SaferWatch, a safety platform designed to improve emergency response throughout private and non-private establishments, has seen a surge in inquiries from Fortune 500 firms trying to increase safety for his or her C-suite executives and households.
The heightened curiosity began nearly instantly after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down in New York Metropolis in December.
These firms are actually trying to equip their executives and households with the SaferWatch LTE Panic Button, a mobile-enabled alert system that gives instant entry to emergency help.
“All of these companies are waking up, saying, ‘How do we protect our executives? How do we protect their families? How do we protect our key people that really run this operation?’” Geno Roefaro, CEO of SaferWatch, advised Fox Enterprise.
There has additionally been a rise in requests from prosperous prospects trying to improve safety for his or her households. For instance, they wish to equip their kids heading off to school, based on Roefaro.
Roefaro coined it the “Luigi effect.” He’s referring to Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old Ivy League graduate accused of taking pictures Thompson on Dec. 4, 2024, exterior a Hilton lodge in Midtown Manhattan. Final month, Mangione pleaded not responsible to federal expenses associated to the killing of Thompson. The trial is anticipated to start in 2026.
Executives may be nicely protected inside their workplaces, so firms are more and more specializing in defending them after they journey across the globe, based on Roefaro.
“One of the biggest demands that we get is when, how do we protect our executives as they leave the office?” Roefaro stated, noting that assigning bodily safety guards to each govt and their relations is impractical and infrequently costly.
For smaller companies, it could not even be a possible possibility, he added.
Roefaro co-founded SaferWatch with the corporate’s present vice chairman of product, Shannon Donev, after the 2016 Pulse Nightclub taking pictures in Orlando, Florida. The incident sparked a mission to develop quicker security options for each the private and non-private sectors. To try this, they created a discrete system to assist executives, different staff and their households get assist with out drawing any consideration.
“I think we all have that innate feeling of someone following us, someone behind us, right?” Roefaro stated, including that if Thompson had that concern he might have used a panic alarm, which might have alerted the safety staff and allowed them to “potentially intervene.”
Urgent the button connects the consumer to both a 24/7 useful resource middle or on to 911, relying on the service that the corporate or faculty selects, as an illustration.
Whereas direct 911 entry is a premium possibility, costing at minimal $50,000 to $100,000 per 12 months, about 70% of shoppers select it, based on Roefaro.
This expertise eliminates the necessity for fundamental questions when somebody calls 911, such because the caller’s title, location or nature of the emergency, based on SaferWatch’s web site. It additionally prevents delays which can be attributable to misrouting to the incorrect 911 middle. In class settings, as an illustration, as soon as a 911 middle is alerted, onsite personnel, together with officers, safety groups, principals and workers, are instantly notified.
Whereas the service comes at a hefty worth, Roefaro stated the objective is to ultimately get the product into the fingers of on a regular basis residents, not simply executives and wealthier people.
The corporate is partnering with greater than 6,000 private and non-private organizations, from faculties and main firms to small companies, throughout 31 states.
In New York Metropolis, for instance, bodegas have even put in SaferWatch panic alarms beneath their registers, permitting workers to set off silent alerts in an emergency with out drawing any consideration.
Other than the panic buttons and 24/7 operations middle, the corporate employs practically 20 retired legislation enforcement executives to supply strategic help.
The platform additionally options an nameless tip reporting system by its cellular app. When customers report suspicious exercise, the system mechanically shares their location and profile with directors and legislation enforcement to speed up response, based on its web site.
