Authors:
Martin Steinhauser
;
Andreas C. Sonnenbichler
and
Andreas Geyer-Schulz
Affiliation:
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany
Keyword(s):
Safety, Security, Social Networks, Territorial Safety, Secure City, Neighborhood Watch, Informal Social Control.
Related
Ontology
Subjects/Areas/Topics:
Applications
;
Artificial Intelligence
;
Cloud Computing
;
Collaboration and e-Services
;
Collaborative Systems
;
Complex Systems Modeling and Simulation
;
Data Communication Networking
;
Data Engineering
;
e-Business
;
Enterprise Information Systems
;
Entertainment
;
Government
;
Health Care/Well-Being
;
Knowledge Management and Information Sharing
;
Knowledge-Based Systems
;
Mobile Software and Services
;
Ontologies and the Semantic Web
;
Platforms and Applications
;
Services Science
;
Simulation and Modeling
;
Social Networks
;
Society, e-Business and e-Government
;
Software Agents and Internet Computing
;
Software Engineering
;
Software Engineering Methods and Techniques
;
Symbolic Systems
;
Telecommunications
;
Urban/Regional Planning/Development
;
Web Information Systems and Technologies
;
Web Services
;
Wireless Information Networks and Systems
Abstract:
Today, crime and fear of crime are related to a loss of social control in large cities. In combination with the
bystander effect, help might not be provided in the case of an emergency. This paper suggests the framework
of a Community Watch Service. The conceptional architecture enables citizens to join virtual, territorial
communities. Citizens can create their own virtual territories. These territories are linked to software services
offering functionality like reporting damage to public property, receiving information from public authorities
or organizing help in the neighborhood. The framework aims to improve social control in a positive way and
increase public safety in large cities. We demonstrate the Community Watch Service as a prototype which is
available for standard web browsers and Android-based mobile phones.