorists and police.
This led to the creation of Make It Home Safe, a smart phone application designed to provide “real-time remote transparency” during traffic stops.
How the app works
Vreen said the app works by motorists putting in their license and insurance information, and, by using the latest forms of technology, informing officers who is behind the wheel before they even step out of the car.
This is done through a combination of locator services and biometric facial and fingerprint recognition.
Vreen said motorists can also upload their medical information and history to let police know if they suffer from any conditions such as autism or Tourette’s syndrome.
“You may be on the spectrum of autism and may not look at the officer. You simply may avoid eye contact, and the officer could, and has, looked at that as possibly suspicious behavior,” he said. “All of these could lead to a negative outcome for both the motorist and police.”
“This will verify that it is actually a police officer behind you,” he said. “Especially with sex trafficking, where women have come up missing, this app will allow that motorist, that female motorist, to know that she can have peace of mind that it is actually a police officer who has pulled her over.”
Vreen said the app will allow friends and loved ones of the motorists to receive a notification stating they have been stopped by police, and where the stop is at, in order to make them feel more at ease.
Why this app is so important
Vreen said this app is equally vital and important for both motorists and police.
For motorists, he said this could help prevent unnecessary and unwarranted confrontations with police, especially among Black men, who are three times more likely than white men to be stopped, and three and a half times more likely to be killed by police in traffic stops.
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For police, Vreen said there is a danger for them, as usually they often don’t know who is on the other side of a traffic stop, especially with the growing popularity of rental car apps like TURO.
He also said if police officers make a mistake, they can be jailed, and the respective city or town can be on the receiving end of a lawsuit, as municipalities pay, on average, a total of $330 million a year across the country.
Therefore, Vreen believes this app will provide transparency and collaboration, to keep everybody safe, and is a great tool for police to use, rather than using their old procedures, which he described as “archaic, outdated and dangerous.”
“It’s for blue lives. It’s for Black lives. It’s for all lives,” he said. “The beauty of this app is it’s for everybody.”
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Vreen said, when speaking with officers, they feel nervous when dealing with a traffic stop, and feel exposed standing on the side of the road for long periods of time, as officers have gotten hit by other vehicles at a stop.
He said he first came up with the idea for the app in 2016, and has since been doing research, speaking with officers, developing the app with his team, and conducting small tests with the app, such as in Pittsburgh.
App is in beta form for testing
Vreen said the Make It Home Safe app is free and is on the Google Play Store and the App Store for Apple products.
He said the app is now in beta testing and will be testing the app first in Beaver County with the City of Aliquippa and the Aliquippa Police Department.
He also said he has other cities that can serve as beta hubs, such as Pittsburgh and Columbus, Ohio, and expects to be in beta for about a year.
Vreen said he would like to see the entirety of Beaver County use the app in beta, hoping to advertise it to all residents and police in the county.
When asked about the security of personal information, Vreen said safety, security and secrecy of information are of the utmost importance to the company, which uses the latest identity protection software that is used by Fortune 50 and Fortune 500 companies.
“Make It Home Safe provides peace of mind, safety for both motorists and police during traffic stops…so that at the end of day, both the motorists and police can make it home safely,” he said.
Gaining national support for app
Vreen said not only is he looking to get local support for the app, but he is also working to gain national support in order to make everyone in the country use the app.
In April, the company was one of only 16 companies that were chosen to speak to legislators in Washington, D.C., as part of the CES on the Hill event from the Consumer Technology Association.
Vreen said the company was part of the select group that included technology industry giants like Microsoft, IBM, Meta, Apple and Samsung.
He said legislators showed a lot of interest in the app.
“I’ve been talking with people who have connections to the White House, for (President Joe) Biden’s policing reform, and the Department of Justice, to make this available for everyone throughout the nation,” Vreen said.
The company has also received funding from AlphaLab, a nationally ranked software accelerator in Pittsburgh.
Vreen said this app could tie into the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, as more places get new or better broadband support, they can have access to the benefits of the app, especially in rural areas.
More information on the app and the company can be found on the Make It Home Safe Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn page, by calling 412-818-9986, or by going to makeithomesafe.com.
Nicholas Vercilla is a staff reporter for the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at [email protected].